Commission staff working document - Progress made on the Millennium Development Goals and key challenges for the road ahead accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A twelve-point EU action plan in support of the Millennium Development Goals {COM(2010) 159} {SEC(2010) 419} {SEC(2010) 420} {SEC(2010) 421} {SEC(2010) 422}
Date: 2010-04-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: AIDS, development plan, development policy, environmental protection, hunger, infant mortality, international cooperation, poverty, primary education, sexual discrimination

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 21.4.2010 
SEC(2010) 418 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Progress made on the Millennium Development Goals and key challenges for 
the road ahead 

accompanying the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

A twelve-point EU action plan in support of the Millennium Development Goals 

{COM(2010) 159} 
{SEC(2010) 419} 
{SEC(2010) 420} 
{SEC(2010) 421} 
{SEC(2010) 422} 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER ONE: The Millennnium Development Goals (MDGs): what progress 

has been made?........................................................................................................... 4 

1.1 

1.2 

a) 

b) 

What the MDGs are… and what they are not …? ....................................................... 4 

What progress has been made on the MDGs?.............................................................. 5 

Some significant progress, but insufficient and highly uneven ................................... 5 

A focus on fragile countries ......................................................................................... 7 

1.3 

The impact of the financial/economic crisis on developing countries ......................... 8 

a) 

b) 

c) 

Impact on economic development................................................................................ 8 

A fragile recovery......................................................................................................... 9 

Impact on social development.................................................................................... 10 

CHAPTER TWO: Lessons to be learnt from EU support for the MDGs ........................ 12 

2.1 

a) 

b) 

c) 

d) 

e) 

f) 

h) 

MDGs: some general lessons ..................................................................................... 12 

Economic growth is essential for progress on the MDGs, so the global economic 
context is critical. ....................................................................................................... 12 

But economic growth is not sufficient to ensure sustainable progress on the 
MDGs ......................................................................................................................... 13 

Ownership and sound domestic policies are crucial to success ................................. 13 

Improving the quality of donor development policies is also important.................... 13 

Good governance and democracy are important to MDG progress........................... 13 

Increased emphasis on equity and social justice is linked to MDG progress ............ 14 

ODA is crucial to foster MDG progress..................................................................... 14 

2.2 

The EU’s role in promoting the MDGs...................................................................... 14 

a) 

b) 

The MDGs at the centre of EU development policy .................................................. 14 

EU stories of good practice in support of the MDGs................................................. 15 

CHAPTER THREE: Key challenges to ensuring MDG progress by 2015....................... 28 

3.1 

3.2 

3.3 

Challenge No 1: Tackling the continued effects of the economic and financial 
crisis ........................................................................................................................... 29 

Challenge No 2: Fostering MDG ownership in developing partners......................... 29 

Challenge No 3: Unleashing the potential of the private sector for human 
development ............................................................................................................... 30 

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3.4 

3.5 

3.6 

3.7 

3.8 

3.9 

Challenge No 4: Focusing on the most off-track goals and countries ....................... 31 

Challenge No 5: Addressing fragility ........................................................................ 31 

Challenge No 6: Increasing emphasis on equity and social justice ........................... 33 

Challenge No 7: Climate change and environmental stress....................................... 33 

Challenge No 8: Demographic growth ...................................................................... 34 

Challenge No 9: Improved access to energy.............................................................. 34 

ANNEX A ................................................................................................................................ 36 

ANNEX B ................................................................................................................................ 49 

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CHAPTER  ONE:  THE  MILLENNIUM  DEVELOPMENT  GOALS  (MDGS):  WHAT 

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE?  

1.1 

What the MDGs are… and what they are not …? 

The  Millennium  Development  Goals  (MDGs)  constitute  the  first  ever  set  of  shared 
development  goals  at  international  level,  on  which  there  is  an  unprecedented  level  of 
consensus. This unique, relatively simple, and wide-ranging framework of goals, targets 
and  indicators  has  become  a  rallying  point  to  combat  world  poverty  in  its  different 
dimensions. 

The MDGs constitute a set of eight goals, 18 quantifiable and time-bound targets and 48 
indicators to be achieved (mostly) by 2015. Goals 1 to 7 address different dimensions of 
poverty, such as hunger, disease, lack of education and inadequate access to clean water 
and sanitation. Goal 8 sets out the global responsibility of the international community to 
support the achievement of the other goals, particularly in the areas of aid, debt, trade and 
access to information and communication technologies and essential drugs1. 

The MDGs should not be perceived as a disparate set of sectoral targets and indicators, 
however.  They  are  interdependent  and  are  mutually  reinforcing.  Inequalities  in  child 
mortality (MDG 4), for example, reflect the depth of poverty children experience as well 
as  unequal  access  to  nutrition  (MDG  1).  The  MDGs  should  be  integrated  within 
comprehensive  and  coherent  development  strategies,  as  both  economic  and  social 
development is needed to foster sustainable MDG progress. There is no dichotomy in this 
regard.  Investment  in  infrastructure  such  as  roads  and  energy  facilities  and  a  sound 
business  environment  are  crucial  to  sustainable  development  and  effective  health  and 
education systems. 

Assessing  the  impact  of  the  MDG  framework  in  changing  behaviours,  policies  and 
resource  allocation  and  in  improving  development  outcomes  is  very  complex,  not  only 
because of lack of research and evaluation but also because of the multiplicity of factors 
and  interactions  influencing  development  processes  over  time.  However,  there  is  a 
largely  shared  consensus  that  the  MDGs  have  played  an  essential  political  role  in 
galvanising international effort and mobilising support for development, particularly after 
the dramatic decline in aid and slow rates of development experienced in many countries 
during the 1990s2. 

At  country  level,  the  MDGs  have  provided  a  general  framework  allowing  developing 
countries 
their  social,  economic  and  environmental  development  and 
monitor/track  progress  over  time,  sometimes  on  the  basis  of  targets  and  indicators 

to  plan 

1 

2 

In 2007, the MDG monitoring framework was revised to include four new targets for employment 
and  decent  work,  reproductive  health,  access  to  HIV/AIDS  treatment  and  loss  of  biodiversity, 
agreed  by  member  states  at  the  2005  World  Summit  and  recommended,  in  2006,  by  the  UN 
Secretary-General in his report on the work of the organisation. The current framework therefore 
comprises eight goals, 21 targets and 60 indicators (see Annex). 
Francois Bourguignon et al. (2008) in the EU research paper ‘Millennium Development Goals at 
Midpoint: Where do we stand and where do we need to go?’   
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/2008.11.06%20MDG_long_paper_en.pdf 

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specifically adapted to reflect their local reality. They have also had a positive influence 
on data collection and helped donors to focus on results. The MDGs have proven to be an 
effective  advocacy  and  communication  tool  for  political  decision  makers  and  civil 
society  actors  to  raise  the  profile  and  generate  commitments  and  pledges  for 
development.3 

At the same time, the ‘limits’ of the MDG framework should be considered. The MDGs 
do not provide recipes or prescriptions for how to foster development progress. Nor do 
they  capture  and  reflect  exhaustively  all  the  different,  and  sometimes  very  context-
specific, dimensions of development and poverty. The MDGs constitute a benchmark of 
global goals that have to be adapted at regional and country level. 

1.2 

a) 

What progress has been made on the MDGs4? 

Some significant progress, but insufficient and highly uneven 

Over the last two decades, the world has made strong and sustained progress in reducing 
extreme  poverty  as  well  as  on  other  goals  such  as  universal  primary  education,  gender 
equality in primary education, and access to water.  

Some encouraging progress… 

- The overarching MDG goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015 is still within reach on 
the  basis  of  current  projections.  Worldwide,  extreme  poverty  decreased,  in  terms  of 
people affected, from 1.8 billion to 1.4 billion between 1990 and 2005, though there are 
strong regional disparities. 

-  Enrolment  in  primary  education  reached  88  per  cent  in  2007,  up  from  83  per  cent  in 
2000. Major breakthroughs have been achieved in sub-Saharan Africa, where enrolment 
increased by 15 percentage points from 2000 to 2007, and Southern Asia, which gained 
11 percentage points over the same period. 

-  Deaths  among  children  under  five  have  declined  steadily  worldwide,  to  8.8million  in 
2008,  down  from  12.6  million  in  1990,  despite  population  growth.  In  2008,  the  global 
under-five mortality rate was 65 deaths per 1 000 live births, down from 93 in 1990. 

-  Coverage  rates  for  insecticide-treated  bed  nets  to  counter  malaria  have  tripled  since 
2000.  Globally,  deaths  from  measles  fell  by  over  60 %  between  2000  and  2005,  with 
striking gains in Africa, where measles deaths decreased by nearly 75 % over the same 
period — from an estimated 506 000 to 126 000. 

3 

4 

Richard  Manning,  ‘Using  indicators  to  encourage  development:  lessons  from  the  Millennium 
Development Goals’, DIIS Report 2009:01.  
http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/Reports2009/DIIS_Report_20091_Using_indicators_to_
encouragedevelopment.pdf 
A more detailed table highlighting progression each goal and target is annexed. 

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- 87 % of the global population now have improved sources of drinking water, compared 
to  77 %  in  19905.  Current  trends  suggest  that  more  than  90 %  of  the  global  population 
will be using improved drinking water sources by 2015. 

However, recent analyses and reports from the UN and the World Bank6, together with 
the  EU’s  own  analysis,  show  that  progress  has  been  highly  uneven  among  regions, 
countries and population groups, and that we are still off-track at global level on several 
targets such as maternal mortality, child mortality and access to sanitation. Sub-Saharan 
Africa in particular is off-track on all MDG targets. 

…But progress is insufficient and uneven so far 

- In 2009, the number of chronically hungry persons topped the 1 billion mark, while at 
least  another  2  billion  are  undernourished.  South  Asia  has  the  highest  rates  of 
malnutrition. One third of the world’s 150 million malnourished children live in India. 

-  Large  gaps  still  remain  in  access  to  education  and  completion  rates,  with  significant 
inequalities  based  on  gender,  ethnicity,  income,  language  or  disabilities.  72  million 
children of primary school age were not in school in 2007. Seven out of ten such children 
out of school live in sub-Saharan Africa or South and West Asia. 

-  There  has  been  little  improvement  in  maternal  mortality  since  1990,  with  still  450 
deaths  per  100 000  live  births  in  developing  regions  in  2005.  Together,  sub-Saharan 
Africa and Southern Asia account for 85 % of all maternal deaths.  

- Despite the overall decrease in the number of new infections, the total number of people 
living with HIV worldwide continues to grow (which is partly due to increased survival 
because  of  increased  coverage  with  anti-retroviral  treatment).  The  number  of  people 
living  with  HIV  globally  now  stands  at  33.4  million.  Sub-Saharan  Africa  remains  the 
worst  affected  region,  accounting  for  71 %  of  all  new  HIV  infections  in  2008.  In  sub-
Saharan Africa, women outnumber men 3 to 1 among 15-24 year olds with HIV. 

-  Between  1990  and  2006,  the  proportion  of  people  without  improved  sanitation 
decreased  by  only  8 %7.  More  than  2.5  billion  people  remain  without  improved 
sanitation, and at the current rate of progress the MDG sanitation target will be missed 
for  over  700  million  people.  The  lowest  sanitation  coverage  is  found  in  sub-Saharan 
Africa,  where  only  31 %  of  the  population  has  improved  sanitation,  up  just  5 %  since 
1990.  

5 

6 

7 

World  Health  Organisation  and  United  Nations  Children’s  Fund  (2008)  Joint  Monitoring 
Programme:  Progress  on  Drinking  Water  and  Sanitation:  Special  Focus  on  Sanitation.  WHO: 
Geneva. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2008/en/index.html 
UN  MDG  Report  2009,  http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_Report_2009_ENG.pdf; 
World Bank Global Monitoring Report 2009, www.worldbank.org/gmr2009. 
World  Health  Organisation  and  United  Nations  Children’s  Fund  (2008)  Joint  Monitoring 
Programme:  Progress  on  Drinking  Water  and  Sanitation:  Special  Focus  on  Sanitation.  WHO: 
Geneva. 

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Some  progress  has  been  made  over  the  last  years  towards  fulfilling  the  global 
commitments embodied in MDG 8 which sets the Global Partnership for Development. 
On debt relief for instance, 35 of the 40 countries that were deemed potentially eligible 
for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative had qualified 
(decision point) by the end of March 2009. They are expected to receive debt relief of US 
$57.3 billion as well as US $23.6 billion in additional relief under the Multilateral Debt 
Relief  Initiative  (MDRI),  both  measured  in  terms  of  end-2008  values.  Overall,  for  the 
average developing country, the burden of servicing external debt fell from almost 13 % 
of export earnings in 2000 to 4 % in 2007 (prior to the financial crisis). Good progress 
has  also  been  made  in  the  years  prior  to  the  crisis  regarding  the  access  of  the  world’s 
population  to  information  and  communication  technologies  (ICT),  especially  cellular 
telephones.  During  2007,  Africa  added  over  65  million  new  mobile  subscriptions  and 
mobile  penetration  had  risen  to  close  to  one  third  of  the  population,  from  just  1  in  50 
people in 2000. 

However, the last MDG Gap Task Force Report (2009) shows that the Global Partnership 
for  Development  has  suffered  important  setbacks  recently,  most  of  which  have  arisen 
from  the  global  financial  and  economic  crisis.  On  the  basis  of  2008  ODA  figures,  an 
additional  US  $35  billion  would  be  needed  this  year  to  meet  the  Gleneagles  G8  ODA 
target by 2010, of which an extra US$ 20 billion for Africa alone. Regarding access to 
medicines,  people  in  developing  countries  currently  pay  in  average  three  to  six  times 
more  than  international  reference  prices  for  the  cheapest  generic  medicines.  On  trade, 
only 80 % of least developed country (LDC) exports have acquired so far duty-free status 
in  industrialized  country  markets,  while  the  2005  World  Trade  Organization  (WTO) 
Hong  Kong  Ministerial  Declaration  foresees  to  allow  97%  duty-free  access  to  imports 
from the poorest countries (except arms and oil).  

In  the  countdown  to  2015,  urgent  responses  will  therefore  be  needed  to  bridge  the 
existing implementation gaps8. 

b) 

A focus on fragile countries 

Fostering  sustainable  progress  towards  the  MDGs  is  particularly  challenging  in 
‘situations  of  fragility’,  where  ‘the  social  contract  between  the  population  and  state 
structures has been broken due to the state’s incapacity and/or unwillingness to deal with 
its  basic  functions  and  responsibilities’9.  Many  of  the  world’s  poorest  countries  can  be 
described as ‘fragile’, the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa. One third of 
the world’s poor are living in so-called ‘fragile states’10. Fragile  countries  also  account 
for one third of maternal deaths worldwide.  

Overall,  fragile  countries  display  poor  human  development  records.  Recent  analyses 
show that fragile countries have significantly lower yardsticks for the broad set of MDG 
targets and indicators in relation to other developing countries. The first European Report 
on  Development  (ERD  2009)  indicates  a  strong  negative  correlation  between  fragility 

8 
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10 

MDG Gap Task Force Report 2009, http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/. 
See Doc. 15118/07 of 20 November 2007. See also the Commission Communication Towards an 
EU response to situations of fragility - COM(2007) 643, 25.10.2007. 
European  Report  on  Development  2009,  ‘Overcoming  fragility  in  Africa  —  Forging  a  new 
European approach’, http://erd.eui.eu/erd-2009. 

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and MDG performance11. Using the CPIA (Country Policy and Institutional Assessment) 
classification, the last World Bank Global Monitoring Report (2009) also shows clearly 
that  MDG  performance  has  so  far  been  much  lower  in  fragile  and  conflict-affected 
countries (see figure below)12. 

1.3 

The impact of the financial/economic crisis on developing countries  

While the immediate impact of the financial crisis is now behind us, its consequences for 
the  real  economy  of  developing  countries  will  be  long-lasting,  threatening  not  only  the 
achievement of the MDGs by 2015, but also undermining past progress. 

a) 

Impact on economic development 

Virtually all developing countries have been struck by the global financial and economic 
crisis  much  harder  than  expected  initially.  Although  they  have  been  relatively  spared 
from  the  direct  effects  of  the  financial  crisis,  they  have  been  severely  affected  as  the 
crisis  has  spread  throughout  the  highly  globalised  and  inter-connected  world  economy, 
mainly through trade and financial market channels. 

