GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
August 2015
In this issue:Featured article: Global poverty eradication, post-2015: what can regional organisations
do? by Nicola Yeates
Debates on ageing and human rights in New York reveal a diplomatic stalemate
Millennium Development Goals in their complexity: the final UN report
Useful resources and links

 Global poverty eradication, post-2015: what can regional organisations do?
Nicola Yeates
The author is Professor of Social Policy at The Open University in Milton Keynes, UK. She
directs an Economic and Social Research Council -funded international
research project on Poverty Reduction and Regional Integration
http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/prari/index.php?lang=eng). The
work on which this article is based was carried out with support from the
ESRC and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ESRC.

By confirming the adoption of a new set of global social policy objectives in
the form of the Sustainable Development Goals, September’s SDG Summit in New York will
herald the entry into a new chapter in international development cooperation. Regional
integration processes are already a significant – and growing - feature of the ‘new’development landscapes and will likely become more so. However, there are clear
opportunities and necessities of them becoming more prominent within and better integrated
into post-2015 implementation architectures. At this key juncture, it is important to explore
how regional organisations are becoming involved in question of social (and not just economic)
development, raising a key question as to how development stakeholders - governments,
international agencies, and civil society – can better respond to the growing significance ofregional integration for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

1Regional integration generating programmes of collective action in support of bettersocial rights and provision
Regionally-defined projects of international integration have become an increasingly significant
form of collective action to identify and pursue a range of public policy goals. State and nonstate actors around the world are increasingly focusing on the possibilities of developing
substantial regionally-defined and –led strategies for development. Mostly associated with theparticular concerns of trade, investment and security, regional associations are increasingly
starting to tackle issues of the relationship between trade, labour and social standards, thequestion of how to maintain fiscal capacity and social solidarity in the face of international
competition, and what action and provision is needed to secure the means of social
participation for the widest number of people. Extending social protection, universalising healthcare, enhancing access to education, and combating human trafficking are all examples ofareas being framed in regional terms with accompanying regional programmes of action.
The EU has the most developed regional social policy, though many regional organisations
have instituted cooperation in the social sector, including cross-border information exchange
and lesson-learning, and measures to facilitate intra-regional labour mobility (removing workvisa

requirements,

mutualrecognition

agreements,andsocialsecurity

portability

agreements). The scope of regional social policy in practice goes beyond creating regional
labour markets. SADC has developed an infrastructure and capacity for regional cooperationon the issues of child labour, communicable diseases and the referral of patients between
member states. CARICOM has competencies around health systems, health labour planning,and communicable diseases. ECOWAS has a regional court of justice adjudicating on national
labour rights, with a track record of cases being successfully brought by citizens against
ECOWAS member states. ASEAN has a regional human rights body. MERCOSUR has
established regional harmonization of pharmaceutical regulation under its access to medicines
initiative. SAARC’s Social Charter enshrines entitlements to basic services and development
goals in poverty alleviation, education, health and the environment. The Andean Community
has instituted regional action on poverty, exclusion and inequality. ALBA finances anti-poverty
activity in member countries and operates trading schemes rooted in the solidarity economy.
SAARC and ASEAN have instituted regional food security schemes which have redistributive
effects.
Regional social policies tend to have progressed faster as exhortative declarations of aims andprinciples rather than as binding regulatory or redistributive mechanisms. But there are some2

notable exceptions, and some real progress has been made in recent years. The symbolic andpractical uses of exhortative policy (such as Social Charters and other declarations of intent)
should not be under-estimated. Exhortative policy can create greater awareness of a range ofcommon issues and a world of possibilities on a wide front. It can be an important precursor
to the development of more substantial regional social policies backed by resources, legal‘teeth’ and stronger political authority. These processes are integral elements in the on-going
construction of democratic and inclusive regional communities.
Strengthening regional action on social development
There are several advantages in strengthening regional social policy. It can help:
1. Amplify the voices of smaller and developing countries in global social and economic
policy;2. Galvanise support for and foster ownership of regionally-defined rules and standards;
3. Pool resources and risks to help scale up social protection, health and education, andbetter respond to disasters and other calls on humanitarian and development aid;
4. Create platforms and fora for members to discuss key regional priorities for regional
action and develop context-specific responses;
5. Harness the economic, fiscal and social benefits of intra-regional trade in support ofregional social policy priorities.
Many have ‘social’ mandates, with (in some cases) a track record of working in partnershipwithin the institutions of global governance as well as with their domestic constituencies.
However, there needs to be far more emphasis on effectively implementing those mandates
on the ground and on providing the resources – human, financial, political – needed to do so.
The success of the SDGs in addressing markers of under-development depends on all
stakeholders, in the South as well as in the North, taking full ownership of those goals andresponsibility for achieving agreed targets. They must also be capable of translating thosegoals and targets into programmes of concerted action attuned to regional contexts. There isa clear and strong potential for regional associations to play a far more prominent role in global
poverty eradication in the future than has been the case to date. If the SDGs are to mean
anything and deliver substantial and effective improvements in the lives of billions of people
around the world, then a new development pact in which regions have a significant presenceneeds to emerge. Southern regional actors have a vital and far stronger role to play in this.

