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Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). An overview of the current process and its implications for UNESCO. BSP/PMR, July 2002. A. Defining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  Why the MDGs ?  What are the MDGs ?.  Why the MDGs ?.

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Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

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  1. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) An overview of the current process and its implications for UNESCO BSP/PMR, July 2002

  2. A. Defining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)  Why the MDGs ?  What are the MDGs ?

  3.  Why the MDGs ? The 1990s: a decade of faltering progress • progress continued • … but too slowly to reach agreed targets • … and slowing down • Under-5 mortality rate • Maternal mortality rate • Child malnutrition • Water and sanitation • Income poverty • Primary education MDGs are meant to accelerate progress

  4.  What are the MDGs ? • MDGs were set by all Government leaders at the UN Millennium Summit, September 2000) • All UN organisations decided to be guided by MDGs in their future action: unity of purpose, coherent action, synergies and strategic approaches by the UN system as a whole (guided by CEB) • Leaders pledged to strive, individually and collectively, towards these goals through international, regional and national action, concerted by the UN.

  5. MDGs are a combination of … Millennium Goals … • Emanate from UN Summits and Conferences of the 1990s… • … proposed in the UN Secretary-General’s Millennium Report: « We, the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century » • … and endorsed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (8 September 2000) 7 areas explicitly addressed in the Millennium Declaration: • Peace, security and disarmament • Development and poverty eradication • Protecting our common environment • Human rights, democracy and good governance • Protecting the vulnerable • Meeting the special needs of Africa • Strengthening the United Nations Development goals & targets

  6. … and of International Development Goals (IDGs) • For several of these key areas, specific indicators were included in the Millennium Declaration – constituting the international development goals (IDG) • Subsequently, IDGs from other declarations were combined and harmonised with the IDGs set in the Millennium Declaration goals • The resulting set of goals, numerical targets and quantifiable indicators to assess progress constitute the Millennium Development Goals… • … presented in the SG’s “Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration”(September 2001)

  7. MDGs: 8 goals, 18 targets, 48 indicators (as of 22 May 2002) Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4. Reduce child mortality Goal 5. Improve maternal health Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability Goal 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development For each goal: one or several targets; one or several indicators However, several key areas identified have not been captured adequately or at all  See list of MDGs (goals, targets and indicators)

  8. MDGs: Drawbacks and lacunae • Essential goals/targets/indicators are missing from the MDGs – especially in areas of concern to UNESCO. However… • … they may be referred to in other provisions of the Millennium Declaration,… • … or in other 1990s Conference documents, including those convened by UNESCO. Principle: «The list of millennium development goals does not undercut in any way agreements on other goals and targets reached at the global conferences of the 1990s.” (Kofi Annan, “Road Map…”, September 2001)

  9. B. Progressing towards the MDGs • Overall strategy • Key instruments and mechanisms • Coordinating and monitoring progress

  10. Proposed overall strategy for achieving the MDGs(as of 7 June 2002) Three complementary initiatives: • the Millennium Project, a research initiative to be led by Professor Sachs, under guidance of UNSG and UNDP Admnistrator, including (1) a UN Expert Group (with UNESCO representation), (2) an International advisory panel, (3) 10 Task Forces (UNESCO to play a role) • the Millennium Reports, an effort to oversee comprehensive global and national reporting and monitoring of progress, and • the Global Millennium Campaign, a special initiative aimed at building awareness and creating new coalitions for action across North and South for development generally and the MDGs in particular. with emphasis on:  country-level action and reporting  greater system-wide coordination   See text Jeffrey Sachs

  11. Global coordination and monitoring • “Campaign manager” and “scorekeeper” for the MDGs within the UN system: Mark Malloch Brown (in his capacity as Chair of the UNDG) (December 2001); • SG’s “Special Adviser on the MDGs” : Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute,Columbia University, with a brief to work closely with Mr Malloch Brown on these issues (February 2002) • DESA/SG: annual reports to the General Assembly: comprehensive (every 5 years beginning in 2005) and thematic (yearly): - 2002: preventing armed conflicts and the treatment and prevention of diseases; - 2003: financing or development and strategies for sustainable development; - 2004: bridging the digital divide and curbing transnational crime

