Millennium Development Goals Report 2013: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - October 2013

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT 2013

United Nations on 1 July 2013 released the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report with more targets to be achieved by 2015.

The report that seeks urgent address to several important challenges being faced by the world and its people was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The 2013 MDG Report looks forward to areas that requires urgent attention such as, one of every eight people of world remain hungry, death of women during childbirth, although facilities to protect them are available, lack of improved sanitation facilities for more than 2.5  billion people, of which one billion continue to practice open defecation, a major health and environmental hazard. Our resource base is in serious decline, with continuing losses of forests, species and fish stocks, in a world already experiencing the impacts of climate change. The report highlights major eight goals to be worked upon. The eight major Goals set by United Nations under the Millennium Development Program were:

Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Achieve Universal Primary Education, Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, Reduce Child Mortality, Improve Maternal Health, Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, Ensure Environmental Sustainability, Develop Global Partnership for Development. These goals were set for the first time at the time of Project inception in July 2002.

Progress Report of the major Eight Goals:

Goal 1: Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger – Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. Some of the quick facts about improvement:

a ) With about less than 700 million people, who live in extreme poverty conditions in 2010 than in 1990, the Poverty rates have been halved
b) Widening of the global jobs gap by 67 million people due to the economic and financial crisis One in eight people still go to bed hungry, despite major progress
c) Globally, nearly one in six children under age five are underweight; one in four are stunted
d) An estimated 7 per cent of children under age five worldwide are now overweight, another aspect of malnutrition; one quarter of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education – If current trends continue, the world will not meet the goal of universal primary education by 2015. Quick Facts:

a ) By 2011, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school, down from 102 million in 2000
b) More than half of these outof- school children live in sub-Saharan Africa
c) Globally, 123 million youth (aged 15 to 24) lack basic reading and writing skills; 61 per cent of them are young women

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women – Steady progress has been made towards equal access of girls and boys to education, but more targeted action is needed in many regions. The quick Overview:

a ) Gender parity is closest to being achieved at the primary level; however, only 2 out of 130 countries have achieved that target at all levels of education
b) Globally, 40 out of 100 wage-earning jobs in the non-agricultural sector are held by women
c) As of 31 January 2013, the average share of women members in parliaments worldwide was just over 20 per cent

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality – Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. The Quick Overview:

a) Since 1990, the child mortality rate has dropped by 41 per cent; 14,000 fewer children are dying each day
b) Still, 6.9 million children under age five died in 2011—mostly from preventable diseases
c) In sub-Saharan Africa, one in nine children die before age five, more than 16 times the average for developed regions

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health – Maternal mortality has declined by nearly half since 1990, but falls far short of the MDG target. Quick Overview:

a ) In Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Asia, maternal mortality has declined by around two thirds.
b) Only half of pregnant women in developing regions receive the recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits.
c) Some 140 million women worldwide who are married or in union say they would like to delay or avoid pregnancy, but are not using contraception

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