3Regional organisations comprised of a democratic partnership between state and civil society
actors have a key role to play in post-2015 international development by:providing regional and global leadership in developing regional context-specificpriorities supportive of the new global social development goals;channeling promising approaches to poverty eradication from the regional context into
global policy initiatives supported by all development partners;coordinating all development partners nationally and internationally around regionaland national poverty eradication;supporting partnership work through (for example) capacity-building, facilitating
crossborder cooperation - including identifying promising initiatives that can be scaled
up regionally into robust programmes of action;undertaking regular regional monitoring and reporting on progress made (and still to
be made) in achieving goals and targets.

They have the capability of becoming a key feature of global development partnerships, andthey need to become a far more significant focus of the work of the UN system, the WorldBank and regional development banks. According regional associations their rightful share of
global responsibility for
attaining the SDGs necessitates fully integrating them into the governance structures ofinternational organisations attuned to the need to strengthen and embed approaches to socialand economic development underpinned by the values of social inclusivity and democratic
control.
Conclusions
Regional associations have an unrealised potential to increase the quantity and quality of social
investment for global poverty reduction. Already present in the changing South-South andtriangular cooperation landscape and with track records of addressing key issues of social
development and policy, they have a vital role to play in a renewed and strengthened global
partnership for socially-inclusive development cooperation. This is not nor should it be an
exclusively state-led enterprise. National and international civil society organisations andactivists have a crucial stake in this. They have a vital role to play in ensuring that theimplementation framework for the SDGs is not just regionally-attuned and –owned, but alsothat an enhanced role for regional institutions fully develops in a way that contributes topoverty eradication as well as sustainable economic growth and environmental impacts. Citizen
involvement in regional institution building, regional policy development, and regional auditing

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would form part of multi-stakeholder processes and engagement nationally and internationallyin support of poverty eradication, to be facilitated and supported by governments, regional
bodies, and multilateral institutions.
This article is based on PRARI Policy Brief (October 2014) Global Poverty Reduction: What canregional organisations do? PRARI Policy Brief No 3, The Open University, Milton Keynes, which isavailable for free downloading from http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/prari/
The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author and should not be equated with any opinion
held by ICSW Management Committee.



Debates on ageing and human rights in New York reveal a diplomaticstalemate.

The sixth working session of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing was held at the UN
Headquarters in New York from 14 to 16 July 2015. As in the preceding sessions of the Working
Group that took place in 2011-2014, representatives of the Member States, internationalorganizations and civil society organizations came to present views and continue discussions
on demographic ageing and its various dimensions and ramifications. The Member States wereinvited to contribute to the work of the Working Group by presenting “concrete proposals,
practical measures, best practices and lessons learned that will contribute to promoting andprotecting the rights and dignity of older persons”.
Both during the general debate and the interactive exchange of views that took place
afterwards, delegations emphasized how important it was for the United Nations to continue
to address issues related to the protection of the human rights of older persons. When a core
point of contention, the feasibility of a new legal instrument to protect the rights of older
persons was discussed, previously articulated positions of country groups were basicallyreiterated. However, during the general debate and particularly during several panel
discussions organized as part of the session, many prominent panelists took a much bolder
approach, speaking in favour of a new legal instrument in the form of a convention, forinstance. It remains to be seen whether this diplomatic stalemate will be overcome in the near
future.
As in previous years, delegations from the European Union and other developed countries (e.g. Australia, Canada) stressed that greater protection of the human rights of older persons
could be reached through the better and more efficient implementation of existing instruments
and mechanisms, including the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002.

