Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals

• Richard Leete, PhD
• UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia
• UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia,
  Singapore and Brunei
• UNFPA Representative
• 1213 October 2004
• Kuching, Sarawak

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Human Rights (HR) and DevelopmentTwo sides of
same coin

• United Nations aims to
• achieve international cooperation in solving
  international problems of an economic, social,
  cultural or humanitarian character
• promote, encourage respect HR and fundamental
  freedoms for all
• (UN Charter, 1945)
• In September 2000, 189 leaders at UN Millennium
  Summit adopted the Millennium Declaration
  containing, inter alia, a set of development
  goals, and recognised their
• collective responsibility to uphold the
  principles of human dignity, equality and equity
  at the global level
• (Millennium Declaration, 2000)

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

• Millennium Declaration contains 8 mutually
  reinforcing time-bound goals (MDGs)
• MDGs an accountability framework and a global
  partnership for progressively eradicating
  poverty in all its dimensions
• MDGs synthesise and respecify goals of 1990s
  global UN conferences
• MDGs are international communitys commitment to
  eradicate poverty by 2015
• at forefront of global development agenda
• in addition to income, non-income dimensions
  include health, education, womens empowerment,
  access to information, clean water, sanitation
  and electricity

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
The MDGs

• MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Target 1 Halve of people whose
  income ltUS1 a day
• MDG 2 Achieve universal primary education
• MDG 3 Promote gender equality and empower women
• MDG 4 Reduce child mortality
• MDG 5 Improve maternal health
• MDG 6 Combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other
  diseases
• MDG 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
• MDG 8 Develop a global partnership for
  development
• Target 33 ODA as 0.7 per cent of GNI

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
MDGs and HR

• Focus on nationally owned goals and targets
  consistent with rights-based approach to
  development
• Helps create awareness of rights and mobilises
  resources for meeting obligations and
  entitlements
• UN approach to poverty reduction emphasises a
  rights-based approach to development, including
  civil and political rights
• Generally poorest whose rights are ignored and
  who lack access to information and services
• Globally 1.2 billion people live in extreme
  poverty
• H/Rs a means of empowering the poor

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Equality and Non-DiscriminationBasic HR
principles

• Disaggregation of MDG indicators key for
  targeting pro-poor policies and strategies
• Sex, age, ethnicity, location, income, etc
• Huge poor-rich differentials in social outcomes
• Differentials in access and quality of social
  services
• Cultural and traditional barriers
• Lack of womens empowerment
• Resource gaps, financial and human, to supply
  basic social services to poorest

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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Some regions are reducing extreme poverty in
others poverty is on the rise
Linear trend from 1990-2000
Current trend
MDG goal in 2015
MDG goal in 2015
Ahead of target
Population living in extreme poverty ()
Behind target
Middle East and North Africa
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and Caribbean
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia and Pacific
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In Malaysia poverty MDG targets already achieved
projected to be eliminated before 2015
Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
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Progress of poverty reduction in all states,
1990-2002, but some still lagging
Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
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Poverty rates vary markedly among Sarawaks
diverse communities
Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Poverty rates 2002
Sarawak 5.8 Bumiputera
8.0 Malays 5.0 Ibans
10.0 Chinese
1.0
Population 2000 2,008.8 thousands
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Educational attainment lagging in some states,
especially Sabah and Sarawak
Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Source Education and Social Characteristics of
the Population, 2000, Department of Statistics
Malaysia
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Progress in child mortality in all
sates,1990-2000, but Kelantan lagging behind
Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
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Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
Conclusions

• HR and MDGs mutually supportive agenda to
  eradicate poverty in all its dimensions  
• Need policies and programmes that put equity at
  core and contribute to reducing inequities  
• Address issues of access to social services,
  including environmental services such as water
  safety and loss of biodiversity, as well as basic
  infrastructure 
• Target interventions, and budgets, towards
  poorest areas and groups, especially rural women
• Improve data collection to allow for better
  identification of vulnerable groups, consistent
  with HR approach