Support the Millennium Development Goals

by Catherine Gordon

On October 16, in comments to mark World Food Day, spokesmen for the U.N. World Food Program warned that the number of people dying from chronic hunger and related illnesses is steadily increasing. More than six million people have died from hunger this year and twenty-five thousand people are dying from hunger and poverty everyday. This marks a serious decline after decades of progress.

This September marked the five-year anniversary of the Millennium Summit, at which 189 countries pledged to work toward the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals commit both developing and developed nations to lift half of the 1.2 billion people in the world living on less than $1 a day out of abject poverty by the year 2015.1 But many countries, among them the U.S., have not fulfilled their commitments. At the current rate, sub-Saharan Africa will not reach the goal until 2147, according to the U.N. Development Program.

The U.N. Millennium Summit +5 was held in New York City the second week of September. Many poor nations hoped that it would be a groundbreaking event, at which the world would commit itself anew to alleviating poverty around the globe. World leaders differed widely on how to reach that goal, and differed over who will pay for development aid. In meetings leading up to the summit there was disagreement over the wording of the document outlining the development goals.

Unfortunately, the United States created major difficulties for a time. Not only did the U.S. not want to make any substantive commitments, its spokesmen also argued against any reference to the Millennium Development Goals in the final document. The U.S. later backed down and President Bush gave a speech in which he promised U.S. commitment to the MDGs. The U.S. position, however, did not give a specific endorsement.

Ultimately, what came out of the summit was neutral. There were no major steps forward and none backward. There is already a broad consensus for the MDGs and about what is required from both developed and developing countries. The developed countries must give more aid, more effectively, while supporting broader debt relief and more equitable trade policies. The developing countries must have clearer national strategies for stronger governance, thereby eliminating corruption and generating economic growth.

The summit did nothing to move these strategies forward. It preserved the consensus and familiar rhetoric, but did nothing to make these words real.

Unhappily, the political will to achieve clear progress toward the Millennium Development Goals has not materialized. As Gordon Brown stated in Sojourners magazine after discussing child mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa:

"Let us be clear: It is not the knowledge to avoid these infant deaths does not exist; it is not that the expertise does not exist; it is not that the means to achieve our goals do not exist. It is that the political will does not exist. In the 19th century, you could say that it was inadequate science, technology and knowledge available; we must face the truth that the real barrier is indifference. So if we are to put ourselves on track again to meet the Millennium Development Goals, we have to rouse the conscience of the world anew, each of us playing our part."

Our Christian faith teaches us to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus has taught us that anyone in need is our neighbor. In a country that professes such a strong Christian faith it is unconscionable that so much of our wealth is spent on war and the weapons of war rather than on those things that make for peace and support those who are most vulnerable. God measures societies by how they treat the most vulnerable; the prophets have called us to create just and righteous societies. It is time for people of faith in the United States and around the world to issue a clarion call of support and advocacy for the Millennium Development Goals.

The global community does know how to improve the quality of life in the developing world. People and communities do best when they have the right mix of tools and resources available to them - when people have access to jobs and economic opportunity, basic health and education, basic rights and dignity.

Investing in education pays off in improved health, longevity, and income. Education is essential for whole societies to succeed. Improving health care pays off with children who are more likely to go to school and adults who are healthy enough to hold jobs and start businesses. Investing in debt relief, empowering the poorest people through microcredit, and ensuring that trade rules level the economic playing field are all ways in which tools for empowerment can get into the hands of people, businesses and nations.

The United States has played a critical role in alleviating global poverty and promoting progress. The U.S. was the largest single donor in the global campaign that eradicated smallpox from the world. U.S. assistance to Botswana and Korea in the early stages of their development accounted for 5-10 percent of their national incomes, and helped them become two of the fastest growing low-income countries. International debt relief initiatives, in which the U.S. has participated, have allowed countries to use funds previously allocated for debt repayment for important social programs. Uganda has been able to eliminate school fees and offer primary education to all children. Tanzania was able to increase its primary school enrollment by 50 percent after debt relief.

The United States did sign the Millennium Declaration in 2000, and in 2002 world leaders gathered at the Financing for Development Conference to discuss how to mobilize resources to reach the development goals in the Declaration. At this conference President Bush announced a major new aid plan called the Millennium Challenge Account, to increase U.S. development assistance by $5 billion per year. And in the next year a major HIV/AIDS initiative was announced.

But in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals, more resources must come from the U.S. and other rich nations. The level of U.S. development assistance is currently last among the rich nations in relation to economic strength. In 2004 the U.S. gave just 0.16 percent of income in foreign aid, which amounts to about $19 billion dollars. If this country would increase effective U.S. development assistance to just one percent of the U.S. national budget, it would allow major improvements in reducing poverty, providing primary education opportunities for all, reversing the spread of deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, improving access to clean water, and cutting rates of child and maternal mortality in the developing world. Other steps the U.S. can take toward achieving the goals include providing additional debt relief to impoverished countries and eliminating harmful trading policies, like subsidies that favor large agricultural producers.

Recently, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) formally joined the ONE Campaign - a diverse coalition of groups working together to increase the number of Americans committed to fighting global AIDS and extreme poverty. The ONE Campaign seeks to build the political will in the U.S. to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Please sign on to the following declaration.

"WE BELIEVE that in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in a historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty. WE RECOGNIZE that a pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and directing an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward meeting basic needs - education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries. WE COMMIT ourselves - one person, one voice, one vote at a time - to make a better, safer world for all."

We must not stop there, however. There are currently two bills in Congress, one in the House and one in the Senate, that express support for the Millennium Development Goals. While they are symbolic in nature, they are a good tool to use to educate your Members of Congress and let them know that as people of faith you are concerned about the poorest of the poor around the world. Please contact your Members and ask them to support S 1315 and H Con Res 172 in the Senate and House.

The 8 Millennium 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. Develop a Global Partnership for Development;
8. Ensure Environmental Sustainability.