The specific impact of the crisis, combined with the effects of the previous food and fuel 
shocks,  varies  greatly  among  countries,  depending  on  a  combination  of  factors  such  as 
the  regional-national  context, 
the  degree  of 
vulnerability  and  resilience  to  external  economic  shocks,  as  well  as  the  action  taken  in 
response.  

the  economic  situation  pre-crisis, 

Countries  heavily  dependent  on  external  finance  and  with 
limited  economic 
diversification  are  those  that  have  been  the  hardest  hit  by  the  crisis.  Fragile  countries 
have also been strongly affected, especially because of their lack of resilience, meaning 

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is 

For a detailed analysis of this issue, see: Harttgen and Klasen, ‘Fragility and MDG Progress: how 
useful 
the  ERD  2009, 
http://erd.eui.eu/publications/erd-2009/background-papers/fragility-and-mdg-progress/. 
World Bank Global Monitoring Report 2009. www.worldbank.org/gmr2009 

research  paper  produced 

fragility  concept?’, 

the 

for 

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the  capacity  to  cope  with  and  recover  from  shocks  through  the  design  and 
implementation of appropriate policy responses13.  

Since the outbreak of the crisis, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in developing countries 
has decelerated sharply, with an average growth rate of only 1.2 % in 2009 (down from 
5.6 %  in  2008  and  8.1 %  in  2007)14.  In  sub-Saharan  Africa  in  particular,  growth  fell  to 
1.1 % in 2009. This is a major setback in comparison with the impressive average growth 
rates above 5 % experienced since 2000 (e.g. 5.1 % in 2008 and 6.5 % in 2007). 

Virtually  all  emerging  and  developing  countries  have  been  deeply  affected  by  reduced 
trade  volumes  as  well  as  falling  and  volatile  commodity  prices.  In  Eastern  Africa  for 
instance, the World Bank notes a sharp reduction in agricultural earnings due to reduced 
exports  of  cotton  from  Tanzania  and  a  drop  of  nearly  25 %  in  the  price  of  coffee  in 
Rwanda15. 

Recently, commodity prices have staged a comeback and world trade is beginning to pick 
up, so some developing countries are well placed to recover in 2010. However, the near-
term  outlook  for  commodity  prices  depends  on  the  timing  and  strength  of  the  global 
recovery. 

In  addition,  many  developing  countries  have  also  been  severely  affected  by  decreasing 
remittances,  albeit  with  notable  regional  differences.  According  to  the  World  Bank, 
remittance  flows  to  developing  countries  plummeted  by  6.1 %  in  2009,  falling  to  $ 317 
billion  from  $ 338  billion  in  2008.  Latest  projections  foresee  a  modest  recovery  in 
remittance flows in 2010 and 2011, but they are still unlikely to reach the levels of 2008. 

Other  private  capital  flows,  including  Foreign  Direct  Investment  (FDI),  have  also 
dropped significantly due to a tightening of liquidity in global financial markets. For Low 
Income  Countries  (LICs),  private  capital  flows  represent  a  significant  relative  share  of 
their  national  income  and  investment,  and  the  cutbacks  are  expected  to  curtail  their 
growth prospects as well as their ability to meet their huge financing needs16. 

b) 

A fragile recovery 

Recently, there have been some first signs of mild recovery at global level, due notably to 
the  strong  performance  of  Asian  economies  and  stabilisation  or  modest  recovery 
elsewhere  (including  in  the  US  and  Western  Europe).  Global  growth  is  expected  to 
expand  by  3.9 %  in  2010  and  4.3 %  in  201117.  While  growth  in  advanced  countries  is 
expected to average 2.1 % in 2010 and 2.4 % in 2011, growth in emerging and developing 

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14 

15 

16 

17 

European  Report  on  Development  2009  p.  6.,  Overcoming  fragility  in  Africa  —  Forging  a  new 
European approach. http://erd.eui.eu/erd-2009 
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/2008.11.06%20MDG_long_paper_en.pdf 
World  Bank,  ‘Global  Economic  Prospects  2010  -  Crisis,  Finance  and  Growth’,  January  2010. 
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGEP2010/Resources/GEP2010-Full-Report.pdf 
World  Bank,  ‘Protecting  Progress:  The  Challenge  Facing  Low-Income  Countries  in  the  Global 
recession’, September 2009. 
The  World  Bank  assesses  the  total  financing  needs  of  all  developing  countries  at  around  $ 1.2 
trillion  in  2010.  Sub-Saharan  Africa’s  financing  needs  represent  close  to  12 %  of  GDP  (World 
Bank, GEP 2010). 
IMF, ‘World Economic Outlook — Update’, 26 January 2010. 

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economies is expected to rise to about 6 % in 2010. According to the latest World Bank 
estimates, growth in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to rise to 4.3 % in 2010. 

The IMF warns however that the global recovery remains very fragile since prospects are 
very uncertain. In particular, concerns remain about the strength of the financial system 
and the sustainability of the recovery once fiscal and monetary stimuli are phased out. 

The  monitoring  of  trade  restrictive  measures  carried  out  so  far  by  international  bodies 
such  as  the  World  Trade  Organization  (WTO)  or  the  Organization  for  Economic 
Cooperation  and  Development  (OECD)  shows  that  the  recourse  to  trade  distorting 
measures  as  a  response  to  the  economic  crisis  has  been  relatively  limited.  In  order  to 
maintain  this  trend,  extreme  vigilance  will  be  needed  to  ensure  that  protectionist 
tendencies do not undermine the economic recovery process. 

c) 

Impact on social development 

As both internal and external sources of development finance dry up and fiscal situations 
deteriorate, it is more difficult for developing countries to fund infrastructure and social 
services.  Past  experience  shows  that  economic  downturns  tend  to  have  severe  and 
lagging  impacts  on  poverty,  health,  education  and  employment,  with  sometimes  long-
term consequences for human capital. 

The global economic crisis threatens the past gains already made on the MDGs but the 
precise magnitude of the impact is still difficult to estimate and will vary from country to 
country.  However,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  social  effects  of  the  crisis  will  be 
particularly felt in Low Income Countries because of their limited resources to maintain 
levels of public spending and to respond to needs emerging from the crisis, as well as the 
absence or weakness of mechanisms to cushion the effects of shocks on ordinary people 
(such as unemployment benefits or social security arrangements).  

Because  of  the  succession  of  food  and  financial/economic  crises,  the  pace  of  poverty 
reduction has already significantly slowed. The World Bank estimates that the financial 
and  economic  crisis  could  have  pushed  around  55  million  more  people  into  extreme 

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poverty in 2009, and some 64 million people by the end of 2010. This is in addition to 
the 130-155 million people who were already pushed into poverty in 2008 as a result of 
the  food  crisis.  The  number  of  poor  people  is  expected  to  rise  in  more  than  half  of  all 
developing  countries,  two-thirds  of  low-income  countries,  and  three-quarters  of  sub-
Saharan African countries (see figure below)18. 

The decrease in government revenues may also force many poor countries to cut public 
resources  allocated  to  social  spending,  notably  on  nutrition,  health  and  education. 
Prospects  are  particularly  grave  for  child  mortality.  UNICEF  estimates  that  child 
malnutrition  and  infant  mortality  might  increase  with  between  200 000  and  400 000 
additional deaths in 2009. Women, children, the poor, and minority groups are expected 
to  suffer  disproportionately  from  the  health  impacts  of  the  crisis19.  The  World  Bank’s 
preliminary findings indicate that social spending has been largely protected so far20, and 
in  some  countries  social  safety  nets  have  even  been  extended  (for  example  in  Yemen, 
Ethiopia, and the Philippines). 

With  regard  to  unemployment,  the  number  of  jobless  worldwide  reached  nearly  212 
million in 2009 following an unprecedented increase of 34 million compared to 200721. 
The  global  unemployment  rate  for  2009  is  estimated  at  6.6 %.  The  global  youth 
unemployment rate reached 13.4% the same year.  

The ILO also stresses that the number of women and men in vulnerable employment22 is 
estimated to have increased by as much as 110 million in 2009 compared to 2008. The 
share  of  workers  in  vulnerable  employment  worldwide  is  now  estimated  at  over  1.5 
billion,  equivalent  to  over  half  of  the  world’s  labour  force.  Even  more  alarmingly,  the 
ILO warns that 633 million workers and their families were living in absolute poverty in 

18 
19 

20 
21 

22 

World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2009. www.worldbank.org/gmr2009 
African Centre for Gender and Social Development (AGCS), ‘African perspectives of the Global 
Economic and Financial Crisis, including the impact on health’, 2009. 
World Bank Global Monitoring Report 2010, preliminary publicity, March 2010. 
International  Labour  Organisation,  ‘Global  Employment  Trends  2010’,  January  2010. 
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---
emp_elm/trends/documents/publication/wcms_120471.pdf 
Vulnerable  employment  is  often  characterised  by  inadequate  earnings,  low  productivity  and 
difficult conditions of work that undermine workers’ fundamental rights. 

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2008, with as many as 215 million additional workers living on the margin and at risk of 
falling into poverty in 2009. 

CHAPTER TWO: LESSONS TO BE LEARNT FROM EU SUPPORT FOR THE MDGS 

2.1 

MDGs: some general lessons 

In order to make progress on the MDGs, it is important to identify and analyse success 
stories, which policies work and how best those policies can be implemented, using both 
country-level  evidence  and  specific  examples.  This  helps  to  identify  why  certain 
countries and regions are progressing well on the MDGs while others are stagnating or 
lagging  behind,  and  what  lessons  might  be  drawn  in  order  to  design  strategies  to 
accelerate progress on the MDGs.  

Each situation is context-specific, and there is great variability between countries, regions 
within  countries  and  between  sectors  in  terms  of  what  works  and  what  does  not  in 
making progress towards the MDGs. Extreme caution is therefore needed when trying to 
identify  good  practice  and  successful  approaches  and  in  considering  scaling  up  or 
replicating successful approaches in other contexts. 

It must be borne in mind that treating poverty as a multi-dimensional issue emphasises 
the interrelatedness and mutually reinforcing nature of the individual MDG goals.  

Interesting  general  lessons  can  be  drawn,  however,  and  there  are  ample  illustrations  of 
interventions that have supported country-led progress towards the MDGs.  

General lessons with respect to progress towards the MDGs 

a) 

Economic  growth  is  essential  for  progress  on  the  MDGs,  so  the  global 
economic context is critical. 

The impact that sustained economic growth has on poverty reduction will depend on the 
level of inequality in a country. For example, India, which has consistently experienced 
high growth rates, only saw a reduction in poverty from 51 % to 42 % between 1990 and 
2005  (and  an  increase  in  the  absolute  numbers  living  in  poverty).  Studies  have  shown 
that growth can make a major contribution to poverty reduction23, but changes in income 
distribution are important too24.  

The instability of the global economic context, as illustrated by the recent food and fuel 
crises and the current economic crisis, has been a serious obstacle to progress towards the 
MDGs. This has highlighted the need to tackle the challenges of reducing vulnerability 
and enhancing resilience at the level of both countries and individual people. 

23 

24 

Dollar and Kraay, 2001, ‘Growth is Good for the Poor’, Policy and Research Working Paper, The 
World Bank. Kraay, A. (2006), ‘When is Growth Pro-Poor? Evidence from a Panel of Countries’, 
Journal of Economics 80, 198-227. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science 
Paul Collier, 2007. ‘The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and what can be 
done about it’, Oxford University Press. 
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Economics/Developmental/?view=usa&ci=97801
95311457 

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b) 

But  economic  growth  is  not  sufficient  to  ensure  sustainable  progress  on  the 
MDGs 

To  achieve  the  MDGs,  countries  will  need  to  improve  the  structure  and  quality  of 
economic  growth  as  well  as  make  appropriate  changes  to  national  development 
strategies.  Countries  need  to  ensure  that  poor  people  gain  from  economic  progress  and 
are protected in difficult times. Concrete measures such as social protection help tackle 
chronic poverty and cushion populations against economic shocks.  

c) 

Ownership and sound domestic policies are crucial to success 

It is important to encourage ownership of the MDGs in partner countries. Key domestic 
factors  influencing  MDG  progress  include  domestic  budget  allocation  to  MDG  sectors, 
the  relevance  of  domestic  policies  in  MDG-related  areas,  and  ‘good  governance’  in 
public financial management and efforts to tackle corruption and promote democracy. It 
is  also  important  to  assist  developing  countries  with  the  tools  they  need  to  mobilise 
domestic  resources  effectively,  including  through  promoting  the  principles  of  good  tax 
governance.  Ensuring  leadership  by  developing  countries  themselves  is  important  – 
including  by  ensuring  that  the  MDGs  are  incorporated  into  national  development 
strategies  -  including  specific  goals  in  policy  documents  such  as  Poverty  Reduction 
Strategy Papers. 

For  example, 
the  Comprehensive  African  Agriculture  Development  Programme 
(CAADP)  is  the  African  Union’s  own  programme  for  addressing  MDG  1  on  food 
security. African governments have committed to raising agricultural productivity by 6 % 
per year by increasing investment in agriculture to 10 %of national budgets. So far, Chad 
Ethiopia,  Madagascar,  Mali,  Namibia  and  Niger  have  met  or  surpassed  the  10 %  goal. 
Kenya,  Malawi,  Rwanda  and  Zambia,  have  already  boosted  their  agriculture  budgets 
significantly in pursuit of the 10 % target. A high level of ownership is seen as critical in 
CAADP’s relative success. 

d) 

Improving the quality of donor development policies is also important 

Development-related policies pursued by all relevant actors are important. This includes 
both  MDG-related  sectoral  policies  and  other  policies  that  address  issues  that  inhibit 
sustainable  pro-poor  development.  Trade,  migration,  agricultural,  environmental, 
financial and many other EU policies can have an impact on the capacity of developing 
countries to attain the MDGs. ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ is an important EU 
approach in this regard25.  

e) 

Good governance and democracy are important to MDG progress 

Poor  and  disempowered  people  struggle  to  meet  their  basic  needs  and  are  the  most 
vulnerable.  Increasing  the  voice  of  the  people  through  democratic  structures  holds 
government  to  account.  Citizen  monitoring  of  MDG  progress  may  engender  political 
commitment and prevent the reversal of MDG gains already achieved. 

25 

See PCD Work Programme 2010-2013 - SEC(2010) 421, 20.4.2010. 
http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/programmes/docs/execution_report_2009.pdf 

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f) 

Increased emphasis on equity and social justice is linked to MDG progress 

Inequalities  in  life  chances  based  on  income,  gender,  age,  social  exclusion  and 
geographic  location  underpin  the  distribution  of  extreme  poverty  among  and  between 
populations. Persistent inequalities also undermine progress on the MDGs — acting as a 
brake  on  progress.26  Addressing  gender  equality  and  women's  empowerment  and 
marginalised  groups  by  adopting  a  human  rights-based  approach  to  the  MDGs  also 
addresses the social and structural barriers to progress on the MDGs. National capacities 
should  be  built  for  disaggregated  data  collection.  Equity-based  targets  and  reporting 
systems, for example, could strengthen the MDGs on nutrition and child mortality. Civil 
society  actors  can  play  an  important  role  in  providing  basic  services  to  the  most 
marginalised groups of population and/or in remote areas where governments are either 
reluctant or unable to operate. 

g) 

Environmental sustainability needs to be given adequate attention 

is 

The  depletion  of  natural  capital  resulting  from  unsustainable  management  of  natural 
resources 
in  many  ways  undermining  development  efforts.  Environmental 
sustainability, including maintenance of ecosystems services which are important for the 
poor,  is  crucial  for  MDG  progress.  Maintaining  healthy  ecosystems,  resistant  to  stress, 
and  avoiding  non-reversible  damage,  is  necessary  for  securing  economic  growth  and 
reaching  the  MDGs  in  the  face  of  resource  depletion  and  global  environmental 
challenges. 

h) 

ODA is crucial to foster MDG progress 

Aid remains a powerful tool through which the international community can bring about 
progress  on  the  MDGs  by  easing  budget  constraints,  building  capacities  and  fostering 
domestic policy reforms, and by having a ‘leverage’ effect on economic growth. Indeed, 
development aid is more important than ever, since the financial crisis has reduced other 
sources  such  as  private  capital  flows,  remittances  and  export  revenues  to  developing 
countries. We need not only to increase the volume of aid, but also to increase the quality 
of aid. EU Member States are committed to delivering 0.7 % of gross national income in 
Official Development Aid (ODA) by 2015 in support of the MDGs. Global progress also 
needs  to  be  made  in  implementing  the  Paris  Declaration  and  the  Accra  Agenda  for 
Action  (2008)  commitments.  New  binding  commitments  on  aid  effectiveness  will  be 
discussed at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Seoul in 2011.  

2.2 

The EU’s role in promoting the MDGs 

a) 

The MDGs at the centre of EU development policy  

As  stated  in  the  European  Consensus  on  Development  (2005)27,  the  primary  and 
overarching  objective  of  EU  development  cooperation  is  to  eradicate  poverty  in  the 

26 

27 

F.  Bourguignon  et  al.  (2008)  in  the  EU  research  paper  ‘Millennium  Development  Goals  at 
Midpoint: Where do we stand and where do we need to go?’   
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/2008.11.06%20MDG_long_paper_en.pdf 
The European Consensus on Development, (December 2005), 
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/eu_consensus_en. 