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Conversely, other delegations, particularly from Latin America, strongly supported by theorganizations of civil society and distinguished invited experts, emphasized that the goal of
greater protection could only be reached through a specific international legal instrument
encompassing all of the human rights of older persons.
In spite of those differences, there continued to be important positions common to allparticipants, namely: (a) That, as a result of the increase in the life expectancy and the ageingof the world population, older persons are key actors in our societies from the economic, socialand political points of view. That requires a change of paradigm: older persons should not be
considered passive subjects who only receive assistance from the State, but should rather be
addressed as active participants in the life of society who should be able to fully exercise their
human rights and be treated with dignity and respect; (b) That the existing mechanisms
designed to guarantee the full exercise of the civil, political, social, economic and cultural rightsof older people have flaws, either because there are deficiencies in terms of theirimplementation, as some States maintain, or because there is a normative gap at theinternational level that must be filled through the adoption of a universal legally binding
instrument to address issues such as ill treatment, exclusion, stigmatization, discriminationand the satisfaction of basic needs of older persons. That is why the mandate of the Working
Group is of special relevance and validity, as it is the only intergovernmental mechanism within
the framework of the United Nations established to discuss the best way to increase theprotection of the human rights of older people.
The mandate of the Working Group, itself a political issue, was reaffirmed. Recalling once againthat the mandate has been entrusted to the Working Group by the General Assembly, under
GA resolution 65/182, several participants stressed that the Working Group should dedicate
itself to strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons by examining thecurrent international framework of human rights and determining their possible deficiencies
with regard to the situation of older persons and the best way to improve such deficiencies.
That improvement could be achieved through the study, where applicable, of the viability of
new instruments and measures. At the same time, part of the above mandate is also what theGeneral Assembly decided earlier, namely, that the Working Group should “consider proposals
for an international legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of older
persons, based on the holistic approach in the work carried out in the fields of social
development, human rights and non-discrimination, as well as gender equality and theempowerment of women”. In addition, the request was addressed to the Working Group to6

“present to the Assembly, at the earliest possible date, a proposal containing, inter alia, themain elements that should be included in an international legal instrument to promote andprotect the rights and dignity of older persons, which are not currently addressed sufficiently
by existing mechanisms and therefore require further international protection”.
The fact that different approaches to the feasibility of such a new instrument have beenprevalent among the delegations resulted in disagreements on GA resolution 67/139, which
was adopted not by consensus but by a recorded vote. However, as noted by the Chair in hissummary, that fact “does not mean that it has less value than resolutions adopted byconsensus.. Therefore, beyond any doubt, the provisions of resolution 67/139 are part andparcel of the mandate of the Working Group”. One could say that this important proceduralinterpretation provided a helping hand and a boost to the supporters of the new international
instrument.
Highlighting some of the achievements during the six sessions that the Group has held since2011, the delegates agreed that it was important to revisit key aspects of the situation of thehuman rights of older persons worldwide, also taking note of developments in regional
multilateral processes on the elaboration of legal instruments. In that regard, they were
informed of two crucial developments: the adoption in June 2015 of the Inter-American
Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons and the forthcoming adoption by
the African Union of a protocol on the rights of older persons.
As noted with appreciation this Working Group was the origin of several important initiatives.
For example, as a result of the discussions, the Human Rights Council established a special
mechanism on the topic, and for the second year in a row the delegates have had theopportunity to interact with the Independent Expert Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, whose participation
was highly appreciated. Given that the mandate of the Independent Expert is complementary
to the mandate of the Working Group, it was noted that there is no superposition or duplication.
During the current session several delegations reiterated concrete proposals to address thegaps in implementation, information and monitoring that the Working Group has identified
during the previous sessions. Among those proposals the following could be mentioned: (a)That treaty bodies should incorporate in their respective mandates the issue of the humanrights of older persons, which would entail seeking information from States for inclusion in
their periodic reviews in order to facilitate specific recommendations in the concluding
observations of the treaty bodies and the highlighting of issues related to ageing in their

