Transition from the
Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals
The millennium
development goals were a set of ambitious goals developed at the turn of this
century, by the United Nations Secretary General’s office. They were then
presented to the member nations of the UN, were tasked with making steps
towards their achievement, in the pursuit of meaningful development.
The operational years
of these goals was set at fifteen years, at the end of which countries ought to
have reached the goal posts. That is, from the year 2000 until 2015.
The 8 Millennium
Development Goals
1.
Eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger.
2.
Achieve
universal primary education.
3.
Promote
gender equality and empower women.
4.
Reduce
child mortality.
5.
Improve
maternal health.
6.
Combat
HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases.
7.
Ensure
environmental sustainability.
8.
Develop
a global partnership for development.
A lot of laudable
efforts were made and the world has made many development advances in the past
fifteen years owing to projects and partnerships inspired by the MDGs. However,
there has been uneven progress across goals and targets.
Assessing Progress
Basic education has
become more accessible to a wider population. This has been enabled by building
of more schools and either subsidizing cost of primary education in most third
world countries.
Poverty and hunger
have yet to be eradicated. Despite the impressive development goals achieved
thus far, and the growth in the world economy, a staggering 12.7% of the
world's population are today living below the poverty line[1]. The gap between the rich and
the poor has also continued to increase.
HIV/AIDs, though still
incurable, has been better managed and its spread greatly curbed through
various efforts. Medication for those ailing is being availed free of charge.
Malaria has been well managed over the years, through preventive measures and
developing and availing quality medication.
Environmental
conservation has been at the forefront of many development projects. It must
however be acknowledged, that this is among the goals with the least progress
due to the reactionary, rather that preventive nature of most conservation
efforts employed thus far.
Maternal health has
improved and child mortality rates have reduced in a number of countries. There
are however still diverse disparities within and across countries, especially
in the third world.
Gender equality has
greatly improved. More girls have access to education and economic
opportunities than previously. In addition, women rights are now recognized as
human rights, even though there are places where implementation is still
lagging.
The Millennium
Development Goals have not been fully achieved. Why SDG's then?
The time-line set for
achievement of the MDG's has expired; their achievement is still far off. It
would perhaps appear reasonable to extend the time-line. However, that would
also include dragging along the challenges and setbacks experienced.
To ensure that the
succeeding development agenda is adequately addressed, it became necessary to
shift from previous approaches. The new approach included taking into account the
emerging gaps in the implementation of development projects.
Therefore, there have
been five major transformational shifts in the formulation of the Post-2015
Development Agenda:
i.
Leave
no one behind.
ii.
Put
sustainable development at the core.
iii.
Transform
economies for jobs and inclusive growth.
iv.
Build
peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all.
v.
Forge
a new global partnership.
This approach will
boost the clamour to end extreme poverty; Halt climate change and environmental
degradation; Diversify economies and accessibility of resources; Promote peace
and good governance, and build societies free from fear, conflict or violence;
and Enhance solidarity, cooperation and mutual accountability.