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including  pursuit  of 

context  of  sustainable  development, 
the  UN  Millennium 
Development  Goals.  The  EU  —  as  the  provider  of  60 %  of  global  aid  flows  —  has 
always shown strong and proactive leadership on sustainable development and the MDGs 
in  international  fora.  To  foster  sustainable  progress  on  the  MDGs,  the  EU  supports 
comprehensive  development  strategies  beyond  MDG-focused  policies,  which  include 
democratic governance, human rights protection and the rule of law, pro-poor economic 
growth, private sector development, trade development, human and social development, 
and environmental sustainability. 

Recognising  the  need  for  more  concrete  and  better  coordinated  actions  to  speed  up 
progress  towards  the  MDGs,  an  EU  Agenda  for  Action  on  MDGs28  identified  in  June 
2008  a  number  of  intermediate  milestones  to  be  reached  by  2010  to  meet  the  MDG 
targets  by  2015,  as  well  as  examples  of  EU  actions  to  reach  these  targets  and  the 
expected  outcomes  in  terms  of  increased  EU  aid  in  the  sectors  concerned.  It  builds  on 
and  is  consistent  with  the  work  of  the  UN  Secretary  General's  MDG  Africa  Steering 
Group29,  in  which  the  Commission  participates.  Since  2009,  EU  Member  States  have 
recorded  concerted  action  in  support  of  the  MDGs  in  the  annual  Monterrey  reporting 
process. 

b) 

EU stories of good practice in support of the MDGs 

What has been the impact of EU development support on MDG progress in developing 
partner countries? The question is complex, as it is extremely challenging to isolate the 
effects of external support from other factors, whether domestic or international, which 
influence development progress.  

Sector-specific budget support can help deliver predictable, performance-based results in 
areas such as health and education. Key criteria to be met by recipient governments for 
general  and  sector  budget  support  are  commitment  to  poverty  reduction,  accountability 
and positive performance on macroeconomic and financial governance as well as sound 
sector policy for sector budget support. 

The  European  Commission  has  adopted  an  innovative  approach  to  provide  budget 
support with a clear link to MDG outcomes through ‘MDG Contracts’. These ‘Contracts’ 
provide  longer-term  (6-year),  more  predictable  commitments  of  budget  support  that 
enable governments to plan their strategies and budgets to achieve the MDGs. In 2009, 
the  Commission  launched  MDG  Contracts  in  8  countries  (Burkina  Faso,  Ghana,  Mali, 
Mozambique,  Rwanda,  Tanzania,  Uganda,  and  Zambia),  with  total  commitments 
 1.8 bn, or 50 % of all general budget support programmed during EDF10.  
amounting to €

MDG 1 — Poverty and Hunger 

28 

29 

EU Agenda for Action on the MDGs (June 2008), 
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st11/st11096.en08.pdf. 
The  MDG  Africa  Steering  Group  was  convened  in  September  2007  and  brings  together  the 
leaders  of  multilateral  development  organisations  (including  the  European  Commission)  to 
identify  the  practical  steps  needed  to  achieve  the  Millennium  Development  Goals  and  other 
internationally agreed development goals in Africa. More information: http://www.mdgafrica.org/. 

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Millions of people are trapped in poverty, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and South 
Asia. Limited education and ill health deprive people of productive livelihoods. Depleted 
environmental  resources,  conflict  situations  and  poor  governance  also  deepen  poverty. 
Political  will  to  tackle  global  hunger  and  malnutrition  is  now  high30.  Overall,  the 
achievements  under  this  goal  are  promising  though  less  so  on  hunger  with  over  50 
countries having made insufficient progress to reach the target by 2015. 

To address poverty and hunger we need increasingly to focus on areas that are harder to 
reach and on chronic poverty. We know that while sustained per capita income growth 
will, for example, alleviate malnutrition in Sub-Saharan African, achieving the MDG 1 
targets  will  require  not  just  increasing  agricultural  production  but  also  complementary 
measures  such  as  targeted  income  and  food  transfers,  and  targeted  measures  to  protect 
vulnerable  households  from  floods  and  drought.  Social  Protection  measures  including 
cash  transfer  programmes  to  sustain  the  poorest  and  most  marginalised  families  can 
change the structure of opportunities and help reduce the intergenerational transmission 
of poverty and inequality. For example, it is estimated that direct cash transfers in Brazil, 
including  social  pensions  and  the  Bolsa  Familia,  accounted  for  half  of  the  fall  in 
inequality between 1995 and 2007.  

 830 million and spent more than €

The EU and its Member States have largely contributed to the international response to 
the food crisis. For instance, the launching of the ‘Food Facility’ has demonstrated the 
EU’s  ability  to  react  rapidly  and  substantially  to  food  security  problems  in  developing 
 1  billion  Food 
countries  caused  by  the  food  price  volatility  of  2007/08.  Thus  far,  the  €
Facility  is  the  most  significant  additional  global  contribution  to  stimulating  agricultural 
development and fighting hunger since the G8 leaders pledged their support to this end in 
Toyako in July 2008 and l’Aquila in 2009. The Food Facility was approved in December 
2008 and began to be implemented in 2009. In the course of the year, the EU committed 
 450 million. The Facility operates in 50 
more than €
target  countries  and  supports  projects  and  programmes  implemented  by  international 
organisations,  NGOs,  Member  State  agencies  and  national  governments.  It  focuses  on 
three types of actions: (i) measures to improve access to agricultural inputs and services; 
(ii)  safety  net  measures;  and  (iii)  small-scale  measures  aiming  to  increase  agricultural 
production.  Research  plays  an  essential  role  for  the  attainment  of  the  MDGs.  In  that 
regard, the Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology Theme of the 7th Framework 
Programme  for  Research  and  Development  (FP7)  has  already  allocated  at  least  €200 
million on MDG related research and plans in 2010 to spend an additional €190 million 
on  52  topics  jointly  identified  with  our  Partners  in  developing  countries  and  emerging 
economies  in  the  area  of  food  security  and  of  the  impact  of  climate  change  on 
agriculture.  

Example of EU programme support for food security and livelihood recovery in the 
Eastern Harrarghe zone of Oromia state in Ethiopia  

In the Eastern Harrarghe zone of Oromia state in Ethiopia, the International Committee 
for the Development of Peoples has been implementing a series of relief, rehabilitation 
and development programmes through funds secured mainly from the EU. The European 

30 

In 2009, donors pledged $22 billion over the next three years for agriculture and food security. 

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Commission (EC) contribution is €
 4 336 243. The EC has also provided 19 113 tonnes of 
food.  The  programme  is  contributing  to  long-term  self-reliance  and  is  reducing  both 
structural and transitory food insecurity among the target communities.  

The  specific  programmes  financed  by  the  EC  in  the  zone  include:  rehabilitation  and 
extension of water points in Gursum; community-based water supply to improve health 
status in Gursum and Babile; promotion of food security and economic development in 
Babile;  employment  generation  schemes  and  construction  of  relief  food  outlets;  and 
integrated food security programmes.  

The  project  has  raised  the  household  incomes  of  beneficiaries,  increased  vegetable 
production  and  productivity,  and  improved  the  capacity  of  target  beneficiaries,  local 
communities  and  government  partners  to  manage  project  interventions  effectively  and 
sustainably.  Beneficiaries  no  longer  need  to  sell  assets  to  buy  food  and  are  consuming 
more food or better quality food than before the advent of the programme. 

Access  to  modern  and  affordable  energy  services  is  a  prerequisite  for  achieving  the 
MDGs, in particular for poverty eradication. In that regard, the EU Energy Initiative for 
Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development (EUEI) was launched in 2002 as a 
joint commitment by the EU Member States and the Commission to give priority to the 
important role of energy in poverty alleviation, and is a catalyst for action. This Initiative 
is meant to raise political awareness among decision makers, to encourage the coherence 
and  synergy  of  energy-related  activities  and  to  attract  new  resources    from  the  private 
sector,  financial  institutions,  civil  society  and  end-users.  In  addition,  the  ACP-EU 
Energy Facility has been established in 2005 in order to support projects on increasing 
access to sustainable and affordable energy services for the poor living in rural and peri-
urban areas in ACP countries. Almost seven million people have already benefited from 
the  74  projects  co-financed  by  the  first  Energy  Facility.  After  the  successful 
implementation  of  this  first  Energy  Facility,  a  second  Energy  Facility  call  has  been 
launched  in  2009  with  a  total  budget  of  more  than  200  million  €.  In  order  to  support 
developing  countries  in  creating  a  sustainable  energy  supply,  the  Facility  focuses  on 
renewable energies.  

MDG 2 — Universal Primary Education 

Education gives people the opportunity to overcome poverty, lead healthy and productive 
lives  and  contribute  to  global  stability  and  prosperity.  Countries  with  more  educated 
populations enjoy higher rates of economic growth. One additional year of schooling is 
associated with a 0.37 % increase in GDP. A child who completes ten years of education 
will  earn,  on  average,  ten  times  more  over  a  lifetime  than  a  child  who  dropped  out  of 
school in the first grade.  

According  to  the  UNESCO  Education  for  All  Global  Monitoring  Report  2010,  many 
countries are close to achieving universal primary enrolment. Currently, 89 % of school 
age  children  are  enrolled  in  school.  Fewer  children  were  out  of  school  in  2007  (72 
million) than in 2000. Since 1999, the number of children not attending school has fallen 
by  33  million  and  more  children  are  completing  a  full  cycle  of  primary  education. 
Ethiopia  and  Tanzania,  for  example,  have  each  reduced  their  numbers  of  out-of-school 
children  by  3  million  since  the  Education  for  All  conference  in  Dakar  in  1999.  The 

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enrolment of girls at primary level is close to parity: the gender gap has closed with 96 
girls  of  primary  school  age  in  school  for  every  100  boys.  Nepal  and  Bangladesh  have 
increased enrolment of girls and the disadvantaged, for example. 

Education  must  be  relevant  and  meaningful  to  have  an  impact  on  welfare-promoting 
outcomes such as health, gender equality and economic growth. However, many children 
in  developing  countries  leave  school  lacking  basic  literacy  and  numeracy  skills31. 
Achieving MDG 2 requires an enabling environment both in and out of school, including 
nutritional  and  health  aspects,  a  relevant  curriculum,  trained  teachers  in  sufficient 
quantity, school leadership, and community involvement and accountability32. Improving 
learning outcomes requires the recruitment of 10.3 million more teachers by 2015. Public 
sector reform is important too to improve teachers’ pay, management and conditions, and 
it is important to ensure that the decentralisation of education management is adequately 
resourced. 

More  needs  to  be  done  to  remove  the  barriers  to  access  and  to  make  education  more 
inclusive. Within countries, children from the richest households are up to 5 times more 
likely  to  be  enrolled  that  those  from  the  poorest.33  Measures  to  increase  access  by 
abolishing primary school fees have rapidly increased the numbers of children in school. 
Malawi (1994), Uganda (1997), Tanzania (2001) and Kenya (2003) have taken this step, 
enabling  more  than  one  million  extra  children  in  each  country  to  enrol  in  primary 
school34.  However,  governments  have  found  they  cannot  sustain  such  high  levels  of 
enrolment and at the same time provide education of sufficient quality. Enrolment levels 
have  thus  subsequently  fallen  (Uganda  84 %  1997  –  76 %  2000;  Malawi  98 %  1999  – 
91 % 2006). 

Evaluations of programmes have shown that the European Commission has contributed 
to  increasing  access  to  primary  education  significantly  in  a  range  of  countries  (Lao 
PDR,  Angola,  Vietnam)  through  infrastructure  provision.  In  countries  such  as  India, 
where  the  approach  has  been  wider  but  the  focus  still  on  enrolment,  recent  evaluation 
reports suggest that there is nearly full access in terms of children attending school and 
there being schools in every locality. Access for children of all groups and localities has 
been expanded primarily by building new schools, expanding existing schools by adding 
classrooms,  and  spreading  the  net  of  Education  Guarantee  Schemes  (EGS)  and 
alternative  school  centres.  The  number  of  out-of-school  children  aged  6-14  years  has 
been  reduced  from  25  to  14  million  and  the  existing  gender  and  social  gaps  have  been 
narrowed so that the enrolment of girls is now equal to that of boys. 78 % of girls were 
 3 billion  has  been  invested  in  the  District 
enrolled  between  2001  and  2006.  Over  €
Primary  Education  Programme  and  the  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA)  education 
programme, to which the EC has contributed around €

 350 million. 

EU support for the Education Fast Track Initiative (FTI) 

31 
32 

33 
34 

EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/en/efareport 
‘More  and  Better  Education  in  Developing  Countries’,  Commission  Staff  Working  Document 
SEC(2010) 121. 
EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2010. UNESCO. www.efareport.unesco.org 
UN MDG Report 2009. www.unoorg/millenniumgoals 

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In  2002,  the  FTI  was  launched  as  a  compact  between  donors  and  partner  countries  to 
‘ensure  that  all  countries  with  a  serious  commitment  to  achieving  Universal  Primary 
Education can receive support to realise their aims’. The FTI is an example of a platform 
for aid effectiveness in education, a framework to align support with national education 
sector plans, and to help mobilise funding for these plans. The EU (Member States and 
the Commission), the driving force behind the Initiative both politically and financially 
since its inception, has a critical role to play in the strategic development of the Initiative 
to  ensure  it  fulfils  its  potential  for  greater  impact.  This  entails  not  only  assisting  well-
performing countries with a credible sector plan but also addressing the education needs 
in  fragile  countries.  40  countries  are  endorsed  to  date.  The  FTI  Catalytic  Fund  is 
supported by eighteen donors, thirteen of them EU Member States. Total pledges to the 
Catalytic Fund (2003-2013) as of 5 October 2009 amount to US$ 1.6 billion, 90 % of this 
from the EU (Member States and the Commission).1 According to the recent evaluation 
of the FTI the number of children enrolled in schools in African FTI countries increased 
by 64 % between 2000 and 2007, which is double the increase in non-FTI countries. The 
FTI  has  successfully  maintained  a  focus  on  country  ownership,  promoted  aid 
effectiveness  principles,  and  built  on  country  processes  and  structures.  It  has  financed 
critical gaps in some countries which would otherwise be unaddressed. 

MDG 3 — Gender Equality 

Gender equality underpins progress on all the MDGs. Gender inequality limits women’s 
rights  and  opportunities,  their  personal  security,  their  access  to  public  services  and 
economic  resources,  and  political  power.  MDG  3  tracks  progress  in  three  important 
areas:  girls’  enrolment  in  primary,  secondary  and  tertiary  education;  women’s  share  in 
wage  employment  in  the  non-agriculture  sector;  and  the  proportion  of  seats  held  by 
women in national parliaments. 

The gender target recognises that education for girls is one of the most effective ways of 
reducing poverty. Children of educated mothers are healthier, better nourished and more 
likely to survive. The gender gap is slowly closing in school enrolment in the developing 
world.  The  net  enrolment  ratio  (NER)  for  girls  in  primary  school  (as  a  proportion  of 
boys’ NER) improved from a global average of 88 % in 1991 to 97 % in 2006. However, 
completion rates are lower. In sub-Saharan Africa, school completion rates were as low 
as 55 % for girls and 65 % for boys in 2006. This is reflected in female literacy. Women 
make up around 64 % of the estimated 774 million illiterate adults in the world. Globally, 
only 77 % of adult women are literate compared to 87 % of men. 

More  than  half  the  children  out  of  school  are  girls.  Removing  the  social  and  economic 
obstacles that stop parents from sending their daughters to school is a priority. For many 
poor families the economic value of girls’ work and care responsibilities at home exceeds 
the perceived returns to schooling. Girls’ education may also be affected by social norms 
that encourage early marriage and condone gender-based violence. In Nigeria, which has 
23 % of the total of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, 48 % of girls from the 
poorest quintile in the poorest state have never attended school.35 Pakistan only enrols 80 
girls  per  every  100  boys  in  primary  education,  and  the  figures  are  even  lower  in  Mali, 

35 

EFA Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2009. UNESCO. 

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Niger, and Chad. In some countries, boys are disadvantaged, especially in Latin America 
and the Caribbean. 

Progress is being made, however, with 59 out of 176 countries having achieved gender 
parity in both primary and secondary education.36 

Achieving MDG 3 also requires progress in: political participation; access to and control 
over productive assets and employment opportunities; access to health and other services; 
and  protection  from  violence.  Unequal  treatment  of  women  and  girls  puts  them  at  a 
disadvantage throughout their lives and affects the wellbeing of society at large. Illiterate 
and poorly educated mothers are less able to care for their children. Low education levels 
and  responsibilities  for  household  work  prevent  women  from  finding  productive 
employment  or  participating  in  public  decision-making.  Worldwide,  as  of  September 
2008, women occupied just over 18 % of the seats in single and lower houses of national 
parliaments,  a  negligible  increase  over  the  previous  year.  Indian  girls  are  61 %  more 
likely  than  boys  to  die  between  the  ages  of  1  and  5,  due  to  neglect.  Gender  is  also  a 
significant factor in the HIV epidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa, women outnumber men 3 
to 1 among 15-24 year olds with HIV. 

