UN Millennium Development Goals

1. IntroductionThe UN Millennium Goals emphasizes eight specific areas that are extremely inter-connected. The task to engineer a simple, stable structure for communities for years to come, incorporating the complex layers of problems is quite daunting. Although there are many different equations that may be applied to the set goals, the focus of this study is to emphasize the relationship of contraceptive use and the foundation of water, sanitation and literacy as critical for any progression, especially true for females in their journey for equality. Another part of the study was to see how the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in certain areas were affected by the use of contraceptives. ObjectiveDetermine if geospatial technologies can model potential improvement of access to water, sanitation, schools, and medical care; analyze relationships, risks and barriers to the disadvantages, and assess different approaches to specific communities for improvements. Geographic LocationThe continent of Africa is the second largest and second most populous area following Asia. Made up of 62 political territories, over 1 billion people call Africa home speaking an estimated two thousand different languages. This massive land is separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and is joined to Asia at its northeast arm by the Isthmus of Suez. Straddling the equator, Africa’s climate has a wide range including the Sahara desert and very dense rainforest regions containing rich diversity of land. Materials and MethodsSoftware used in MDG study was Arc GIS 10.0 Data sources were global agencies, including UNICEF, WHO and UN World Bank. Using ArcGIS, the main steps were to show contraceptives, shown as propagated symbols, against the various topics (water, sanitation, literacy and AIDS/HIV) which were displayed as propagated colors. Study ResultsThe higher the access to water and sanitation, the more likely the girls age 15-24 were literate which in turn showed higher use of contraceptive for both sexes. There was a undifferentiated relationship between contraception use and AIDS/HIV. Discussions and ConclusionsAs development is increasing for water and sanitation, women and children are positively influenced , especially socially, by not having to spend many hours of their day retrieving water, and instead using that time to be able study at school or go to work and allowing females to continue attending school after menstruation . Education allows females to potentially gain the opportunity to become self- sufficient by learning a trade, use birth spacing, become involved in crucial decision making and possibly owning land. However, a real setback in fighting AIDS/HIV found in numerous studies is the side effects of the hormonal birth control depo-provera or the pill, leading to an astounding increase in the transmission, susceptibility and progression of the virus of HIV/AIDS. As effective as these methods may be in other countries, it is mandatory to look at alternatives such as non-hormonal birth control like the Paragard IUD as well as others methods like the NuvaRing to see how they compare with the AIDS/HIV virus to still encourage birth spacing for empowerment of women and restoration of the environment. Selected Referenceshttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2011/pdfs/Table%203%20HEALTH_12082010.pdf, http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/contraceptive2005/WCU2005.htmhttp://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.1524.LT.FE.ZShttp://www.uneca.org/adfvi/documents/ADFVI_MediaBrief_2.pdfhttp://www.pop.org/content/the-pills-deadly-affair-with-hivaids-1199 http://www.thaixpo.com/author/claus-andersen/page/5/http://geology.com/world/world-physical-map.jpg http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241500265_eng.pdf https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/rawdata_2091.txt http://www.switsalone.com/en/ http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/ UN Millennium Development Goals Environmental Contributors to Contraception Use and HIV/AIDS prevalence