  12.  MDGs: Key actors • United Nations Development Group (UNDG) – with UNESCO as a member • Chief Executives Board (CEB; formerly ACC) – with UNESCO as a member • UN Country Teams

  13. UNIFEM DESA UNCTAD UNAIDS IFAD UNDCP OHCHR UNCHS UN-Habitat UNOPS FAO, ILO, UNIDO, WHO UNESCO Regional Commissions High Commissioner for Human Rights Special Representative of the SG for Children in Armed Conflict Observer: World Bank Key role of UNDG in system-wide & country-level mobilization for MDGs Executive Committee UNDP (Chair) UNICEF UNFPA WFP

  14. UNDG and its machinery UNDG Executive Committee supported by UNDP Development Group Office (DGO) as secretariat UNDG Programme Committee UNDG Working Group on MDGs Millennium Campaign Unit Millennium Project Expert Group and other ad hoc groups, as required

  15. UNDP UNFPA UNICEF WFP ODCCP UNHCR IFAD UNCTAD UNEP ILO FAO UNESCO UNIDO WHO World Bank IMF 27 Members The arbiter : the Chief Executives Board - CEB (former ACC) • UN • DESA • OCHA • HCHR • Reg. Coms. • UNU • UNITAR • UNRWA • ITU • ICAO • UPU • WMO • WIPO • IAEA • WTO Assisted by the High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) and the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM). See Minutes of the CEB retreat in Rome (11 April 2002) on MDGs

  16.  MDGs: Key instruments • The Common Country Assessment (CCA) – United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) • MDG Country reports N.B.: these instruments are new or being revised

  17. A thoroughly re-oriented CCA/UNDAF • Goal: to create a single common development assistance framework (UNDAF) for all UN programmes at country-level, with common objectives and time frame,  identifying priorities for action  identifying areas where the UN can make a significant, strategic difference (especially in favor of the poorest and most vulnerable) – including in UNESCO domains  strengthening the coherence of the UN system as a whole • Being revised to include MDG targets and indicators, which are now an essential sub-set in the 2002 revised CCA Indicator Framework  See 2002 Revised ACC/UNDAF Guidelines

  18. MDG Country Reports  A UNDP-coordinated initiative • An essential tool for country-level coordination and monitoring • Mainly descriptive, not prescriptive or analytical • Adapted to country priorities (relevant goals, targets, indicators) • Several pilot reports already completed (Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania and Viet Nam), 40 more in preparation in 2002. By the end of 2004, every programme country is expected to produce at least one MDGR in time for the Secretary-General’s global report on MDG progress in 2005.

  19. Status of UNESCO’s involvement • Revised CCA-UNDAF: need to be involved in the 5 UNDG pilot countries selected (Benin, Ecuador, Kenya, Madagascar and Pakistan) • Country-level MDG Reports: need to develop UNESCO’s involvement • Problem: insufficient presence in many countries • CEB and UNDG (including CEB’s HLGP and UNDG’sWorking Group on MDGs)

  20. C. Implications for UNESCO  How comprehensive ? • Some major issues • Immediate challenges for UNESCO

  21.  How comprehensive are MDGs? • Are the strategic interests and programmatic priorities of UNESCO adequately reflected in the MDGs ? • Do MDGs sufficiently incorporate existing goals, commitments and plans of action set by or developed within UNESCO ?

  22. MDGs and natural sciences • Millennium Declaration aims at « Protecting our common environment » • The word « science » is not mentioned at all in the Millennium Declaration • No mention of ethics of science (« new ethic of preservation and stewarship ») • MDGs focus on environmental sustainability, with strong implications for UNESCO’s water-related programmes Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

  23. MDGs and social and human sciences • Millennium Declaration strongly emphasizes the role of human rights, and the values of freedom, justice, solidarity and shared responsibility • MDG # 8 on « Develop a Global Partnership for Development » • Target # 11 related to slum-dwellers

  24. MDGs and culture • The Millennium Declaration addresses culture of peace and dialogue among civilizations, and cultural diversity, but only in its part on « Values and principles »:« Human beings must respect one other, in all their diversity of belief, culture and language. Differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity. A culture of peace and dialogue among all civilizations should be actively promoted.” • There are no culture-related MDGs