In  Swaziland,  EC  support  has  been  given  to  the  implementation  of  the  Convention  on 
the  Elimination  of  all  Forms  of  Discrimination  against  Women  (CEDAW),  which  the 
Government  of  Swaziland  ratified  in  March  2004.  The  implementation  of  CEDAW  is 
also  identified  as  a  priority  area  in  the  Country  Strategy  Paper  and  National  Indicative 
Programme for the period 2001-2007 under the 9th European Development Fund (EDF). 
The Gender Programme is a response to the pervasive gender inequality and violation 
of rights experienced by women in Swaziland. It is implemented by the Government of 
Swaziland and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The programme has: 
supported the ratification and implementation of CEDAW; strengthened the capacity of 
the  national  gender  coordinating  unit  in  the Deputy  Prime  Minster’s  office;  undertaken 
an  audit  of  legislation  and  its  alignment  with  CEDAW  and  the  Constitution;  enhanced 
civil society advocacy on CEDAW and Human Rights; increased the capacity of women 
parliamentarians;  and  supported  CEDAW-related  training,  information  and  advocacy 
tools. 

36 

EFA Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2009. UNESCO. 

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EU  Support  for  promoting  the  participation  of  girls  in  universal  elementary 
education in India 

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme, India’s flagship initiative to universalise 
elementary education in the country, puts a crucial focus on girls’ education and gender 
equity. EU support for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was €
 200 million in 2002-02 and will be 
 70 million from 2008-13, including sector budget support from the EC. 

While the programme addresses all children in the 6-14 age group, it continues to have a 
special  focus  on  ensuring  gender  and  social  equity,  with  targeted  initiatives  for  the 
participation of girls and disadvantaged communities. Two specialised schemes for girls, 
concentrating  on  educationally  disadvantaged  'blocks',  have  helped  to  accelerate  girls’ 
enrolment and participation. As a result, the gender parity index rose from 0.90 in 2003-
04  to  0.94  in  2008-09  at  primary  level  and  from  0.82  and  0.91  at  upper  primary  level 
over  the  same  period.  The  percentage  of  girls  out  of  school  has  declined  from  7.9 % 
(2005)  to  4.6 %  (2009).  Particularly  noteworthy  is  the  progress  made  by  some  of  the 
more  challenging  states.  Rajasthan,  for  example,  reduced  the  gender  gap  from  17 %  in 
2001 to 10 % in 2008-09. The policy of moving towards a 50 % share of female teachers 
has now ensured that 74 % of all schools have at least one female teacher. Over 53 % of 
all schools now have separate toilets for girls. 

Health MDGs 

The  EU  is  promoting  an  integrated  approach  to  MDGs  4,  5  and  6  to  strengthen  the 
capacity of health systems to provide essential services, to develop managerial skills in 
the sector, to support reforms, and to train health workers. The EU supports in particular 
the  approach  of  the  International  Health  Partnership  (IHP)  in  applying  the  Paris 
Declaration  principles  in  the  health  sector,  ensuring  external  resources  serve  to 
strengthen the national health system through alignment behind a robust country strategy 
and plan. 

Reducing  financial  barriers  to  access  for  health  systems  also  increases  the  rate  of 
progress on the MDGs. In September 2009, 6 countries pledged to abolish  user  fees to 
support health systems that deliver quality services free at the point of use37.  

MDG 4 — Child Mortality 

The number of deaths among children under 5 years old decreased from 12.5 million in 
1990 to less than 9 million in 2008. The under-five mortality rate fell from 90 deaths per 
1 000 live births to 65 deaths per 1 000 live births over the same period, but progress is 
insufficient.  Most  deaths  of  children  under  five  years  old  are  attributable  to  acute 
respiratory  infections  (mostly  pneumonia),  malaria,  measles,  diarrhoea,  HIV/AIDS  and 
neonatal conditions — which can all be prevented by existing interventions. Promoting 
the  use  of  insecticide-treated  bed  nets  to  help  prevent  malaria,  for  example,  has  been 

37 

United Nations General Assembly high-level event on health, 23 September 2009. Nepal, Malawi, 
Ghana,  Liberia,  Burundi  and  Sierra  Leone  announced  that  they  would  expand  access  to  health 
services, giving ten million more people access to free health care. 

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€
                                                 
shown to reduce under-five mortality rates  by  up  to 20 %, which would prevent almost 
half a million child deaths each year in sub-Saharan Africa. 

While improved public health plays a vital role in reducing child mortality, action is also 
required  to  improve  nutrition,  gender  equality,  education,  and  household  incomes. 
Malnutrition increases the risk of dying of disease, and over half of all child deaths occur 
in children who are underweight. 

There is a clear relationship between child mortality and poverty. Poor families are often 
unable  to  obtain  even  the  most  basic  healthcare  for  their  children;  they  usually  suffer 
most from food scarcity and lack of access to a safe water source or adequate sanitation. 
Children in the wealthiest 20 % of households are twice as likely to survive as those in 
the poorest 20 %. 

Improved immunisation coverage has averted child deaths 

Countries that have adopted well-known and effective anti-measles strategies including: 
Botswana, Malawi, South Africa and Namibia, have reduced measles deaths to near zero 
since  2000.  Globally,  deaths  from  measles  fell  by  over  60 %  between  2000  (873 000 
deaths)  and  2005  (345 000  deaths).  The  most  striking  gains  were  in  Africa,  where 
measles  deaths  decreased  by  nearly  75 %  over  the  same  period  -  from  an  estimated 
506 000  to  126 000.  Improved  immunisation  coverage  in  Bangladesh  has  averted  over 
two million child deaths in the last two decades, in a cost-effective manner. . In less than 
10  years  since  its  founding,  the  GAVI  Alliance  (formerly  the  Global  Alliance  for 
Vaccines and Immunisation) - a global partnership that funds expanded immunisation for 
children in poor countries - has helped prevent an estimated 3.4 million deaths, according 
to the World Health Organisation (WHO). European Union donors have contributed 1/3 
of GAVI’s public funding over the last 10 years38. 

MDG 5 — Maternal Health 

Maternal  health  is  the  MDG  that  is  most  off  track,  and  where  the  widest  discrepancies 
exist  between  the  richer  and  the  poorer  countries.  At  global  level,  maternal  mortality 
decreased by less than 1 % per year between 1990 and 2005, far below the 5.5 per cent 
annual  improvement  needed  to  reach  the  MDG  target.  Unsafe  abortion  is  one  of  the 
leading  causes  of  maternal  mortality  and  morbidity,  resulting  each  year  is  68.000 
maternal deaths and millions of women suffering from complications. 4 out of 5 maternal 
death  are  the  direct  results  of  obstetric  complications,  most  of  which  could  be  averted 
through delivery with skilled birth attendance (SBA) and access to emergency obstetric 
care. 

Health systems need to be strengthened to provide the required maternal health services. 
Maternal mortality can be reduced in low-income settings by increasing access to skilled 
attendants,  emergency  obstetric  care  and  family  planning  services,  as  shown  in 
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Since 1990, every region has made progress in antenatal care 

38 

Gates Foundation: Progress Towards Immunisation: Winning the Fight Against Deadly Diseases, 
Living Proof Project, September 2009. 
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/livingproofproject/Documents/progress-towards-maternal-
newborn-child-health.pdf 

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— a core component of maternal health services. Even in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 
two thirds of women receive antenatal care at least once during pregnancy. 

The Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health 

The  vast  majority  of  maternal  deaths  can  be  prevented.  Improving  access  to 
comprehensive family planning could reduce the number of maternal deaths by about a 
third, and safe terminations could avoid an estimated 68.000 deaths. The Maputo Plan of 
Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, supported by the EU, promotes 
universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services in Africa and 
was  unanimously  agreed  by  African  Union  Health  Ministers  in  September  2006.  The 
Plan  of  Action  includes  support  for  better  family  planning,  improved  contraceptive 
commodity security, and action to reduce unsafe abortion. There are ongoing challenges 
to implementation, but major milestones were attained within the first two years of the 
Plan  of  Action.  Twenty-seven  countries  have  developed  Maternal  and  Newborn  Health 
Road Maps, and several countries report progress in scaling up linkages between Sexual 
and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS, implementing and expanding family planning, 
passing  laws  to  protect  women  against  violence,  and  criminalising  harmful  practices 
against women. 

EU  support  for  improving  health  outcomes  through  a  comprehensive  approach  to 
strengthening health systems — the case of Zambia 

The health sector in Zambia has benefited from an enabling environment with acceptable 
levels  of  democracy,  stability,  and  political  will,  with  Zambia  meeting  the  Abuja 
targets for health expenditure (15 % national budget allocation to health). Funding 
to  the  health  sector  is  internationally  aligned,  and  predictable  support  (mainly  basket 
funding and budget support, with the exception of The US President's Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund) has increased overall public on-budget 
 20  per  capita.  A  sector-wide  approach  has  been  set  up  with  the 
funding  above  €
participation of civil society organisations, there have been reforms in human resources 
in  the  health  sector,  and  health  user  fees  have  been  abolished  in  rural  areas  for  basic 
services.  Zambia  has  also  seen  an  increase  in  the  uptake  and  completion  of  basic 
education,  with  progress  in  gender  equity,  sustained  economic  growth  (pre-crisis)  and 
improved household economy over the last decade. Recent demographic health surveys 
show progress on the MDGs and reduced infant and maternal mortality. Universal access 
targets for anti-retroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS are also being met in Zambia. There are 
problems,  however,  such  as  a  disrupted  TB  control  programme,  public  financial 
management  weaknesses  and  some  equity  challenges.  The  EU  has  contributed 
predictable general and sector budget support, funded complementary actions on health 
system  priorities,  health  human  resource  policies  and  health  information  systems, 
supported  civil  society  actions  and  participation,  and  fostered  a  dedicated  and 
experienced  health  sector  dialogue.  Zambia  can  now  report  that  80 000  children  do  not 
die every year thanks to advances in health conditions and access to health services. This 
result is due to a comprehensive national health strategy and to substantial political and 
domestic finance commitments to health. 

MDG 6 — Combating HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases 

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There  is  a  growing  political  commitment  and  momentum  to  fighting  HIV  and  AIDS 
through  a  mixture  of  prevention  and  treatment  strategies.  There  have  been  many 
successes  in  the  AIDS  response,  including  increases  in  HIV  treatment  coverage  and 
prevention  of  mother-to-child  transmission  services,  and  there  are  indications  that  HIV 
incidence  is  declining  in  some  regions.  Globally,  the  coverage  of  services  to  prevent 
mother-to-child HIV transmission rose from 10 % in 2004 to 45 % in 200839, and the drop 
in  new  HIV  infections  among  children  in  2008  suggests  that  these  efforts  are  saving 
lives. 

The number of HIV-related deaths has declined by over 10 % over the past five years, as 
more  people  have  gained  access  to  life-saving  treatment.  UNAIDS  and  WHO  estimate 
that since the availability of effective treatment in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been 
saved. In Botswana, where treatment coverage is 80 %, AIDS-related deaths have fallen 
by over 50 % over the past five years, and the number of newly orphaned children is also 
coming down as parents are living longer.  

Young women are particularly affected. In South Africa, young women (aged 15 to 24) 
are four times as likely to be HIV-infected than young men. However, prevention efforts 
are  not  keeping  pace  with  the  changing  face  of  the  epidemic.  Data  show  that  few  HIV 
prevention  programmes  exist  for  people  over  25,  married  couples  or  people  in  stable 
relationships,  widowers  and  divorcees.  Funding  for  HIV  prevention  has  become  the 
smallest  percentage  of  HIV  budgets  in  many  countries.  In  Ghana  for  example,  the 
prevention  budget  was  cut  in  2007  by  43 %  from  the  2005  level40.  Stigma  and 
discrimination also stop people from taking up preventive services and testing, disclosing 
their status, and seeking treatment and care. Globally, five people are becoming infected 
with HIV for every two people accessing treatment41.  

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) 

The Global Fund has increased access to anti-retroviral therapy. At the end of 2008, four 
million  people  were  estimated  to  be  receiving  treatment  in  low-  and  middle-income 
countries  —  half  of  these  treatments  were  financed  by  the  Global  Fund.  However  it  is 
necessary  to  further  align  with  national  strategies  and  priorities,  in  order  not  to  create 
distortions. 

EU  support  for  the  Global  Fund  and  the  Global  Fund’s  impact  on  the  three 
diseases: 

The  European  Commission  is  a  founding  member  of  the  Global  Fund.  It  has  been 
providing strong political and financial support since 2002. From 2002 to 2009, the EU 
contributed  a  total  of  EUR  872.5  million,  making  it  the  sixth  largest  donor  to  the  fund 
(after  the  USA,  France,  Italy,  Japan,  and  UK).  Over  the  same  period,  European  Union 
donors pledged more than US$ 11.5 billion (+/- 55 %). 

39 

40 
41 

World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund, UNAIDS, 2009.   
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp 
2009 AIDS Epidemic Update, UNAIDS and WHO, 2009. http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp 
UNAIDS Outlook 2010: Fresh perspective on the AIDS epidemic and response, Nov 2009. 

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In the end of 2009, the Global Fund supported programmes in 140 countries in the world, 
with  2.5  million  people  receiving  anti-retroviral  (ARV)  treatment,  4.5  million  orphans 
receiving  medical  services,  education  and  community  care,  6  million  new  cases  of 
infectious  tuberculosis  detected  and  treated,  and  more  than  100  million  bed  nets  and 
malaria drug treatments delivered. 

In addition to funding collaborative research projects, the Health Research programme of 
the  EU  also  funds  the  European  and  Developing  Countries  Clinical  Trials  Partnership 
(EDCTP), which is a partnership between 14 EU countries, Switzerland and Norway, and 
47  sub-Saharan  African  countries,  which  aims  to  reduce  poverty  by  developing  new 
clinical interventions to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa. 
It  has  an  overall  budget  of  around  €400  million  over  seven  years  (2003-2010):  €200 
million from the Member States and € 200 million from the Commission's FP budget.  

MDG 7 — Environmental Sustainability 

MDG7 on ensuring environmental sustainability covers a number of different issues. 
The  EU  has  been  active  on  several  fronts  in  order  to  promote  better  environmental 
sustainability, thereby contributing to the preservation of progress made under the other 
MDGs. 

The first target under MDG7 relates to the integration of environmental concerns in the 
development  strategies.  The  European  Commission  has  put  in  place  several  tools  to 
foster the integration of the environment in its development cooperation activities. This is 
reflected in the environment integration strategy42. 

The  Commission  is  actively  supporting  the  Poverty-Environment  Initiative,  jointly 
implemented  by  UNEP  and  UNDP,  which  aims  to  integrate  the  environmental 
sustainability dimension into country systems at all levels.  

Access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation are essential for the achievement 
of the other MDGs. Diarrhoea causes nearly 1.5 million deaths each year, mostly among 
young children, and is the third largest cause of death from infectious disease. About 90 
per cent of those deaths could be prevented through safer water, sanitation and hygienic 
practices, according to the World Health Organisation43. 

At any one time, half the people in the developing world suffer from diseases associated 
with inadequate water supply and sanitation services, along with water-related diseases. 
Improving  access  to  water  can  be  difficult,  because  responsibility  for  water  resource 
management  is  usually  spread  across  many  different  parts  of  the  government  in 
developing countries. 

In 2002, the Commission launched the EU Water Initiative (EUWI) to provide a policy 
framework for policy dialogue with partner countries, using a multi-stakeholder approach 
to increase and streamline EU Member State and EC support for the sector. EUWI was 

42 
43 

European Council conclusions, 25th June 2009. 
World  Health  Organisation  (2008)  UN  Water  Global  Annual  Assessment  of  Sanitation  and 
Drinking-Water: 2008 pilot report — testing a new reporting approach. WHO: Geneva. 

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launched  at  the  2002  Johannesburg  World  Summit  for  Sustainable  Development  as  a 
joint commitment to give priority to the important role of water and sanitation in poverty 
reduction and achievement of the MDGs. 

The  initiative  has  improved  the  quality  of  cooperation  and  coordination  between 
Commission  and  EU  Member  States  and  has  developed  strong  partnerships  with  key 
partners, such as the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) and stakeholders 
in  the  water  and  sanitation  sector.  It  has  led  to  several  national  policy  dialogues  to 
develop  strategies  for  integrated  water  resources  management  as  well  as  for  sector 
financing. EUWI has also helped put in place the ACP-EU Water Facility, amounting to 
 500  million,  which  is  financing  175  projects  aiming  to  provide  access  to  water  and 
sanitation and to improve governance, with expected results including 14 million people 
benefiting from access to safe water, some 3 million benefiting from improved sanitation, 
and about 11 million people involved in hygiene awareness activities. The second phase 
of the ACP-EU Water Facility, with €

 200 million, was launched in February 2010. 

