Saturday, August 8, 2015

Great strides to fight poverty

The Millennium Development Goals have been the most successful anti-poverty movement in history, according to the finding's of the 2015 MDGs Report. The achievements of the MDGs will serve as a springboard for the new sustainable development agenda to be adopted this year. The Millennium Development Goals Report is an annual assessment of global and regional progress towards the Goals. It is compiled by over 28 UN and international agencies and is produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The number of people now living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half, falling from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015. Gender parity in primary school has been achieved in the majority of countries.

The rate of children dying before their fifth birthday has declined by more than half, dropping from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births since 1990.

Figures for maternal mortality show a decline of 45 per cent worldwide.

Over 6.2 million malaria deaths were averted between 2000 and 2015, while tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment interventions saved an estimated 37 million lives between 2000 and 2013.

Worldwide, 2.1 billion have gained access to improved sanitation and the proportion of people practicing open defecation has fallen almost by half since 1990.

Official development assistance from developed countries saw an increase of 66 per cent in real terms from 2000 and 2014, reaching $135.2 billion.

However, gender inequalities persist. Big gaps exist between the poorest and the richest, as well as between rural and urban areas. Climate change and environmental degradation undermine progress achieved. And millions of poor people still live in poverty and hunger, without access to basic services.

In September 2015, the world is going to adopt a new set of global goals which builds on the successes of the MDGs and ambitiously breaks fresh ground on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.
At the Millennium Summit in September 2000 world leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.

The MDGs are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions - income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights - the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security.

The goals are: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/Aids, Malaria and other diseases Ensure environmental sustainability Global partnership for development. –End-


 Image by: www.us.undp.org

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