  25. MDGs and communication - information • NICTs, freedom of the media and right of the public to have access to information strongly advocated in the Millennium Declaration • No mention of the « digital divide » in the Millennium Declaration • MDG Target 18: « In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications » Indicator 47. Telephone lines per 1000 people Indicator 48. Personal computers per 1000 people Other Indicators to be developed

  26. MDGs and education Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women (including) Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015 6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education 7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 8. Literacy rate of 15-24-year-olds (including) 9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education 10. Ratio of literate females to males of 15-to-24-year-olds + Other related goals/targets/indicators (HIV/AIDS, poverty, …)

  27. MDG goals: By 2015, to ensure that children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015. EFA goals: Early childhood education UPE (free, compulsory and of quality) by 2015 Learning needs of young people and adults Adult literacy increase by 50% by 2015 Gender parity by 2005 (primary and secondary), gender equality by 2015 Quality of education Education MDGs and EFA : establishing linkages NB: The UNGASS on Children (May 2002) set a 90 percent target for primary education by 2010

  28.  Major challenges for UNESCO • Ensuring a proper reflection of UNESCO’s priorities, content-wise and process-wise • Ensuring UNESCO’s participation and representation at global (UNDG/CEB)/country-level (UN country team) • Sensitising all UNESCO programme managers that ALL UNESCO programmes must henceforth be related to and cast in the context of MDGs This is a problem shared by all specialized agencies (e.g.: ILO, WHO, FAO…)

  29.  Some immediate requirements for UNESCO • Contribute to review of CCA/UNDAFs for 5 pilot countries (Benin, Ecuador, Kenya, Madagascar and Pakistan) • Contribute to work of UN country teams in pursuit of MDG Global Campaign and national MDG reports • Contribute to monitoring and reporting on MDG attainment (including UIS involvement) • Contribute to (UNDP) Human Development Report 2003 (with its focus on MDGs) …/…

  30. …/… • Solidify UNESCO’s presence, participation and substantive contribution on all issues raised within UNDG and its sub-groups • Senior presence at major intergovernmental events (such as ECOSOC, General Assembly) to pursue UNESCO’s strategic interests • In-house information, communication and training (of staff at HQ+field) on MDGs

  31. MDG monitoring and reporting requirements • At the global level:  contribute to thematic reports emanating from Prof. Sachs’ MDG Project;  obtain agreement of all partners that EFA Monitoring Report serve as the main global reporting tool on the two education-related MDGs and other international MDG- related instruments (such as PRSPs);  contribute to the statutory annual reporting to DESA. • At the national level:  contribute and highlight UNESCO input to country-level MDG Reports;  contribute to CCA-UNDAF activities at the country-level.

  32. Solidify UNESCO’spresence, participationand contribution to UNDG • Designate offices responsible for substantive input at HQ • Ensure substantive capacity by NYO, beyond present factual reporting on developments • Mainstream knowledge about MDGs and promote linkage to MDGs in activities of all Programme Sectors and Field Offices • Raise UNESCO’s profile in MDG-related fora:  at the global level (CEB, UNDG; sectoral contributions to CCA/UNDAF)  at the country-level : preparation of CCA/UNDAF and MDG country reports (NB: this may have budgetary implications) • Emphasize relevance to MDGs of existing frameworks and mechanisms where UNESCO plays or can play a lead / coordinating / significant role (especially EFA) • Promote UNESCO issues (cultural diversity, dialogue, peace, science, communication, quality education, etc.) in context of MDG pursuit and within framework of UNDG/CEB.

  33. In-house information,communication and training • Demonstrate UNESCO’s institutional commitment • give higher profile to MDGs in institutional information -- including C/4, C/5, regional strategies, EX/GC documents, speeches, press releases, etc. • contribute to UNDG’s Communication Strategy at all levels (including country-level). • develop MDG-related UNESCO Website (in progress by BSP, at www.unesco.org/bsp) • ensure timely information and backstopping to sectors and Field Offices on scheduled ACC/UNDAF, PRSPs, etc. • Increase in-house awareness • develop staff training modules on interagency cooperation – including revised CCA/UNDAF, MDGs and UN reform processes – with special focus on Field staff (drawing on sample modules by other UNDG/CEB organisations). • reflect on the effectivesness of UNESCO’s past interagency contribution and develop a strategy for enhancing influence and impact.

  34. http://www.unesco.org/bsp/eng/mdg.htm

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