EU  support  for  the  Whitfield  Town  Sanitation  &  Water  Upgrading  Project, 
Jamaica 

One of the largest community development initiatives undertaken by the European Union 
and  the  Jamaica  Social  Investment  Fund  is  the  Whitfield  Town  Sanitation  &  Water 
Project. Its two sub-projects involve upgrading of the sanitation system serving the entire 
community, with over 1 500 citizens expected to benefit. The project is being financed by 
a €

 500 000 allocation under the EU’s Poverty Reduction Programme. 

Whitfield Town is one of the poorest and least developed communities in the Kingston 
Metropolitan  Region of Jamaica. 56 % of the population are under  24  years  of  age  and 
only  9 %  are  over  55  years.  Deterioration  in  Whitfield  Town  crept  in  with  the  political 
violence of the seventies, the migration of many house owners and the ongoing economic 
decline since the late seventies. Over 80 % of households are without access to adequate 
sanitation facilities and 60 % of households do not have piped water. 

This  initiative  is  the  most  significant  upgrading  intervention  ever  seen  in  the  90-year 
history  of  Whitfield  Town  —  a  massive  effort aimed at reversing  the  trend  of  physical 
deterioration over the last 30 years, with the accompanying social problems. It involves 
the  community  at  the  decision-making  level  and  at  every  level  of  the  project,  from  the 
project manager down. 

Reducing biodiversity loss is another important target under the MDG 7. Biodiversity is 
crucial for proper nutrition contributing to the eradication of poverty and hunger. Marine 
biodiversity  enhances  sustainability  of  fish  stocks  and  improves  livelihoods  in  coastal 
areas. The EU has been actively involved in promoting better attention to biodiversity in 
its development cooperation.  

MDG 8 – Global Partnership for Development 

Debt  relief  provides  long  term,  additional  resources  for  countries  to  spend  on  health, 
education and infrastructure as set out in national Poverty Reduction Strategies. Poverty-
reducing expenditures in countries that receive HIPC assistance have risen from $5,952 

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€
billion in 1999 to $26,697 billion in 2008. In countries receiving debt relief, debt service 
has been cut by two-thirds, and annual spending on anti-poverty programmes increased 
from US$6 billion to US$21 billion since 1999. 

For  example,  in  Uganda,  HIPC  debt  relief  of  nearly  $2  billion  since  2000  has  helped 
make  possible  the  removal  of  user  fees  for  healthcare.  As  a  result,  the  number  of  new 
out-patient  consultations  has  increased  from  9.3  million  in  1999/2000  to  24.5  million, 
indicating a doubling in the use of health services over 5 years. Immunization coverage 
increased from 41% in 1999/2000 to 89% in 2004/05. Uganda will use its MDRI savings 
($57.9 million in 2006) for energy infrastructure to try to ease acute electricity shortages, 
as  well  as  towards  poverty  reduction  priorities  set  out  in  the  2006/07  budget  such  as 
improving  the  quality  of  primary  education,  malaria  control,  medicines  and  health 
supplies  for  primary  health  and  immunization,  reproductive  healthcare  and  water 
infrastructure (specifically targeting the poor and under-served villages). 

Trade policy can offer a strong hand to the poorest countries through supporting them to 
integrate into the global economy and raising their living standards in a way that delivers 
both  greater  political  stability  and  social  progress.  In  that  regard,  the  EU  offers  from 
October  2009  100%  Duty-Free  and  Quota-Free  (DFQF)  market  access  to  all  Least 
Developed Countries (LDCs) and all products (excluding arms and ammunitions) in the 
framework  of  its  Generalised  System  of  Preferences  (GSP)  and  in  particular  the 
Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative. This is in line with the commitment made in the 
2005  WTO  Hong  Kong  Ministerial  Declaration  and  has  been  unmatched  so  far  by  any 
other nation. Total imports under the EBA scheme  have  gradually  increased  to  reach  € 
5.8  billion  in  2008.  The  rough  value  of  the  preferences  provided  can  be  estimated  at  € 
657  million  in  terms  of  duties  foregone.  Top  beneficiary  countries  of  the  EBA  scheme 
are Bangladesh and Cambodia. 

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offer tremendous opportunities for 
developing  countries,  not  only  in  the  field  of  telephony  but  also  in  terms  of  increased 
productivity,  sustained  economic  growth  and  improved  service  delivery  in  all  socio-
economic  areas.  Good  progress  has  been  made  over  the  last  years  in  bridging  the  so-
called  "digital  divide".  67%  of  the  world's  population,  representing  around  4,6  billion 
people  are  today  mobile  subscribers,  up  from  only  1  billion  in  2002  and  the  fastest 
penetration  rates  have  occurred  in  developing  countries.  In  Africa  alone  the  number  of 
mobile subscribers has increased from less than 10 million in 2000 to around 400 million 
today.  The  EU  has  made  great  strides  in  promoting  an  inclusive  Information  Society 
through a comprehensive approach tackling research/innovation, regulatory and capacity-
building  as  well  as  infrastructure  development.  Regarding  Africa  in  particular,  the 
Africa-EU  Partnership  on  Infrastructures  in  the  context  of  the  joint  Africa-EU 
Strategy  supports  the  deployment  of  physical  infrastructures  in  the  areas  of  transport, 
energy,  water  and  ICT  to  promote  interconnectivity  at  continental  level.  This  is 
complemented  by  the  Africa-EU  Partnership  on  Science,  Information  Society  and 
Space which includes key capacity-building initiatives in support of the African Regional 
Action  Plan  for  the  Knowledge  Economy  (ARAPKE).  The  ubiquity  of  mobile 
technology  opens  ways  to  very  innovative  applications  highlighting  the  unique  ICT 
potential  to  leapfrog  development  and  fast-track  socio-economic  transformation  in  the 
developing world. This is notably illustrated at national level by new services such as the 
M-Pesa  mobile  banking  system  implemented  in  Kenya  in  2007  to  address  the  unmet 
demand for reliable services for the poor, reaching today a volume of  person-to-person 

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transactions over $ 300 million per month and around 8 million registered users in Kenya 
alone. 

CHAPTER THREE: KEY CHALLENGES TO ENSURING MDG PROGRESS BY 2015 

With five years remaining before 2015, there is an urgent need for a step change in global 
efforts, together with our developing partners, to accelerate progress towards the MDGs. 
As UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said at the UN High Level Event on the MDGs 
in  2008:  ‘Today  we  have  strengthened  the  global  partnership  for  development.  Your 
resolve to act is evident. Yes, you have stepped up to confront growing challenges. Now, 
I urge you to move with more speed and focus’ (25 September 2008).  

The  past  ten  years  provide  useful  lessons  in  terms  of  good  practices  and  factors  that 
impact  on  MDG  progress.  They  show  that  achieving  decisive  results  is  possible  when 
adequate policies, resources and political will are mobilised. These lessons must inform 
our future priorities, strategies and actions. 

At the same time, it must be emphasised that the development cooperation landscape has 
seen  profound  changes  between  2000  and  today.  Global  challenges  such  as  climate 
change  and  environmental  degradation,  the  scarcity  of,  and  growing  competition  over, 
natural resources,  demographic  growth, financial stability or international security have 
become  increasingly  significant  in  global  development  policy  and  are  likely  to  have 
increasing weight in determining the progress of sustainable development in the future.  

Most of these factors already have strong implications today for the development policy 
agenda. However, as they will have an impact well beyond the 2015 time horizon, they 
should  feed  into  the  forward-looking  reflection  needed  on  a  new  multilateral 
development agenda beyond the agreed deadline for the MDGs44. 

The key challenges to accelerating progress by 2015 are identified as follows: 

44 

The MDGs have placed poverty reduction at the heart of the development agenda. The MDGs are 
viewed as a set of indicators for guiding poverty reduction and for holding international agencies 
and governments accountable to citizens. However, there is a need to ensure the predictability and 
continuity  of  development  policy  and  to  launch  a  reflection  on  the  possible  international 
development agenda beyond 2015.  
Even if the MDGs are achieved globally by 2015, the challenges to poverty reduction will remain 
formidable.  Indeed,  global  poverty  will  only  have  been  reduced by  half,  and  the remaining  half 
will pose new challenges to the international development agenda. For low-growth poor countries 
and  those  countries  in  situations  of  fragility,  2015  may  herald  little  in  the  way  of  development 
progress. 
The reflection should thus cover the so-called ‘missing dimensions’ of the MDG framework, its 
impact and added value as well as ways of (better) integrating the new global challenges/global 
public goods such as climate change, access to energy and peace/security within the development 
agenda.   
Work  needs  to  start  soon  on  developing  a  consensus  on  the  purpose,  method,  areas  and 
responsibilities  for  carrying  out  this  reflection  process,  so  that  sufficient  time  is  left  for  an 
evidence-based  discussion  by  policy  communities  on  what  might  be  appropriate  targets  and/or 
indicators  in  their  areas  of  competence.  The  process  will  need  to  engage  a  very  wide  group  of 
actors, including governments, civil society and the private sector. 

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3.1 

Challenge  No  1:  Tackling  the  continued  effects  of  the  economic  and 
financial crisis  

For  many  poor  countries,  the  global  financial  and  economic  crisis,  combined  with  the 
previous food and fuel shocks, may entail long-term setbacks in MDG progress. 

In  the  short  run,  sound  domestic  policies  and  programmes  backed  by  adequate  support 
are  needed  to  restore  macroeconomic  stability  and  fiscal  sustainability  and  to  stimulate 
economic growth and job creation, while protecting the most affected/vulnerable groups 
(notably  through  social  transfers).  In  the  longer  run,  it  will  be  crucial  to  reduce  the 
vulnerability  and  improve  the  resilience  of  developing  countries  to  external  economic 
shocks,  notably  through  economic  diversification  and  wide-coverage  social  protection 
systems  and  insurance  mechanisms,  and  to  support  them  in  moving  to  low-emission 
pathways.  At  global  level,  reforms  of  the global economic governance architecture and 
regulatory  and  supervisory  measures  maybe  needed  to  make  the  global  economy  less 
volatile and more predictable. Efforts shall also be pursued to help developing countries 
to  better  integrate  their  markets  into  the  global  economy,  including  through  the 
conclusion  of  an  ambitious,  comprehensive  and  development-friendly  multilateral  trade 
agreement in the context of the WTO Doha Round. 

Rapid  and  coordinated  initiatives  have  already  been  taken  by  the  international 
community to tackle the effects of the crisis and help the most vulnerable countries. But 
much  more  could  be  done  in  terms  of  implementation and scaling up. More efforts are 
needed  in  particular  to  tackle  the  ‘implementation  gap’  between  existing  donor  policy 
frameworks and concrete actions on the ground, and to improve the coherence of non-aid 
policies.  Moreover,  sufficient  financial  resources  should  be  leveraged  in  a  predictable 
way  in  order  to  narrow  the  ‘financing  gaps’45  in  efforts  to  reach  the  MDGs.  This  is  a 
shared responsibility and implies corresponding accountability mechanisms. 

3.2 

Challenge No 2: Fostering MDG ownership in developing partners 

Strong  government  leadership  and  a  sense  of  ownership  among  developing  partners  in 
designing  domestic  policies,  implementing  costed  programmes  and  mobilising  the 
needed resources is key to fostering sustainable MDG progress. Successful examples of 
MDG  progress  all  point  to  the  importance  of  strong  local  political  engagement  and 
ownership. 

To  foster  ownership,  efforts  are  needed  to  translate  the  MDGs  into  country-specific 
objectives  and  indicators  showing  the  reality  on  the  ground,  and  to  integrate  them  into 
nationally  owned  development  strategies  and  programmes.  Cambodia  has  for  example 
adapted the targets and developed ‘Cambodia MDGs’, whereas others have addressed the 
MDGs  in  combination  with  other  strategic  frameworks  such  as  ‘Vision  2020’  in 

45 

For instance, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has estimated the additional 
amount necessary to meet the MDG of halving poverty and hunger by 2015 to be US$ 14 billion 
annually. On health, the World Bank estimates that about US$ 48 billion is required to accelerate 
progress  towards  the  neglected  MDGs  (child  and  maternal  mortality)  over  2009-2015  in  sub-
Saharan Africa. On education, the UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010 estimates the 
financing  gap  to  be  around  US$ 16  billion  annually.  A  recent  World  Bank  study  also  estimated 
that US$ 93 billion is needed annually over the next decade to meet infrastructure needs in sub-
Saharan Africa. 

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Rwanda46. However, the MDGs are often not fully incorporated within national planning 
and budgeting, either because resources could not  be  mobilised  or  because  of  concerns 
about the reliability of the estimates and their potential macroeconomic impact on public 
expenditure ceilings and aid dependence47. 

Public  monitoring  of  MDG  progress  by  civil  society  and  citizens  in  general  is  an 
essential  element  of  ownership.  However,  several  constraints  such  as  weak  statistical 
capacity  at  national  level,  lack  of  regular,  reliable  and  disaggregated  data  available  to 
guide national policies and track country progress, and the weak organisational capacity 
of  civil  society  actors  often  stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  ‘watchdog’  function  in  poor 
countries.  More  efforts  are  needed  in  this  regard.  In  particular,  the  establishment  of 
National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) are important to afford the 
availability of timely, reliable and accurate data. 

3.3 

Challenge  No  3:  Unleashing  the  potential  of  the  private  sector  for  human 
development 

The scale of the challenge for attaining the MDGs requires mobilising the participation of 
all  actors  and  all  sources  in  complementary  ways.  While  governments  have  primary 
responsibility  for  delivering  MDG  progress,  private  actors  (both  profit  and  non-profit) 
can  complement  public  interventions  in  designing,  delivering  and  financing  specific 
actions  (examples  of  mechanisms  include  contracting  out  services  from  governments, 
Output  Based  Approaches  such  as  voucher  schemes  and  social  franchising).  They 
represent a huge potential in terms of innovative approaches, technological resources and 
organisational and management expertise. But they also bring new risks and challenges 
in terms of quality control and accountability. 

Recent  analyses  show  that  private  service  providers  are  increasingly  present  in  the 
developing  world  in  MDG-related  sectors,  such  as  health  and  education  but  also  ICTs 
which has a key potential to fast-track development in different socio-economic domains. 
An  important  proportion  of  the  MDG-related  maternal,  reproductive  and  child  health 
services  in  South  Asia  and  sub-Saharan  Africa  are  privately  provided.  In  some 
developing  countries  where  data  are  available,  such  as  Jamaica,  Peru,  and  Zambia  for 
example,  the  private  sector  contributes  more  than  40 %  of  total  expenditure  on 
education48. 

More  should  be  done  to  develop  or  scale  up  pro-poor  business  models,  services  and 
products  (building  on  existing  successes  such  as  in  the  mobile  telephony  sector  fo 
instance),  to  improve  legal  and  regulatory  frameworks  to  foster  private  investments,  to 
reinforce  coordinated  management  of  infrastructures  development  and  to  support 
government  capacities  in  developing  partner  countries  to  design  and  manage  creative 

46 

47 

48 

Vandemoortele,  J.  (2008),  ‘The  MDG  Conundrum:  Meeting  the  Targets  Without  Missing  the 
Point’. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1416364 
United  Nations  Development  Group  (UNDG)  (2005),  Making  the  MDGs  Matter:  The  Country 
http://www.undg.org/docs/10795/Addendum-to-MDGR-
Response.  New  York:  UNDP. 
Guidelines-Approved-UNDG_English.pdf 
See  in  particular:  World  Bank  Global  Monitoring  report  2009,  pp.  85-112;  Report  of  the  UN 
Secretary  General,  ‘Keeping  the  Promise  —  A  forward-looking  review  to  promote  an  agreed 
the  MDGs  by  2015’,  February  2010,  pp.  53-55. 
action 
www.worldbank.org/gmr2009 

achieve 

agenda 

to 

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public-private partnerships, with the aim of enhancing the contribution of private actors 
to the MDGs.  

3.4 

Challenge No 4: Focusing on the most off-track goals and countries  

The world is particularly off-track on certain MDG targets and indicators, in particular on 
nutrition, child and maternal mortality, and access to sanitation. Similarly, available data 
show  that  some  countries,  especially  those  in  ‘situations  of  fragility’  as  well  as  many 
countries  in  sub-Saharan  Africa,  are  lagging  far  behind  on  a  wide  set  of  targets  and 
indicators. 

A revitalised effort to foster MDG progress could be accompanied by more financing and 
action  to  accelerate  improvements  in  the  most  off-track  countries  and  goals.  Here, 
however, it is important to be mindful of the interdependency and mutually reinforcing 
nature  of  the  MDGs  as  well  as  the  need  to  frame  them  within  integrated  development 
strategies. 