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general observations; (b) That the special procedures mechanisms of the Human Rights
Council consider issues related to the human rights of older people in their mandates; (c) That
Member States make the best use of the universal periodic review to address issues related toageing; (d) That funds and programmes of the United Nations system and the specialized
agencies systematically include targets and indicators relating to older people; (e) That
Member States include language relating to the rights of older persons in resolutions anddocuments of various intergovernmental bodies; (f) That the rights of older persons behighlighted in the post-2015 development agenda. In that respect, participants in the Working
Group had the opportunity to exchange views on the importance of designing adequate
indicators that are methodologically sound, relevant, measurable, timely, accessible and easy
to interpret. The indicators should encompass all population groups and be age-sensitive andbe based on disaggregated data, and identify the indicators that are more suited to measurespecifics relating to older persons; (g) That a comprehensive compilation of all applicable legal
instruments be made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Summing up the debate and drawing attention to the above, very concrete proposals, theChair of the Working Group, Mr. Mateo Estrémé (Argentina), made a powerful push for theelaboration of the new legal instrument such as a convention, recommending to forward the
proposals for action by the General Assembly and other relevant bodies. He eloquently
articulated his position as follows: “I hope that delegations will be open to considering thoseissues when we negotiate the specific resolution on ageing in the seventieth session of theAssembly. Last year, in my closing remarks, I invited the Working Group to work in two parallel
tracks: one, to continue identifying the gaps of implementation, and two, to start working on
the elements of a new international legal instrument. This year we have received a number of
proposals containing concrete elements for an international legal instrument for the protectionof the human rights of older persons. Those contributions and others that we might receive inthe upcoming months could constitute the basis for our future work on a possible legal
instrument. I am fully aware that there are countries that would not like to talk about aconvention, and I use the word “convention” deliberately because I am convinced that weshould get used to saying it in this Working Group without misgivings. At the same time, I am
also aware that an increasing number of delegations and a unanimous and clear voice comingfrom civil society are requesting us to undertake the task of elaborating a convention. Can we
continue turning a deaf ear to those calls? Can we ignore that part of our mandate? My
response to both questions is no. A clear no, simple and without ambiguities. That is why I
invite you all to start working on the text of a legal instrument. We can debate whether this is8the most fitting format in which to perform the negotiations, or if we should establish a special
committee, an ad hoc working group or some other format. We can debate the modalities ofsuch negotiations. We can debate the timing of the negotiations and the inputs that could be
used as a basis for our future work. What we cannot do is continue saying that the United
Nations is not the place to negotiate a specific convention on the rights of older persons. The
Organization has negotiated all human rights multilateral legal instruments that are currently
in force. The approach we used to build this impressive human rights structure wasprogressive, but from the beginning the ultimate goal was to guarantee that the protection
and promotion of human rights is for all human beings, without any kind of distinctions. This,in my view, is the next natural step in the long path that began with the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. I invite you to undertake thiscollective effort in favour of the more than one billion older persons of today and the morethan six billion older persons of tomorrow. This cause should unite us and not divide us. We
did it in the past; we can do it again now.
Before concluding, I would like to refer to the role of civil society and its participation in theproceedings of the Working Group. You have conveyed a clear message to us. I would like toassure you that we have heard your positions and that we took note of your request to start
the process of negotiating a convention. We will continue to interact with, receive suggestions
and seek advice from non-governmental organizations working with older persons. I would liketo reiterate my suggestion that representatives of the civil society of our countries and regions
be included in our national delegations. In my opinion, the Working Group has clearly
determined that multiple instances of violations of the human rights of older persons exist
everywhere. Such violations should not be accepted or tolerated. We must now decide on how
to translate that commitment into a more adequate framework for international protection.”
For more information please go to:
http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/235/92/PDF/N1523592.pdf?OpenElement
UN webcast is available at:
http://m.webtv.un.org/watch/6th-meeting-open-ended-working-group-on-ageing-6thworking-session-14-16-july-2015/4363602165001



Millennium Development Goals in their complexity: the final UN report9As is widely admitted, the global mobilization behind the Millennium Development Goals has
produced the most successful anti-poverty movement in history. The final MDG-2015 reportsubmitted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs documents the 15-year effort
to achieve these aspirational goals, highlighting the many successes across the globe, but also
acknowledging the remaining gaps.
One of the key conclusions of the report is that by putting people and their immediate needs
at the forefront, the MDGs have reshaped decision-making in developed and developing
countries alike. The framework of eight goals was accompanied by practical steps at thenational level, helping to lift more than one billion people out of extreme poverty, to makeinroads against hunger, to enable more girls to attend school than ever before and to protect
our planet. The joint effort of all stakeholders generated new and innovative partnerships,
galvanized public opinion and showed the immense value of setting ambitious goals.
The present report presents data collected by UN agencies and other partners that summarize
the MDGs- related achievements. First and foremost, extreme poverty has declined
significantly over the last two decades. In 1990, nearly half of the population in the developingworld lived on less than $1.25 a day; that proportion dropped to 14 per cent in 2015. Globally,
the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half, falling from
1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015. Some other achievements are equally impressive.
For example, the primary school net enrolment rate in the developing regions has reached 91
per cent in 2015, up from 83 per cent in 2000. The number of out-of-school children of primaryschool age worldwide has fallen by almost half to an estimated 57 million in 2015, down from
100 million in 2000. Many more girls are now in school compared to 15 years ago. The
developing regions as a whole have achieved the target of eliminating gender disparity inprimary, secondary and tertiary education. Women now make up 41 per cent of paid workers
outside the agricultural sector, an increase from 35 per cent in 1990.
The global under-five mortality rate has declined by more than half, dropping from 90 to 43
deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015.

