Millennium Development Goals Update

After reading about the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in our macroeconomics book, I thought that it would be a good idea to post an update on our progress for these goals.

The MDGs and updates are are as follows:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger-Halve, between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day, or who suffer from hunger.

For the first time since poverty trends began to be monitored, the number of people living in extreme poverty and poverty rates fell in every developing region—including in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. The proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 47 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2008—a reduction from over 2 billion to less than 1.4 billion.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the global poverty rate at $1.25 a day fell in 2010 to less than half the 1990 rate. If these results are confirmed, the first target of the MDGs—cutting the extreme poverty rate to half its 1990 level—will have been achieved at the global level well ahead of 2015.

• Achieve universal primary education-Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Driven by national and international efforts and the MDG campaign, many more of the world’s children are enrolled in school at the primary level, especially since 2000. Girls have benefited the most. The ratio between the enrollment rate of girls and that of boys grew from 91 in 1999 to 97 in 2010 for all developing regions. The gender parity index value of 97 falls within the plus-or-minus 3-point margin of 100 per cent, the accepted measure for parity.
Enrollment rates of children of primary school age increased markedly in sub-Saharan Africa, from 58 to 76 per cent between 1999 and 2010. Many countries in that region succeeded in reducing their relatively high out-of-school rates even as their primary school age populations were growing.

• Promote gender equality and empower women-Eliminate gender disparity in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Gender inequality persists and women continue to face discrimination in access to education, work and economic assets, and participation in government. Violence against women continues to undermine efforts to reach all goals. Further progress to 2015 and beyond will largely depend on success on these interrelated challenges.

• Reduce child mortality-Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality ratio.

Despite population growth, the number of under-five deaths worldwide fell from more than 12.0 million in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010. And progress in the developing world as a whole has accelerated. Sub-Saharan Africa—the region with the highest level of under-five mortality—has doubled its average rate of reduction, from 1.2 per cent a year over 1990-2000 to 2.4 per cent during 2000-2010.

• Improve maternal health-Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

There have been important improvements in maternal health and reduction in maternal deaths, but progress is still slow. Reductions in adolescent childbearing and expansion of contraceptive use have continued, but at a slower pace since 2000 than over the decade before.

• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases-By 2015 have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases.

At the end of 2010, 6.5 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV or AIDS in developing regions. This total constitutes an increase of over 1.4 million people from December 2009, and the largest one-year increase ever. The 2010 target of universal access, however, was not reached.
Globally, tuberculosis incidence rates have been falling since 2002, and current projections suggest that the 1990 death rate from the disease will be halved by 2015.
The estimated incidence of malaria has decreased globally, by 17 per cent since 2000. Over the same period, malaria-specific mortality rates have decreased by 25 per cent. Reported malaria cases fell by more than 50 per cent between 2000 and 2010 in 43 of the 99 countries with ongoing malaria transmission.

• Ensure environmental sustainability-Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and program and reverse the loss of environmental resources. Halve, by2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Have achieved, by2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least one hundred million slum dwellers.

The target of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water was also met by 2010, with the proportion of people using an improved water source rising from 76 per cent in 1990 to 89 per cent in 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells.
The share of urban residents in the developing world living in slums declined from 39 per cent in 2000 to 33 per cent in 2012. More than 200 million gained access to either improved water sources, improved sanitation facilities, or durable or less crowded housing. This achievement exceeds the target of significantly improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, well ahead of the 2020 deadline.

          Macroeconomics in Context, Goodwin, Nelson, Harris, page 391
          http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2012/English2012.pdf