UN on Track to Meet Goals But More Work Needed
9 July 2013 at 9:26 am
The United Nations is on track for meeting its 2015 goals, but progress in many areas is still insufficient, according to the Millennium Development Goals Report.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been the most successful global anti-poverty push in history, with less than 1,000 days to the 2015 target date for achieving the MDGs.
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The 2013 report looks at the areas where action is needed most and finds that redoubled efforts are urgently needed, particularly in regions most behind ‘to jumpstart advancement and achieve maximum gains’.
The proportion of people living in extreme poverty has been halved at the global level and the world reached the poverty reduction target- five years ahead of schedule.
In developing regions, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 47% in 1990 to 22% in 2010.
About 700 million fewer people lived in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990.
But the report reveals one in eight people worldwide remain hungry and too many women continue to die in childbirth when there is the means to save them.
“More than 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation facilities, of which one billion continue to practice open defecation, a major health and environmental hazard,” Ki-moon said.
“Our resource base is in serious decline, with continuing losses of forests, species and fish stocks, in a world already experiencing the impacts of climate change.”
The report also shows the uneven achievement of the MDGs among and within countries.
It found children from poor and rural households were much more likely to be out of school than their rich and urban counterparts.
Wide gaps also remained in basic knowledge about HIV and its prevention among young men and women in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been hardest hit by the epidemic.
The proportion of urban slum dwellers declined significantly and gains have been made in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis, according to the report.
The report found there has been visible improvements in all health areas as well as primary education.
“Significant and substantial progress has been made in meeting many of the targets-including halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and the proportion of people without sustainable access to improved sources of drinking water,” Ki-moon said.
Over the past 21 years, more than 2.1 billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, according to the report.
The proportion of the global population using such sources reached 89% 2010, up from 76% in 1990. This result shows the MDG drinking water target was met five years ahead of the target date, despite significant population growth.
“In more than a decade of experience in working towards the MDGs, we have learned that focused global development efforts can make a difference,” Ki-moon said.
“Through accelerated action, the world can achieve the MDGs and generate momentum for an ambitious and inspiring post-2015 development framework.
“Now is the time to step up our efforts to build a more just, secure and sustainable future for all.”
The Millenium Goals include:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