Despite population growth in thedeveloping regions, the number of deaths of children under five has declined from 12.7 million
in 1990 to almost 6 million in 2015 globally. Since 1990, the maternal mortality ratio has
declined by 45 per cent worldwide, and most of the reduction has occurred since 2000. In
Southern Asia, the maternal mortality ratio declined by 64 per cent between 1990 and 2013,10and in sub-Saharan Africa it fell by 49 per cent. More than 71 per cent of births were assisted
by skilled health personnel globally in 2014, an increase from 59 per cent in 1990.
New HIV infections fell by approximately 40 per cent between 2000 and 2013, from anestimated 3.5 million cases to 2.1 million. By June 2014, 13.6 million people living with HIV
were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) globally, an immense increase from just 800,000
in 2003. ART averted 7.6 million deaths from AIDS between 1995 and 2013. Over 6.2 million
malaria deaths have been averted between 2000 and 2015, primarily deaths of children underfive years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The global malaria incidence rate has fallen by an
estimated 37 per cent and the mortality rate by 58 per cent.
Ozone-depleting substances have been virtually eliminated since 1990, and the ozone layer is
expected to recover by the middle of this century. Terrestrial and marine protected areas inmany regions have increased substantially since 1990. In Latin America and the Caribbean,
the coverage of terrestrial protected areas rose from 8.8 per cent to 23.4 per cent between
1990 and 2014.
In 2015, 91 per cent of the global population is using an improved drinking water source,compared to 76 per cent in 1990. Of the 2.6 billion people who have gained access to improved
drinking water since 1990, 1.9 billion gained access to piped drinking water on premises. Over
half of the global population (58 per cent) now enjoys this higher level of service.
Official development assistance from developed countries increased by 66 per cent in realterms between 2000 and 2014, reaching $135.2 billion.

In 2014, Denmark, Luxembourg,

Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom continued to exceed the United Nations official
development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income. In 2014, 79 per centof the imports from developing to developed countries were admitted duty free, up from 65
per cent in 2000. The proportion of external debt service to export revenue in developing
countries fell from 12 per cent in 2000 to 3 per cent in 2013. As of 2015, 95 per cent of theworld’s population is covered by a mobile-cellular signal.

The number of mobile-cellularsubscriptions has grown almost tenfold in the last 15 years, from 738 million in 2000 to over7 billion in 2015. Internet penetration has grown from just over 6 per cent of the world’s
population in 2000 to 43 per cent in 2015. As a result, 3.2 billion people are linked to a global
network of content and applications.