There  are  good  examples  of  targeted  initiatives,  sometimes  based  on  complementary 
public  and  private  investment,  which  have  proven  successful  and  could  be  shared, 
replicated  and/or  scaled  up.  In  food  and  nutrition,  for  example,  micronutrient 
supplementation,  including  vitamin  A,  iron,  zinc  and  folic  acid,  have  helped  to  reduce 
micronutrient  deficiencies  and  hence  child  morbidity  and  mortality  and  contributed  to 
child  growth  and  cognitive  development.  Other  interventions,  such  as  measles 
immunisation, increase in the number of trained midwives, low-cost access to water and 
sanitation and provision of bed nets have also yielded significant results for MDGs 4, 5 
and 649. Such action needs to be aligned with country owned sector policy dialogue and 
sector monitoring mechanisms. 

3.5 

Challenge No 5: Addressing fragility  

Security and fragility concerns must be tackled if sustainable progress on the MDGs is to 
be  achieved  by  the  set  deadline.  Violent  conflict  is  an  important  factor  contributing  to 
poverty.  The  last  Global  Monitoring  Report  from  the  World  Bank  clearly  states  in  that 
regard  that  ‘looking  ahead,  the  challenge  to  achieve  the  MDGs  will  increasingly  be 
concentrated in low-income countries, especially fragile states’50. 

Addressing  situations  of  conflict  and  fragility  requires  sustained  engagement  and 
innovative  combinations  of  political/diplomatic,  financial,  technical  and  sometimes 
military  resources  or  ‘whole-of-government’  approaches.  Such  situations  call  for  long-
term  commitments  as  well  as  predictable  and  flexible  approaches.  Coordination  and 
complementarities  among  the  various  actors  operating  on  the  ground  and  improved 
coherence  among  the  various  -  and  sometimes  conflicting  -  objectives,  priorities  and 
policies  are  also  of  the  utmost  importance.  This  includes  the  need  to  articulate  in  a 

49 

50 

‘Stocktaking  on  the  Millennium  Development  Goals’,  background  paper  prepared  jointly  by 
UNDP,  UNFPA,  UNICEF  and  WFP,  January  2010,  pp.  8-14;  Report  of  the  UN  Secretary 
General, ‘Keeping the Promise — A forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda 
to achieve the MDGs by 2015’, February 2010, p. 37. 
http://www.fultonpreschurch.org/January%202010%20Lamplighter%20Online.pdf 
World Bank Global Monitoring Report 2009, p. 16. www.worldbank.org/gmr2009 

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coherent,  complementary  and  coordinated  way  humanitarian,  security  and  long-term 
development related strategies and operations. Each fragile situation is specific and calls 
for  tailor-made  strategies  rooted  in  an  in-depth  knowledge  of  the  local  context51. 
However, there is now a largely shared consensus that the primary objective of external 
engagement  in  fragile  countries  should  be  to  contribute  to  long-term,  endogenous  state 
building processes. Global and multi-stakeholder approaches are required to understand 
evolving  societal  dynamics  and  support  ‘change  drivers’  in  their  efforts  to  rebuild  a 
social compact and trust between the state and citizens. National and regional approaches 
should be combined here in complementary ways. 

As  part  of  state  building  efforts,  support  for  political  settlements,  security  and  justice 
reforms and institution building should go hand in hand with efforts to foster economic 
growth and job creation (notably for young people), improve food security and meet the 
basic  social  needs  of  populations  while  preserving  the  nation's  natural  capital  and 
supporting it to cope with climate change. More work is needed in that regard to adapt 
existing global initiatives, such as the Education Fast Track Initiative (FTI), in order to 
better respond to specific needs and challenges in fragile situations.  

Aid to fragile states represents 30 % of total ODA flows. However, recent analyses show 
that aid to fragile countries is increasingly concentrated (in 2008, 51 % of ODA went to 
only 6 fragile countries, out of the 48 identified by the DAC) and more volatile than in 
other  developing  countries.  Moreover,  half  of  the  fragile  countries  face  the  prospect  of 
declining  aid,  while  the  current  crisis  is  threatening  core  public  spending  and  creating 
new  risks  of  vulnerability  and  instability.  This  calls  for  long-term  predictable  support 
with  flexible  modalities,  combined  with  increased  efforts  to  mobilise  more  domestic 
revenues and to combat illicit flows52. 

The  implementation  of  internationally  agreed  ‘aid  effectiveness’  principles  faces 
particular difficulties in fragile contexts where ownership and capacity are usually very 
weak.  This  requires  creative  aid  governance  approaches,  sometimes  moving  beyond  a 
‘government-centred’ vision of ownership to embrace other actors such local authorities 
and  civil  society.  The  2006  OECD  Principles  on  Good  International  Engagement  in 
Fragile States and Situations lead the way in that regard53, and a body of good practices is 
emerging from field experiences in some countries. At the request of partner countries, 
the  implementation  of  these  principles  was  monitored  for  the  first  time  in  2009  in  six 
countries through multi-stakeholder national consultations. This exercise gave an overall 
mixed picture, with good results notably for the promotion of non-discrimination and a 
particularly bad picture for avoiding pockets of exclusion54. 

51 

52 

53 

54 

European Report on Development 2009, pp. 155-192, Overcoming fragility in Africa — Forging a 
new European approach, http://erd.eui.eu/erd-2009 
INCAF Background document 4, ‘Ensuring fragile States are not left behind’, 24 February 2010. 
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/33/44822042.pdf 
OECD  Principles  on  Good  International  Engagement  in  Fragile  States  and  Situations,  2006, 
http://www.oecd.org/document/48/0,3343,en_2649_33693550_35233262_1_1_1_1,00.html. 
These countries are Afghanistan, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste. For the detailed results of the monitoring 
exercise, see: http://www.oecd.org/site/0,3407,en_21571361_42277499_1_1_1_1_1,00.html. 

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3.6 

Challenge No 6: Increasing emphasis on equity and social justice 

Sustained  economic  growth  is  a  necessary  condition  for  poverty  reduction  and  MDG 
progress55. For example, the countries in East Asia that have seen the greatest progress in 
income  poverty  reduction  have  been  those  with  the  strongest  growth  rates.  However, 
growth alone is insufficient as it will not remove the barriers to MDG progress linked to 
inequality and social exclusion. Accordingly, economic growth must be accompanied by 
sound social and redistributive policies in order to be pro-poor. 

In  fact,  inequalities  based  on  income,  gender,  disability,  ethnicity,  age  or  geographic 
location underpin the distribution of extreme poverty and lack of access to basic services 
among  and  between  populations.  Yet  the  MDGs  are  mostly  monitored  on  the  basis  of 
nationally  aggregated  data,  which  say  nothing  about  the  distribution  among  population 
groups.  So  national  averages  can  improve  at  the  same  time  as  in-country  disparities 
worsen.  Countries  may  be  on  track  for  the  MDGs  despite  rising  inequalities.  Reducing 
absolute  income  inequality  (MDG1),  for  example,  could  simultaneously  see  rising 
income inequalities, as reflected in the rising Gini coefficients of China and India. 

Success  in  reducing  poverty  and  in  achieving  equality  between  women  and  men  will 
depend on ensuring that all MDGs are addressed in a way that promote gender equality 
and  empowers  women.  However,  whilst  there  is  general  agreement  that  tackling 
discrimination, promoting gender equality is both an important objective in itself and is 
key  to  achieving  all  the  other  MDG  goals,  there  is  still  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  both 
partner countries and donors not to prioritise actions and funds for gender equality. 

The MDGs aim to eradicate poverty in its various dimensions, but also champion basic 
human  rights  as  embodied  in  the  Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights  and  the  UN 
Millennium Declaration. They enshrine the principles of equity, human rights and social 
justice.  It  is  crucial  therefore  to  pay  increased  attention  to  disparities,  inequalities  and 
discriminations  in  order  to  ensure  MDG  progress  among  groups  of  populations  within 
countries, and to address the specific needs of the most vulnerable. Support to improve 
the  collection  of  more  disaggregated  data  and  to  design  equity-based  targets  and 
reporting systems could also be considered in that regard. 

3.7 

Challenge No 7: Climate change and environmental stress 

Climate  change  represents  an  unprecedented  challenge  for  MDG  progress,  notably  on 
food  security,  health  and  poverty-related  targets.  Increased  exposure  to  storms,  floods, 
droughts and changing ecological patterns is already slowing MDG progress in countries 
with  less  predictable  climates.  The  worst  impacts  are  being  experienced  by  vulnerable 
populations who are least to blame for the problem. It is likely that climate change will 
slow, and even reverse the advances achieved under the MDGs well beyond 201556. 

55 

56 

See  in  particular:  Dollar  and  Kraay,  2001,  ‘Growth  is  Good  for  the  Poor’,  Policy  and  Research 
Working Paper, The World Bank. Kraay, A. (2006), ‘When is Growth Pro-Poor? Evidence from a 
Panel of Countries’, Journal of Economics 80, 198-227. 
2007/2008  Human  Development  Report,  Fighting  Climate  Change:  Human  Solidarity  in  a 
Divided World, UNDP 2007. http://hdr.undp.org/en/ 

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Building on the Copenhagen Accord, in particular by implementing in an intelligent way 
the  fast  start  (2010-2012)  finance  package  included  in  the  Accord,  calls  for  strategic 
action now on both adaptation and mitigation with priority for the most vulnerable. Both 
long-term strategies and urgent and bolder programmatic actions are needed to this end. 
MDG achievements will need to be climate-proofed to create the conditions for sustained 
progress. Successful mitigation requires in particular the diversification of energy sources 
and large-scale transfers of clean technologies and know-how to foster a switch towards 
low-emission development strategies. Climate change adaption calls for the mobilisation 
of  new  and  additional  resources  for  investment  in  climate  risk  management,  adaptation 
and  mitigation,  and,  more  globally,  to  enhance  the  resilience  of  communities  to 
unavoidable climate change and natural climate-related hazards. Cost-efficient solutions 
to  adaptation  and  mitigation  will  include  ecosystem-based  approaches  in  order  to 
maintain  resilience  of  ecosystems  and  their  ability  to  provide  essential  ecosystem 
services.  Particular  attention  will  also  need  to  be  paid  on  sustainable  management  of 
natural  resources,  soil  and  water  being  amongst  the  key  challenges  facing  poor 
populations in a changing climate context.  

Climate  is  a  global  public  good,  and  enhanced  regional  cooperation  as  well  as  well-
functioning multilateral frameworks are needed to address this challenge. Commitments 
on adaptation and mitigation could be brought within the MDG framework with specific 
indicators under Goal 8 on the ‘Global Partnership for Development’. 

3.8 

Challenge No 8: Demographic growth 

According to the UN, between now and 2025, the world population will increase by 20 % 
to reach 8 billion inhabitants, and 97 % of this growth will occur in developing countries 
(mostly in Asia and Africa). In 2025, 61 % of the world population will be living in Asia. 
The largest increase will occur in India, representing about one-fifth of all growth. China 
is  projected  to  add  more  than  100  million  to  its  current  population.  Countries  in  sub-
Saharan  Africa  are  projected  to  add  about  350  million  people  during  the  same  period, 
while  populations  in  Latin  America  and  the  Caribbean  will  increase  by  about  100 
million57. 

The  situations  and  challenges  are  extremely  diverse  from  country  to  country.  Overall, 
future  demographic  changes  will  be  accompanied  by  major  shifts  in  terms  of  age 
structure,  increasing  ageing,  intensified  urbanisation  and  migration/mobility  within  and 
across regions as well as increased pressure on limited existing resources. 

3.9 

Challenge No 9: Improved access to energy  

Access to energy is crucial for economic growth and for sustained poverty reduction, as 
well  as  for  the  attainment  of  every  individual  MDG.  The  provision  of  modern  energy 
services  to  the  poor  falls  far  short  of  the  needs.  Worldwide,  2.6  billion  people  rely  on 
traditional  biomass  fuels  for  cooking  and  1.5  billion  people  lack  access  to  electricity. 
Demographic growth, the volatility of fossil fuel prices and climate change will lead to 
less  security  of  energy  supply  in  many  developing  countries.  For  the  poor  in  these 

57 

US National Intelligence Council, ‘Global Trends 2025: a transformed world’, November 2008; 
European Commission, ‘The world in 2025: rising Asia and socio-ecological transition’, February 
2009. http://www.acus.org/publication/global-trends-2025-transformed-world 

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countries, the impact on their livelihoods will be dramatic as energy affects most spheres 
of life and it would jeopardise the achievement of the MDGs. 

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg recognised the explicit 
link  between  access  to  energy  services  and  the  achievement  of  the  MDGs.  Energy 
services are essential for socio-economic development and for income and employment 
generation. Basic services for the provision of clean water and sanitation needs energy, as 
cooking  and  cooling  do.  With  regard  to  gender,  the  lack  of  access  to  modern  energy 
services  is  a  huge  burden  to  women  and  children,  as  they  have  to  spend  several  hours 
every  day  for  the  collection  of  water  and  fuel  wood.  Furthermore,  the  WHO  estimates 
that  1.6  million  deaths  annually,  mainly  of  women  and  children,  are  caused  by 
respiratory diseases due to indoor air pollution. At last, the traditional use of fuel wood is 
one of the causes for deforestation seen in past decades in many developing countries. 

Regarding  health,  reliable  electricity  in  hospitals  or  health  stations,  for  cooling  of 
medication,  sterilisation  or  treatment  at  night  time,  is  crucial  for  curing  the  ill.  The 
affordability  of  transportation  cost  can  help  to  reduce  mortality  of  children  or  pregnant 
women.  Electricity  for  lighting  -  sometimes  just  bare  heating  of  class  rooms  -  is 
important to run schools  effectively,  but also  to enable pupils to read in the evening at 
home. The recruitment of doctors, nurses and teachers where no electricity is available, is 
difficult. 

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ANNEX A 

State of play of progress on achieving the MDGs by 2015 

This  table  has  been  produced  using  the  most  recent  available  figures/data  and 
information  from  the  UN  (essentially  the  UN  Millennium  Development  Goals  Report 
2009  and  the  MDG  Gap  Task  Force  Report  2009)  and  the  World  Bank  (Global 
Monitoring report 2009). 

GOAL 1 

Eradicate 

extreme 
poverty 

and hunger 

Target 1.A:  

Halve, between 1990 and 2015, 
the proportion of people whose 
income is less than one dollar a 
day 

The  world  is  on  track  to  halve  global  poverty  by  the 
deadline.  In  1990  1.8  billion  people  lived  in  extreme 
poverty,  equal  to 41.7 % of the world population. In 2005 
the  figure  fell  to  1.4  billion,  equal  to  25.7 %  of  the  world 
population.  These  estimates  take  into  consideration  the 
new threshold of $ 1.25 per day (compared to the previous 
$ 1)  recently  established  by  the  World  Bank.  Worldwide, 
the number of people living in extreme poverty in 2009 is 
expected  to  be  55  million  to  90  million  higher  than 
anticipated  before  the  global  economic  crisis,  though  the 
impact will vary across regions and countries. 

The  East  Asia  and  Pacific  region  has  made  the  most 
impressive progress in reducing the number of poor people 
—  from  29.8 %  in  1990  to  9.1 %  in  2005.  China  led  this 
decrease,  moving  from  33 %  to  9.9 %.  South  Asia  and 
Latin  America  &  the  Caribbean  are  projected  to  be  on 
target. 

Sub-Saharan  Africa  is  the  worst-performing  region:  the 
poverty  rate  rose  from  46.7 %  in 1990  to 49.7 %  in  2000, 
dipping to 41.1 % in 2005, and the absolute number of poor 
people increased by a third. However, countries within the 
group  fare  differently:  poverty  fell  by  an  annual  rate  of 
4.6 %  in  Ghana  between  1999  and  2006  but  increased  in 
Benin from 28.5 % in 2002 to some 37.4 % in 2006-2007. 
Based  on  current  projections,  this  region  will  reduce 
poverty by only 20 per cent between 1990 and 2015. 

On  the  basis  of  the  available  data,  the  prospects  of 
achieving the MDG1 poverty target look particularly bleak 
for so-called fragile states. 

EN 

36 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Target 1.B:  

Achieve  full  and  productive 
employment  and  decent  work 
for  all,  including  women  and 
young people 

ratio 

Between 55 % and 75 % of the working age population is 
employed  in  most  regions.  Between  1998  and  2008,  the 
employment-to-population 
adult  women 
increased globally from 48 per cent to 49 per cent. Despite 
the  increase,  far  more  women  continue  to  be  out  of  the 
labour  market  than  men.  Northern  Africa  and  Western 
Asia  have  exceptionally  low  female  employment-to-
population  ratios,  both  45  percentage  points  below  those 
of men.  

for 

However,  jobs  in  most  developing  countries  still  provide 
little  relief  from  poverty.  In  sub-Saharan  Africa  for 
instance,  over  half  the  workers  are  ‘working  poor’, 
meaning  that,  although  they  have  a  job,  they  live  in  a 
household  where  each  member  earns  less  than  $ 1.25  a 
day.  

