Millenium Declaration
“We will spare no effort to free our men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected” United Nations Millennium Declaration
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders with representatives of 191 countries took stock of the series of goals in key development areas that had been established at global summits and conferences during the 1990s.
Their convergence of views on the challenges faced, and the urgency of their call to action, was remarkable. They came up with a combined, single document – the Millennium Declaration, which covers a broad range of commitments in human rights, good governance and democracy; as well as a coherent set of time-bound and measurable targets to be achieved globally by 2015 through the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Commitment to this landmark attempt to tackle global problems simultaneously, across a broad front, is gaining momentum and is vitally important for the Maldives as it is for the rest of the world.
In September 2005, the UN hosted the Millennium+5 Summit to evaluate the progress towards the goals spelled out in the document. By adopting the original declaration in 2000, world leaders affirmed their faith in the Organization and its Charter “as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.”
Millenium Development Goals
The UN is uniquely positioned at the country level to advocate for change, connect countries to knowledge and resources and help coordinate broader efforts. The 8 Millenium Development Goals with a total of 18 indicators provide a framework for the entire United Nations system to work coherently together towards a common set of goals:
GOAL | TARGET |
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger | Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day |
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger |
2. Achieve universal primary education | Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling |
3. Promote gender equality and empower women | Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015 |
4. Reduce child mortality | Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate |
5. Improve maternal health | Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio |
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases | Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS |
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases |
7. Ensure environmental sustainability | Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources |
Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water |
By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers |
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development | Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system [Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally] |
Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries [Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction] |
Address the Special Needs of landlocked countries and small island developing States (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the 22nd special session of the General Assembly) |
Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term |
In co-operation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth |
In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries |
In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications |
Maldives and the MDGs
Progress toward the MDGs is measured against a set against a set of indicators on human development; and over the past decade, the Maldives had achieved remarkable human development and was on track to achieving the MDGs by 2015 before the devastating tsunami swept across the country.
The MDG Report 2005 assesses the Maldives’ progress towards MDGs before the tsunami, and will serve as an effective advocacy tool for raising awareness building alliances as well as ensuring continuous governmental and political commitment toward achievement of the MDGs, on the national and global arenas.
Progress
GOAL | Global Progress | Maldives Progress |
Halve extreme poverty and hunger | 1.2 billion people still live on less than $1 a day. But 43 countries, with more than 60 per cent of the world’s people, have already met or are on track to meet the goal of cutting hunger in half by 2015. | In 2004, less than 1% of the population had less than $1 a day, compared to 3% in 1997; and there is also a steady decline in the prevalence of underweight children towards the goal of 23% by 2015 from 52% in 1990. |
Achieve universal primary education | 113 million children do not attend school, but this goal is within reach | Primary education on all 199 inhabited islands was achieved by 2004. |
Promote gender equality and empower women | Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate are women, and 80 per cent of its refugees are women and children. Since the 1997 Microcredit Summit, progress has been made in reaching and empowering poor women, nearly 19 million in 2000 alone. | Gender disparity exists in secondary and tertiary education as well as in labour force participation and the national parliament |
Reduce child mortality | 11 million young children die every year, but that number is down from 15 million in 1980. | Relative to least developed countries, progress towards reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 is positive |
Improve maternal health | In the developing world, the risk of dying in childbirth is one in 48. But virtually all countries now have safe motherhood programmes and are poised for progress | In 2003, maternal mortality rate stood at 78 per 100,000 live births but more data is needed for this to be conclusive indicator of reaching target. |
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases | Killer diseases have erased a generation of development gains. Countries like Brazil, Senegal, Thailand and Uganda have shown that we can stop HIV in its tracks | Malaria has been eradicated with no cases being reported since 1984, and the Maldives is a low prevalence country of HIV/AIDS with 13 cases reported since 2003. |
Ensure environmental sustainability | More than one billion people still lack access to drinking water; however, during the 1990s, nearly one billion people gained access to safe water and as many to sanitation | 30% of the atoll population reported shortage of drinking water, the safety of which is not measured; while the total population in Malé has access to safe drinking water. |
Develop a Global Partnership for Development | Too many developing countries are spending more on debt service than on social services. New aid commitments made in the first half of 2002 alone, though, will reach an additional $12 billion per year by 2006 |
|
Advocacy: Millennium Development Goals Campaign
Millennium Development Goals Campaign
The Millenium Campaign informs, inspires and encourages people’s involvement and action for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. An initiative of the United Nations, the Campaign supports citizens' efforts to hold their government to account for the Millennium promise. Visit the Millenium Campaign website for more details.
The United Nations Family in the Maldives has also launched a Millennium Development Goals Campaign to build awareness among all Maldivians. The first major campaign was the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) Poster and Animation Competition. A joint initiative of UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA together with the Ministry of Planning and National Development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Poster and Animation Competition encouraged awareness among people of the Maldives on the 7 MDGs specific to developing countries and the achievements the Maldives has made towards realizing them.
It also provided an opportunity to showcase the talents of Maldivians, young and old, and received over 150 posters and animation clips. The exhibition to showcase the talents and award prizes to the winners was held at the National Art Gallery on 9 March.
MDG Forums
The MDG Forums provided a platform to begin discussions with the government and the UN agencies and field specialists on the various issues affecting the Maldives’ achievement of the MDGs.
The first Forum was held in April 2003 on the topic of “MDGs and Environmental Health,” which aimed to foster a better understanding of the MDGs and its relation to and with environmental health. The second Forum was held two months later on the topic of MDGs and Nutrition, and targeted encouragement of public dialogue on the relation between nutrition and MDGs. The third Forum, "Towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals," was held in August 2003. The President, His Excellency Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, addressed this Forum, followed by a presentation by Professor Hans de Kruijk, Erusmus University, Rotterdam on "What role could the Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment play in monitoring developments of MDGs".