11Despite many successes, says the report, the plight of the poorest and most vulnerable people
cannot be overlooked. Millions of people are being left behind, especially the poorest andthose disadvantaged because of their sex, age, disability, ethnicity or geographic location.
Targeted efforts will be needed to reach the most vulnerable people.
Gender inequality persists. Women continue to face discrimination in access to work, economic
assets and participation in private and public decision-making. Women are also more likely tolive in poverty than men. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the ratio of women to men inpoor households increased from 108 women for every 100 men in 1997 to 117 women forevery 100 men in 2012, despite declining poverty rates for the whole region. Women remain
at a disadvantage in the labour market. Globally, about three quarters of working-age men
participate in the labour force, compared to only half of working-age women. Women earn 24
per cent less than men globally. In 85 per cent of the 92 countries with data on unemployment
rates broken down by the level of education for the years 2012–2013, women with advanced
education have higher rates of unemployment than men with similar levels of education.
Despite continuous progress, today the world still has far to go towards equal gender
representation in private and public decision-making.
Big gaps exist between the poorest and richest households. Between rural and urban areas in
the developing regions, children from the poorest 20 per cent of households are more than
twice as likely to be stunted as those from the wealthiest 20 per cent. Children in the poorest
households are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the richest households.
Under-five mortality rates are almost twice as high for children in the poorest households asfor children in the richest. In rural areas, only 56 per cent of births are attended by skilled
health personnel, compared with 87 per cent in urban areas. About 16 per cent of the rural
population do not use improved drinking water sources, compared to 4 per cent of the urban
population. About 50 per cent of people living in rural areas lack improved sanitation facilities,
compared to only 18 per cent of people in urban areas.
Climate change and environmental degradation undermine progress achieved, and poor
people suffer the most. Global emissions of carbon dioxide have increased by over 50 per centsince 1990. Addressing the unabated rise in greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting likely
impacts of climate change, such as altered ecosystems, weather extremes and risks to society,remains an urgent, critical challenge for the global community. An estimated 5.2 million
hectares of forest were lost in 2010, an area about the size of Costa Rica. Overexploitation of12marine fish stocks led to declines in the percentage of stocks within safe biological limits, downfrom 90 per cent in 1974 to 71 per cent in 2011. Species are declining overall in numbers anddistribution. This means that they are increasingly threatened with extinction. Water scarcity
affects 40 per cent of people in the world and is projected to increase. Poor people’s livelihoods
are more directly tied to natural resources, and as they often live in the most vulnerable areas,
they suffer the most from environmental degradation.
Conflicts remain the biggest threat to human development. By the end of 2014, conflicts had
forced almost 60 million people to abandon their homes—the highest level recorded since theSecond World War. If these people were a nation, they would make up the twenty-fourthlargest country in the world. Every day, 42,000 people on average are forcibly displaced andcompelled to seek protection as a result of conflicts, almost four times the 2010 number of
11,000. Children accounted for half of the global refugee population under the responsibilityof the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2014. In countries affected byconflict, the proportion of out-of-school children increased from 30 per cent in 1999 to 36 percent in 2012. Fragile and conflict-affected countries typically have the highest poverty rates.
Millions of poor people still live in poverty and hunger, without access to basic services.
Despite enormous progress, even today, about 800 million people still live in extreme poverty
and suffer from hunger. Over 160 million children under age of five have inadequate height
for their age owing to insufficient food. Currently, 57 million children of primary school age are
not in school. Almost half of global workers are still working in vulnerable conditions, rarely
enjoying the benefits associated with decent work. About 16,000 children die each day before
celebrating their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes. The maternal mortality ratio
in the developing regions is 14 times higher than in the developed regions. Just half of pregnant
women in the developing regions receive the recommended minimum of four antenatal carevisits. Only an estimated 36 per cent of the 31.5 million people living with HIV in the developing
regions were receiving ART in 2013. In 2015, one in three people (2.4 billion) still use
unimproved sanitation facilities, including 946 million people who still practise open defecation.
Today, over 880 million people are estimated to be living in slum-like conditions in thedeveloping world’s cities. With global action, these numbers can be turned around.
The global community stands at a historic crossroads in 2015, concludes the UN report. As the
MDGs are coming to their deadline, the world has the opportunity to build on their successes
and momentum, while also embracing new ambitions for the future we want. A bold new13

agenda is emerging to transform the world to better meet human needs and the requirementsof economic transformation, while protecting the environment, ensuring peace and realizing
human rights. At the core of this agenda is sustainable development, which must become aliving reality for every person on the planet.
For more information please go to:
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20%28J
uly%201%29.pdf

Useful resources and links.

1) John J. Kirton and Ella Koktsis. The Global Governance Change: G7, G20 and
UN leadership. Ashgate Publishing, 2015
Climate change control has risen to the top of the international agenda. Failed efforts, centredin the UN, to allocate responsibility have resulted in a challenge now reaching crisis stage. This
topical book written by Canadian scholars John J. Kirton and Ella Kokotsis synthesizes a richarray of empirical data, including new interview and documentary material about the G7/8 andG20 governance of climate change, and makes a valuable contribution to understanding the
dynamics of governing climate change.
For more details:
http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754675846
2) Stephen Kidd. Establishing Comprehensive National Old Age Pension Systems,
KfD Development Bank, July 2015
The publication describes and explains the policy options available to developing countries
committed to offering universal pension coverage and maximizing the incomes of older people.
Taking into account that only 48 per cent of the world’s older persons have access to pension,
this paper presents a basic model of a pension system comprising up to three tiers that canbe adapted to the circumstances of all countries.
For more details:
https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/PDF/Download-Center/Materialien/Nr.-8_establishingcomprehensive-national-old-age-pension-systems.pdf
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