The global  percentage of  ‘working poor’ (calculated  over 
the  total  number  of  workers)  fell  from  30.6 %  in  1997  to 
20.4 % 
in  2007.  But  high  prices  for  energy  and 
commodities,  exacerbated  by  the  global  economic  crisis, 
are likely to reverse this trend: from 24 per cent in 2007 to 
25  per  cent  in  2008  (according  to  the  most  realistic  ILO 
scenario).  The  number  of  people  in  developing  regions 
working  in  vulnerable  employment  may  be  77  million 
more in 2008 than in 2007. Over 80 per cent of the female 
labour force in Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa and Southern 
Asia are expected to have been in vulnerable employment 
in 2008. 

Finally,  only  minor  progress  has  been  noted  over  the  last 
decade on labour productivity in the developing world. 

Overall,  full,  secure  and  productive  employment  seems  to 
remain a distant target. 

Target 1.C:  

Halve, between 1990 and 2015, 
the  proportion  of  people  who 
suffer from hunger 

The  declining  trend  in  the  rate  of  undernourishment  in 
developing  countries  since  1990-1992  was  reversed  in 
2008,  largely  due  to  escalating  food  prices.  Provisional 
estimates  indicate  that  the  rate  of  undernourishment  rose 
by one percentage point in 2008, whereas it had decreased 
from 20 % in the early 1990s to 16 % in 2005.  

More  than  one  third  of  child  deaths  worldwide  are 
attributable to undernourishment. In the developing world, 
the  proportion  of  children  under  five  years  of  age  who 
were  underweight  declined  by  only  five  per  cent  from 
1990  to  2007  (from  31  per  cent  to  26  per  cent),  a  rate 
insufficient  to  reach  the  nutrition  target  for  children. 
According to World Bank assessments, more than half of 

EN 

37 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goal 2 

Target 2.A: 

Ensure  that,  by  2015,  children 
everywhere,  boys  and  girls 
alike, will be able to complete a 
full 
primary 
schooling 

course 

of 

Achieve 

universal 

primary 

education 

Goal 3 

Promote 

EN 

the  countries  with  available  data  are  not  on  track  to 
achieve the target by 2015. 

Overall, the total net enrolment ratio in primary education 
in developing countries rose from 83 % in 2000 to 88 % in 
2007.  In  almost  all  regions  it  now  exceeds  90 %,  with 
many  countries  close  to  achieving  universal  primary 
enrolment. 

Progress  toward  the  primary  education  goal  has  varied 
across regions. Good progress has been made in East Asia 
and  the  Pacific  and  in  Latin  America  and  the  Caribbean, 
where many countries have already met or are on track to 
meet the primary education target. 

Major  breakthroughs  have  been  achieved  in  sub-Saharan 
Africa, where enrolment increased by 15 percentage points 
from 2000 to 2007, and in Southern Asia, which gained 11 
percentage  points  over  the  same  period.  The  relatively 
sharp  rise  in  enrolment  in  sub-Saharan  Africa  and 
Southern  Asia,  despite  rapid  population  growth, 
is 
encouraging.  However,  neither  of  these  two  regions  is 
currently on track to reach the target on time. And fragile 
states  are  also  lagging  behind  —  only  3  of  22  countries 
with available data have achieved the target. 

In  many  countries,  improvements  in  school  enrolment 
have  been  associated  with  increases  in  national  spending 
on  education,  which  could  be  badly  hit  by  the  global 
economic crisis. Demographic trends may also push back 
achievement of the goal in the future.  

Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of children out 
of  school,  and  two  thirds  of  them  will  probably  never 
enrol. The same situation exists in Western Asia, where 64 
per cent of the 3 million children out of school are girls. In 
2007, girls accounted for 54 % of the global out-of-school 
population. 

Overall, at the current rate of progress, the world is edging 
closer  to  universal  primary  education,  but  too  slowly  to 
meet  the  2015  target.  Unequal  opportunities  linked  to 
gender,  ethnicity, 
language  or  disabilities 
represent a major obstacle.  

income, 

The  world  seems  still  a  long  way  off  from  achieving 
gender  equality.  Progress  in  equal  access  to  remunerative 
employment  has  been  modest,  except  in  low-performing 
regions. This is compounded by lower welfare for women 

38 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
gender 

equality and 

empower 

women 

than  for  men.  In  many  developing  regions,  women  still 
lack property rights and access to credit. 

Overall,  women  occupy  almost  40 %  of  all  paid  jobs 
outside agriculture, compared to 35 % in 1990. But almost 
two  thirds  of  women  in  the  developing  world  work  in 
vulnerable  jobs,  are  self-employed  or  are  unpaid  family 
workers.  In  Southern  Asia  and  sub-Saharan  Africa,  more 
than 80 % of all jobs for women are jobs of this kind. 

Women  are  slowly  gaining  ground  in  political  decision-
making,  but  progress  is  erratic  and  marked  by  huge 
regional  differences. 
the  global 
proportion of parliamentary seats held by women reached 
a high of nearly 18 %. Women today occupy at least 30 % 
of parliamentary seats in 20 countries, but none in Asia. 

In  January  2008, 

Target 3.A:  

Eliminate  gender  disparity  in 
primary 
secondary 
and 
education,  preferably  by  2005, 
and in all levels of education no 
later than 2015 

The world continues to progress towards gender parity in 
education,  although  the  2005  intermediary  target  was 
missed  at  global  level.  In  the  developing  regions  as  a 
whole, 95 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 
100 boys in 2007, compared to 91 in 1999. In 2007, 53 of 
the 171 countries with available data had achieved gender 
parity  in  both  primary  and  secondary  education.  Most 
regions are on track to achieve this target by 2015. 

The  gender  gap  in  school  enrolment  is  more  evident  in 
secondary  education.  Available  data  show  that  60 %  of 
countries  have  achieved  gender  parity 
in  primary 
education, 30 % in secondary education and 6 % in tertiary 
education. 

South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa lag behind at all levels 
for this target, particularly at tertiary level. In sub-Saharan 
countries,  the  ratio  of  girls’  to  boys’  enrolment  in 
secondary education fell from 82 in 1999 to 79 in 2007. 20 
of 37 sub-Saharan countries for which data exist are not on 
track. Ten of the 22 fragile states (for which data exist) are 
seriously off track, and only 6 have achieved the target. 

The  under-five  mortality  rate  in  developing  countries 
slowly  improved  from  103  to  74  deaths  per  1000  live 
births between 1990 and 2007. 

Still, many countries have made little or no progress at all, 
like  in  sub-Saharan  Africa,  where  in  2007  close  1  to  7 
children under five died, and in Southern Asia. 

Goal 4 

Target 4.A:  

Reduce child 

mortality 

Reduce  by  two-thirds,  between 
1990  and  2015,  the  under-five 
mortality rate 

EN 

39 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With  a  child  mortality  rate  of  157,  sub-Saharan  Africa 
accounts for about half of the deaths of children under five 
in  the  developing  world.  The  HIV/AIDS  epidemic  and 
civil  conflicts  have  hampered  the  region’s  progress  in 
reducing child mortality. 

The developing regions closest to achieving the target are 
Northern Africa (down from 82 to 35), South-Eastern Asia 
(from122 to 77) and Latin America & the Caribbean (from 
54 to 24). But even in these regions over half the countries 
are  not  on  track.  None  of  the  46  sub-Saharan  African 
countries with available data is on track to reach the target. 
None of the fragile states has attained the target and only 1 
out of 34 is on track.  

Maternal  mortality  is  among  the  health  indicators  that 
show  the  greatest  gap  between  rich  and  poor.  Of  all  the 
MDGs  the  goal  on  maternal  mortality  has  seen  the  least 
progress. Maternal mortality decreased by less than 1 % a 
year between 1990 and 2005, from 480 to 450 deaths per 
100 000  live  births.  This  is  way  below  the  5.5 %  annual 
improvement needed to reach the target. 

Pregnancy  remains  the  main  cause  of  death  among  girls 
aged  15-19  in  developing  countries.  In  2005  alone,  more 
than  500 000  women  died  during  pregnancy,  childbirth  or 
the six weeks after delivery. 99 % of these deaths occurred 
in  developing  regions,  with  sub-Saharan  Africa  and 
Southern  Asia  accounting  for  86 %  of  them.  In  these 
regions maternal mortality rates have barely changed since 
1990. In particular, in sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s risk 
of  dying  from  treatable  or  preventable  complications 
during  pregnancy  and  childbirth  over  the  course  of  her 
lifetime  is  1  in  22,  compared  to  1  in  7 300  in  developed 
regions. 

In  Malawi  and  Zimbabwe,  maternal  deaths  have  even 
increased  in  the  past  years  as  a  consequence  of  HIV, 
conflict and deteriorating health systems. 

The proportion of deliveries attended by skilled healthcare 
personnel increased from 53 % in 1990 to 61 % in 2007. In 
the  same  period  the  proportion  of  women  (15-49  years 
old)  attended  by  skilled  health  personnel  at  least  once 
during pregnancy rose from 54 % to 74 %. Twenty-one of 
23  countries  in  Europe  and  Central  Asia  and  19  of  26 
countries  in  Latin  America  and  the  Caribbean  have 
achieved the target to lower the non-attendance rate to 10 
per  cent  by  2015,  but  most  South  Asian  and  sub-Saharan 
African countries are not on track. 

Goal 5 

Target 5.A:  

Improve 

maternal 
health 

Reduce  by 
three  quarters, 
between  1990  and  2015,  the 
maternal mortality ratio 

Target 5.B:  

Achieve,  by  2015,  universal 
access to reproductive health 

EN 

40 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In  almost  all  developing  regions,  adolescent  fertility  fell 
between  1990  and  2000  (from  67  to  55  births  per  1000 
women  aged  15-19  years),  then  largely  stagnated  or 
decreased marginally between 2000 and 2005 (from 55 to 
53 on average).  

Total fertility has declined substantially over the past two 
decades  in  many  countries  in  Latin  America  and  the 
Caribbean, where the rate has dropped from 102 to 74, as 
well as in South-Eastern Asia. Adolescent fertility remains 
especially  high  in  sub-Saharan  Africa  (119  per  1000 
women), where fertility remains high among all women of 
childbearing age. 

The gap between women’s stated desires to delay or avoid 
having children and their actual use of contraception also 
declined  in  most  countries  between  1995  and  2007.  The 
contraceptive  prevalence  rate  increased  for  all  income 
groups between 1990 and 2007, but was still quite low at 
only 33 per cent for low-income countries in 2007. 

In  all  regions,  this  unmet  need  is  highest  in  the  poorest 
households. It is most pronounced in Latin America and the 
Caribbean, where 27 % of the poorest households have an 
unmet  need  for  family  planning  compared  to  12 %  of  the 
wealthiest households. In sub-Saharan Africa, unmet need 
is  high  —  over  20 %  —  even  among  the  wealthiest 
households. 

Worldwide,  the  number  of  people  newly  infected  with 
HIV  peaked  in  1996  and  has  since  declined,  down  to  2.7 
million in 2007. These positive trends are mostly due to a 
fall  in  the  annual  number  of  new  infections  in  some 
countries in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. 
Meanwhile,  infection  rates  continue  to  rise  in  other  parts 
of the world, especially Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

the  number  of  people 

Despite  an  overall  decrease  in  the  number  of  new 
infections, 
living  with  HIV 
worldwide  continues  to  grow,  largely  because  people 
infected with the virus are surviving longer (the number of 
people  living  with  HIV/AIDS  rose  from  29.5  million  in 
2001  to 33  million  in 2007, most  in  sub-Saharan Africa). 
Altogether,  sub-Saharan  Africa  is  home  to  67 %  of  those 
living with HIV/AIDS. 

Condom use and knowledge about HIV can help decrease 
the  number  of  people  who  become  infected  with  HIV. 

Goal 6 

Target 6.A:  

Have halted by 2015 and begun 
to 
spread  of 
the 
reverse 
HIV/AIDS 

Combat 

HIV/AIDS, 

malaria and 

other diseases 

EN 

41 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Target 6.B:  

Achieve,  by  2010,  universal 
access 
for 
HIV/AIDS  for  all  those  who 
need it 

treatment 

to 

Target 6.C:  

Have halted by 2015 and begun 
incidence  of 
to  reverse 
malaria 
other  major 
diseases 

and 

the 

Between 1999 and 2005 condom use for females’ partners 
increased  in  all  sub-Saharan  African  countries  with 
available data, the only exception being Zimbabwe, where 
usage is estimated to have fallen from 11 % to 10 %. 

The  reduction  in  deaths  from  HIV/AIDS  (2  million  in 
2007,  down  from  2.2  million  in  2005)  is  partly  due  to 
increased  access 
in  poorer 
countries  (by  December  2007,  3  million  people  in  the 
developing  regions  had  access  to  anti-retroviral  drugs, 
which  represents  a  47  per  cent  increase  since  December 
2006). 

to  anti-retroviral  drugs 

However,  for  every  person  who  started  anti-retroviral 
treatment  in  2007,  three  new  people  were  infected  with 
HIV. And 69 per cent of people who needed treatment did 
not have access to the required drugs. 

Due  to  unmet  treatment  needs,  AIDS  remains  among  the 
leading causes of death globally and the primary cause of 
death in Africa. 

According  to  UNDP  data,  malaria  takes  a  terrible  toll  in 
sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 90 % of all malaria 
deaths.  There,  malaria  accounts  for  25 %  to  35 %  of  all 
outpatient visits, 20 % to 45 % of hospital admissions and 
15 % to 35 % of hospital deaths. Joint efforts by the NMCP, 
UNDP  and  other  partners  have  significantly  reduced 
malaria  incidence  rates  by  30 %  in  11  Northern  states, 
cutting morbidity by 55 % and mortality by 52 %. 

The number of insecticide-treated  mosquito  nets produced 
worldwide jumped from 30  million in 2004 to 95 million 
in 2007. All sub-Saharan African countries for which there 
are  trend  data  showed  increases  in  insecticide-treated  net 
use  among  children  under  five.  16  of  these  20  countries 
have at least tripled coverage since around 2000. However, 
despite tremendous progress, the use of insecticide-treated 
mosquito nets still falls short of global targets. 

There  has  been  less  progress  in  treating  malaria  than  in 
preventing  it.  In  a  subset  of  22  sub-Saharan  African 
countries,  the  proportion  of  children  with  fever  who 
received  anti-malarial  medicine  dropped  from  41 %  in 
2000 to 34 % in 2007. Across the region, 34 % of children 
with fever received anti-malarial treatment.  

In  addition,  in  some  countries,  anti-malarial  treatment  is 
longer  effective. 
mostly  chloroquine,  which 

is  no 

EN 

42 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Similarly,  the  use  of  Artemisinin-based  combination 
therapy  (ACT)  to  treat  malaria  is  very  low;  in  some  14 
countries  with  2005-7  data,  the  median  proportion  of 
children  under  five  years  with  fever  receiving  ACT  was 
only 2 %.  

Evidence suggests that large-scale expansion of prevention 
programmes  and  improved  access  to  more  effective  anti-
malarial  drugs  can  substantially  reduce  malaria  cases  and 
deaths. In South Africa, documented cases and deaths fell 
by  80 %  between  2000  and  2006  after  introducing  ACT 
and  improving  mosquito  control  (including  spraying  with 
DDT). In Eritrea, more than a million mosquito nets were 
distributed  between  2000-2006,  and  as  a  result  recorded 
malaria cases and deaths plummeted by more than 70 %. 

Progress  on  tuberculosis  targets  is  mixed.  In  developing 
regions, the number of new tuberculosis cases per 100 000 
population  (incidence  rate)  peaked  in  2004,  then  fell  by 
0.7 % between 2005 and 2006. If these trends are sustained 
globally, the incidence of tuberculosis should be contained 
and  reversed  well  before  2015.  Moreover,  the  prevalence 
rate  for  tuberculosis  (the  number  of  existing  cases  per 
100 000 people) and the death rate are falling even faster. 

Success  in  eradicating  tuberculosis  depends  upon  early 
detection  of  new  cases  and  effective  treatment.  In  2007, 
there were 13.7 million cases of tuberculosis globally. This 
is only a slight decrease from 2006, when 13 million cases 
were  reported,  resulting  in  1.3  million  deaths.  Between 
2005 and 2006, progress in detection slowed: the detection 
rate  increased  only  marginally  to  61 %,  short  of  the  65 % 
benchmark  for  2006  in  the  ‘Stop  TB  Partnership’  Global 
Plan and the ultimate target of 70 %. The global detection 
rate under DOTS was 63 per cent in 2007 and the success 
rate for treatment was 85 per cent in 2006. 

