Millennium development goals are set targets by the United Nations aimed at improving the living standards in the poor and developing countries by the year 2015. Eight major issues need to be addressed. End of hunger and poverty, universal education for all, gender equality. Child Health, Maternal health, Combating HIV and AIDS, environmental sustainability and Global Partnership.
The Open Society and MDGs
Apart from the UN, there has been a notable contribution by several other organizations and foundations. The realization by those in developed countries that the welfare of other parts of the globe is very crucial has made many organizations step forward and offer a helping hand (Lewis1). The Open society foundation is one of the notable contributors in the world. Their contribution was to a tune of $636 million in 2009 compared to $ 95 million it spent the previous year. Since its inception in 1979, the open society foundation has spent approximately $7 Billion in governance promotion, human rights, and diversity of chores in developing nations Soros (1). This is an attempt to boost public health, good governance and general public welfare. Efforts by the open society in their support to some sectors that are geared towards achieving the MDGs are laudable. However their contribution can only be termed as a drop in the ocean, the number of resources that are required to turn things around is immense. There is also a very huge ground area that needs to be covered. This is why it calls for an organization with the capacity to mobilize a huge labour force something the open society lacks. On the ground, there is a need for technical expertise to utilize the available resources to turn things around. This is another handicap facing the open society for it doesn’t have the required personnel to implement the activities on the ground. When they make their donations through the Non-Governmental Organizations in the receiving countries, the money ends up being misappropriated and hence leaving very little to show for their input. For the open society to succeed, it should work closely with UN agencies that are working towards achieving the MDGs; this way their efforts will bear fruits, however, if they continue going it alone, their worthy contribution might not bear much since most of the resources might end up being spent on administrative logistics instead of being spent on solving the actual problems. Machemedze (1) asserts that those who live in the most improvised conditions are yet to receive the benefits of MDGs despite the efforts that are being made.
United Nations and MDGs
United Nations constitute a twenty agency panel to oversee the implementation of the MDGs. This include; International Monetary Fund( IMF), International Telecommunications Unit(ITU), International trade centre (ITC), Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD), United Nations Development Program(UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), United Nations Office for Project and services(UNOPS), United Nations Office of the Representative for the Least developed Countries, Landlocked, developing countries and Small Island Developing States. (UN-OHRLLS), United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA), United Nations Research Institute for Social Development(UNRISD), World Bank, World Food Program(WFP), World Health Organization(WHO), World Institute for Development Economic Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER), World Meteorological Organization( WMO), World Tourism Organization,(UNWTO), World Trade Organization(WTO) this agency are financed and bestowed with the responsibility of helping attain the MDGs. Other UN agencies that are not core to the attainment of the MDGs include the International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Maritime Organization (IMO) amongst others. There have been meetings held all reviewing the achievements made in MDGs, Moon (1) the improvements in the lives of the poor have been acceptably slow, the won gains are being overshadowed by food, economic and climate crisis. Attempts have been made to promote the welfare of the marginalized, these are the groups that necessitated the crafting of the MDGs, but the pace has been very slow. Information on what is happening around the world is everywhere. Friedman (1) acknowledges that the world is flat; this has been occasioned by technological and social shifts. The amount of resources needed to achieve the MDGs is huge but the available resources are scanty. Developed countries mostly remember the plight of the poor and developing countries during meetings, poor countries are left to handle most of their woes. The developed countries mostly handle these issues on a round table where they pledge on donations, the pledges are forgotten soon as they leave the table, and the fraction that is honoured is very minimal. Developed countries had agreed to give 0.7% of their Gross National Product as assistance to the poor and developing countries but that has remained like that just a pledge. There has been stiff resistance from countries like America who are opposed to specific foreign aid targets. Other pledges are accompanied by conditions and conditionality’s that make them attainable.
With only five years to go a lot needs to be done, there is rampant unemployment, and low government spending on social services is impacting negatively on education, health, access to clean water and sanitation. This is a major drawback since these are some of the problems that are to be tackled by the MDGs. However some sectors have recorded significant progress, the population of the world living in abject poverty has halved since 1980, this can be explained by turned around economies in south Asia. The war on HIV/AIDS is also on track with reduced new infections by half. (Hogan D Et AL) To gain meaningful achievement in MDGs, developed countries must live to their commitments to jumpstart the whole process. Trade barriers should be minimized to give developing countries a fair market share for their products. The pact by developed countries to remove agricultural subsidies by 2013 should be honoured; this will increase the ability to develop countries to export agricultural products competitively. It is up to the developed countries to hold the poor countries which are laden with debts. Fernandez & Bouhey (1) Developing countries need to substantially open their markets which have for years been too difficult for developing countries to penetrate; this is a sure way to speed growth.
References
Hogan D, Baltussen R, Chika H, Jeremy A, Joshua A (2005). Cost-effective analysis of strategies to combat HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
Santiago Fernandez & Antoine Bouhey (2010). Trade & MDGs: How Trade can Help Developing Countries Eradicate Poverty. Web.
Thomas L Friedman (2005). The world is flat. Web.
Ban Ki-Moon (2010). MDGs We Can End Poverty by 2015. Web.
George Soros (2010). Open Society Foundation. Web.
Lewis, Richard D. (2007).The Cultural Imperative: Global Trends in 21st Century Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc. Web.
Ranga Machemedze (2010). Global Partnership for Development at a Critical Juncture.