Africa, China and India collectively account for more than 
two  thirds  of  undetected  tuberculosis  cases.  Progress  in 
improving the detection rate in China and India stalled in 
2006.  The  detection  rate  in  Africa  —  46 %  in  2006  —  is 
the furthest from the target. 

Globally, emissions increased by 31 % from 1990 to 2006, 
rising  annually  from  2000  to  2005  faster  than  in  the 
previous  decade.  Carbon  dioxide  emissions  reached  29 
billion  tonnes  in  2006  and  continued  to  rise,  resulting  in 
increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2. 

Goal 7 

Target 7.A: 

Ensure 

environmental 

sustainability 

the  principles  of 
Integrate 
into 
sustainable  development 
country 
and 
programmes  and  reverse  the 
loss of environmental resources 

policies 

EN 

43 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
From  1990  to  2005,  changes  in  emissions  ranged  from  a 
38 %  decline  in  countries  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Independent  States  to  an  82 %  increase  in  South-Eastern 
Asia.  Per  capita  emissions  remain  the  highest  in  the 
developed  regions,  at  about  12  tonnes  of  CO2  per  person 
per  year,  compared  with  about  3  tonnes  in  developing 
regions and 0.8 tonnes in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Adjusted  net  savings  measures  the  savings  rate  in  an 
economy  after  adjustments  are  made  for  educational 
expenditure, 
resource 
depletion,  and  carbon  dioxide  and  particulate  emissions 
damage. A negative savings rate indicates that an economy 
is on an unsustainable path of economic growth. 

capital  depreciation,  natural 

According to the World Bank, Europe & Central Asia, the 
Middle East & North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa have 
all  exhibited  a  downward  trend  in  adjusted  net  savings 
since 1995 and had negative adjusted net savings rates in 
2005.  Latin  America  and  the  Caribbean  had  a  positive 
2005-adjusted  net  savings  rate  but  also  had  declining 
adjusted net savings levels. In recent years, only the Asian 
regions seem to have both an upward trend in adjusted net 
savings and a positive savings rate. 

In  response  to  the  loss  of  global  biodiversity,  the 
international  community  has  encouraged  land  and  marine 
protection.  As  a  result,  about  21  million  km2  of  land  and 
sea  (out  to  12  nautical  miles)  were  protected  by  2008. 
However,  since  protection  concerns  territorial  waters 
which  represent  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  entire  ocean 
area,  the  overall  protection  of  the  world's  oceans  is  less 
than 1 %. 

Deforestation  continues  to  pose  serious  challenges,  even 
though the net loss of forest area is slowing down. Thanks 
to increased forest planting, landscape restoration and the 
natural  expansion  of  forests,  deforestation  of  about  13 
million  hectares  per  year  led  only  to  an  estimated  net 
decline of 7.3 million hectares of forest area per year over 
the  period  2000-2005,  compared  to  8.9  million  hectares 
annually in the previous decade. The percentage of forest 
designated  to  protect  soil  and  water  resources  also 
increased  from  8 %  in  1990  to  9 %  in  2005.  The  fastest 
rates of forest loss from 1990 to 2005 were in sub-Saharan 
Africa  (7.1 %),  Latin  America  and  the  Caribbean  (7 %), 
and  East  Asia  and  the  Pacific  (1.6 %).  The  other  regions 
saw increases in their forest areas. 

The number of species threatened with extinction is rising 
rapidly,  fishery  stocks,  importantly  contributing  to  food 
security  chains  in  many  developing  countries,  are  often 

Target 7.B:  

biodiversity 

loss, 
Reduce 
achieving, 
a 
by 
significant reduction in the rate 
of loss 

2010, 

EN 

44 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
Target 7.C: 

Halve,  by  2015,  the  proportion 
of  people  without  sustainable 
access  to  safe  drinking  water 
and basic sanitation 

Target 7.D:  

By  2020,  to  have  achieved  a 
significant  improvement  in  the 
lives  of  at  least  100  million 
slum dwellers 

exploited  at  unsustainable  levels.  Therefore,  an  improved 
fisheries management is needed to reduce the depletion of 
fish stocks. 

Although  there  is  not  yet  a  global  water  shortage,  about 
2.8  billion  people,  representing  more  than  40 %  of  the 
world’s population, live in river basins with some form of 
water scarcity. More than 1.2 billion live in conditions of 
physical  water  scarcity,  which  occurs  when  more  than 
75 %  of  river  flows  are  withdrawn.  Another  1.6  billion 
people  live  in  areas  of  economic  water  scarcity,  where 
human,  institutional  and  financial  capital  limit  access  to 
water,  even  though  water  is  available  locally  in  nature  to 
meet human demands. 

Since  1990,  1.6  billion people  have gained access  to  safe 
water,  and  at  this  rate  the  world  is  expected  to  meet  the 
drinking  water  target  (i.e.  89 %  of  the  population  of 
developing regions use improved sources of drinking water 
by 2015). However, according to the UN, currently around 
one billion people still lack access to safe drinking water.  

There are huge disparities among and within regions. For 
example,  progress  has  been  most  pronounced  in  Eastern 
Asia, where over 400 million people have gained access to 
improved drinking water sources and coverage has grown 
by  20 %  since  1990.  In  North  Africa  92 %  of  people  use 
improved sources of drinking water, while in sub-Saharan 
Africa  the  proportion  is  only  58 %.  Likewise,  in  2006, 
more than 8 out of 10 people without access to improved 
drinking water sources lived in rural areas. All regions but 
sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa 
are  on  track  to  achieve  the  water  access  target,  based  on 
current trends.  

Prospects  are  bleaker  for  the  sanitation  access  target. 
Almost a quarter of the developing world’s population (2.6 
billion)  lack  access  to basic sanitation. The  percentage  of 
the  population  in  sub-Saharan  Africa  with  access  to 
sanitation  rose  only  from  26 %  in  1990  to  31 %  in  2006. 
Only the Middle East and North Africa are on track, while 
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are lagging far behind. 

In  1990,  almost  half  the  urban  population  in  developing 
regions were living in slums. By 2005, that proportion had 
fallen to 36 per cent.  

The  lives  of  slum  dwellers  have  improved  in  almost  all 
regions, except in West Asia. Despite some advances, sub-
Saharan  Africa  remains  the  region  with  the  highest 
prevalence  of  slums  (with  72 %  of  the  total  urban 

EN 

45 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goal 8 

Target 8.A:  

Develop 
global 

a 

partnership 
for 

development 

trading 

Develop  further  an  open,  rule-
non-
based, 
predictable, 
discriminatory 
and 
financial  system.  Includes  a 
good 
commitment 
governance,  development  and 
poverty 
reduction  —  both 
nationally and internationally 

to 

Target 8.B: 

for 

Address  the  special  needs  of 
the  least  developed  countries. 
Includes:  tariff-  and  quota-free 
access 
least  developed 
countries’  exports;  enhanced 
programme  of  debt  relief  for 
HIPC  and  cancellation  of 
official bilateral debt; and more 
generous  ODA  for  countries 
committed to poverty reduction 

Target 8.C: 

small 

Address  the  special  needs  of 
developing 
landlocked 
countries  and 
island 
developing  states  (through  the 
Programme  of  Action  for  the 
Sustainable  Development  of 
Small Island Developing States 
and  based  on  the  outcome  of 
special 
the 
session  of 
the  UN  General 
Assembly) 

twenty-second 

population living in slums).  

By 2020, the number of slum dwellers is expected to swell 
to  1.4  billion.  Improving  their  living  conditions  will 
require major investment. 

the 

trade, 

failure  so 

Regarding 
reach  a 
comprehensive,  ambitious  and  development-friendly 
agreement  in  the  Doha  Round  of  multilateral  trade 
negotiations  represents  an  important  delivery  gap  in 
strengthening the global partnership for the MDGs. 

far 

to 

Duty-free  access  for  developing  countries  to  the  markets 
of  developed  countries  continued  to  increase  in  2007, 
mainly  through  the  continued  elimination  of  tariffs  on  a 
most-favoured-nation (MFN) basis. Primarily as a result of 
preferences, the LDCs increased their proportion of duty-
free  trade  over  the  past  decade,  but  there  was  no  further 
progress  in  2007.  Some  developed  countries  have  started 
to  implement  the  target  agreed  in 2005  to grant duty-free 
and quota-free  access  to  LDCs for  at  least  97  per  cent of 
their  exports  (excluding  arms  and  oil),  but  many  others 
have  yet  to  do  so.  Currently,  only  80 %  of  LDC  exports 
benefit from duty-free and quota-free access to developed 
countries’  markets.  Since  October  2009,  the  EU  is  fully 
delivering  on  the  commitment  made  in  the  WTO  Hong 
Kong  Ministerial  Declaration  by  offering  100%  duty-free 
and  quota-free  access  to  all  LDCs'  products,  an  offer 
unmatched so far by any other nation. 

Even  though  overall  agricultural  support  in  terms  of 
developed  countries’  GDP  declined  further  in  2007 
(mainly  as  a  result  of  the  food  crisis),  it  remains  an 
important distortion affecting trade and farm production in 
developing countries.  

Total  Aid  for  Trade  commitments  increased  in  2007,  but 
more  than  half  the  amount  was  provided  to  only  11 
countries.  As  regards  the  specific  EU  2005  pledge  to 
commit  €2  billion  annually  to  Trade  Related  Assistance 
(TRA) by 2010, the EU has hit target – well in advance of 
the deadline. The total support for TRA from the EU and 
its Member States reached €2 .15 billion in 2008, of which 
€1.141 billion from EU Member States and €1.007 billion 
from the European Commission. 

Following  a  decline  in  2006  and  2007,  ODA  from 
members of the Development Assistance Committee of the 
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 
(OECD/DAC) rose to $ 119.8 billion in 2008, an increase 
of  10 %  in  real  terms  over  2007.  Although  the  share  of 
ODA in the gross national income (GNI) of the developed 
countries  rose  from  0.28 %  in  2007  to  0.30 %  in  2008,  it 
remained below the 0.33 % reached in 2005 (when it was 
boosted by debt relief to Iraq and Nigeria). 

Although  ODA  reached  its  highest  level  ever  in  2008, 

EN 

46 

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there  remain  large  delivery  gaps  in  meeting  existing 
commitments. The 2010 Gleneagles target agreed in 2005 
is  approximately  $ 154  billion  in  present  values,  and 
additional flows of $ 17 billion a year would be required to 
achieve this target. Aid to Africa reached about $ 26 billion 
in  2008  but  is  still  about  $ 20  billion  short  of  being  on 
track. 

In  2007,  ODA  to  the  least  developed  countries  (LDCs) 
was  equivalent  to  0.09 %  of  OECD  countries’  GNI. 
However,  less  than  half  of  the  OECD/DAC  countries  are 
meeting the 0.15-0.20 % target for aid to the LDCs, which 
was reaffirmed as part of the Programme of Action for the 
Least Developed Countries adopted in Brussels in 2001. 

ratio 

landlocked  developing 
for 
The  ODA-to-GNI 
countries  fluctuated  between  5  and  9  from  1990  to  2007 
but  did  not  change  much  over  the  period.  The  ratio 
decreased for small island states from 1990 to 2007. 

On  debt,  35  of  the  40  eligible  countries  had  qualified  by 
the  end  of  March  2009  for  debt  relief  under  the  Heavily 
Indebted  Poor  Countries  (HIPC)  Initiative.  Of  these,  24 
had  qualified  for  irrevocable  debt  relief  under  the  HIPC 
Initiative  and  the  Multilateral  Debt  Relief  Initiative 
(MDRI).  

Prior  to  the  onset  of  the  global  financial  and  economic 
crisis, high commodity prices and strong trade growth had 
improved 
the  export  revenues  of  many  developing 
countries. As a result, the burden of servicing external debt 
fell  on  average  from  almost  13 %  of  export  earnings  in 
2000 to below 4 % in 2007. However, the ratios of external 
debt  to  GDP  and  external  debt  service  to  exports  for 
developing countries have risen significantly since the last 
quarter of 2008. Developing countries also face significant 
problems  in  access  to  new  external  financing  because  of 
the global credit crunch. 

EN 

47 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Target 8.D: 

Deal  comprehensively  with  the 
debt  problems  of  developing 
countries  through  national  and 
international  measures  in  order 
to make debt sustainable in the 
long term.  

Target 8.E:  

cooperation 

with 
In 
pharmaceutical 
companies, 
provide  access  to  affordable 
essential  drugs  in  developing 
countries.  

Target 8.F:  

In  cooperation  with  the  private 
sector,  make  available 
the 
benefits  of  new  technologies, 
especially 
and 
communication technologies 

information 

Many  essential  medicines  are  inaccessible  to  the  poor  in 
developing countries for two main reasons. First, there are 
large  gaps  in  the  availability  of  medicines  in  both  the 
public  and  private  sectors;  second,  the  prices  of  the 
medicines  that  are  available  are  high  in  relation  to  their 
international reference prices. 

Median  prices  of  essential  medicines  in  developing 
countries  are  on  average  2.5 
than 
international reference prices in the public sector, and 6.1 
times higher in the private sector. 

times  higher 

The affordability of medicines is expected to deteriorate as 
a  result  of  the  global  economic  crisis.  Incomes  for  many 
are  falling  and  currency  depreciations  are  further pushing 
up the cost of imported medicines. 

In  the  years  prior  to  the  global  economic  crisis,  further 
progress  had  been  made  in  access  to  information  and 
communications  technologies  (ICT),  especially  in  mobile 
telephony.  However,  large  differences  in  access  and 
affordability remain across countries and income groups. 

Mobile  telephone  subscriptions  had  soared  to  over  4 
billion,  equivalent  to  just  over  60 %  of  the  world’s 
population,  by  the  end  of  2008;  in  contrast,  there  were 
only 1.3 billion fixed telephone lines.  

Use  of  the  internet  increased  steadily,  with  almost  one 
fourth  of  the  world’s  population  online.  However,  less 
than 13 %  of  the  population in  developing countries were 
using  the  internet  (and  only  1.5 %  in  the  least  developed 
countries),  compared  with  over  60 % 
in  developed 
countries. 

EN 

48 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX B 

List of Acronyms 

ACP 

-  African, Caribbean and Pacific countries 

ARAPKE 

-  African Regional Action Plan for the Knowledge Economy 

ARV 

-  Anti-retroviral therapy 

AMCOW 

-  African Ministerial Council on Water 

CAADP 

CEDAW 

CPIA 

DAC 

DFQF 

DSW 

EBA 

-  Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme 

-  Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination 

Against Women 

-  Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 

-  Development Assistance Committee, OECD 

-  Duty-Free and Quota-Free 

-  Maternal deaths worldwide 

-  Everything but Arms 

EDCTP 

-  European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 

EDF 

EGS 

-  European Development Fund 

-  Education Guarantee Schemes 

EFA GMR 

-  Education for All Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO 

ERD 

EU 

EUEI 

-  European Report on Development 

-  European Union 

-  European Union Energy Initiative for Poverty Eradication and 

Sustainable Development 

EUWI 

-  European Union Water Initiative 

FDI 

FP7 

FTI 

EN 

-  Foreign Direct Investment 

-  7th Framework Programme for Research and Development 

-  Fast Track Initiative for Education 

49 

   EN 

 
 
 
GAVI 

GDP 

-  Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation 

-  Gross Domestic Product 

GFATM 

-  Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 

GNI 

GSP 

HIPC 

-  Gross National Income 

-  Generalised System of Preferences 

-  Highly Indebted Poor Countries 

HIV/AIDS 

-  Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency 

ICT 

IEA 

IHP 

ILO 

IPPF 

IPR 

LDC 

LICs 

MSF 

MDGs 

MDRI 

MSI 

NSDS 

NER 

NGO 

ODA 

OECD 

PEPFAR 

SBA 

Syndrome 

-  Information and Communication Technologies 

-  International Energy Agency 

-  International Health Partnership 

-  International Labour Organization 

-  International Planned Parenthood Federation 

-  Intellectual Property Rights 

-  Least Developed Country 

-  Low Income Countries 

-  Médecins sans Frontières 

-  Millennium Development Goals 

-  Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative 

-  Emergency Obstetric Care 

-  National Strategies for the Development of Statistics 

-  Net Enrolment Ratio 

-  Non Governmental Organization 

-  Official Development Assistance 

-  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development  

-  US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 

-  Skilled Birth Attendance 

EN 

50 

   EN 

 
 
SSA 

SSA 

UN 

-  Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan 

-  Sub-Saharan Africa 

-  United Nations 

UNICEF 

-  United Nations Children's Fund 

UNDP 

UNEP 

WHO 

WTO 

-  United Nations Development Programme 

-  United Nations Environmental Programme 

-  World Health Organisation 

-  World Trade Organization 

EN 

51 

   EN