Please see ungoals.org
for updated information.
Thank you.
Matt Berkley
Some promises by governments at the UN in 1990-2017
Documentary evidence on government
pledges
For related news and information: ungoals.org globalfactcheck.org
@mattberkley
Where is the promised report on the Millennium
Declaration?
"Let us resolve...To halve, by the time this century is 15 years
old, the proportion of the world’s people (currently 22 per cent)
whose income is less than one dollar a day"
UN Secretary-General, Millennium Report 2000
"The world has reduced extreme poverty by half...in
developing regions....to 22 per cent by 2010"
United
Nations MDG Report 2014
...............................
The last
person to speak at the Millennium Summit was the Co-Chairperson Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia.
He said,
"I...call
upon [the new President of the General Assembly, Harri
Holkeri] to ensure the implementation of the
Millennium Declaration and pay particular attention to paragraph
31."
It reads,
"We
request the General Assembly to review on a regular basis the progress made in
implementing the provisions of this Declaration, and ask the Secretary-General
to issue periodic reports..."
The Assembly, member states and Secretaries-General have not done
this.
First, the Declaration contains passages about, for example, human rights and
good government.
Second, the UN has reported on Millennium Development Goal targets, some
of which, having 1990 baselines, are easier than the leaders' pledges.
On 6 November 2001 civil servants proposed to UN country teams that they begin
using 1990 baselines, with no authority from the Assembly.
The official MDG list, reproduced by the World Bank, the UK Government,
and many other sources, falsely states that its targets are “from the
Millennium Declaration”. The Food and Agriculture Organisation's
statistics pages falsely state the Declaration has a 1990 baseline.
The MDG 2015 Report mentions "Millennium Declaration" once. It
gives no details of the time-bound commitments in the Declaration. It
does not report on progress towards them except in some cases where they are
the same as the MDG targets. The MDG report gives no details of how to find the
Declaration text.
The present series of reports aims to fill some of the gaps and explain
the failure of accountability.
"I am
pleased that the Declaration...has such a broad range of commitments,
and the specificity of the language and the time scales mean that
we can and
will be held accountable for delivery."
Bertie
Ahern, Prime Minister of Ireland
Millennium
Summit,
6 September 2000
Report on a
selection of commitments in the
1996 World Food Summit Declaration
and
2000 Millennium Declaration,
reaffirmed by national leaders in 2005 and 2013.
What are our
governments committed to?
What have
they achieved?
If governments or intergovernmental organisations mislead
on the pledges, does that violate the human
rights of the poor? The rich?
Main 2015 UN hunger report makes
"Millennium" targets easier again
Many
sources still give a wrong impression that the Declaration baseline is 1990 or
that the easier MDG targets were agreed in 2000, some after complaints:
The
Lancet
Washington Post
The Guardian
Sydney Morning Herald
Hunger
More
detail:
www.millenniumdeclaration.org/hunger.pdf
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Millennium pledge: Safe and affordable water
"We resolve...by the year 2015...to halve the proportion of people
who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water."
Progress rating: Unknown from official statistics.
Accountability/transparency rating: Poor. Official headline progress reports
are misleading on water quality, Declaration baseline and MDG baseline. Leaders
did not make a pledge with a "1990" baseline. The MDG target as
agreed, according to the OECD Secretariat in 2001, does not have a
"1990" baseline.
"While target 7.C explicitly refers to access to safe drinking
water, the indicator does not measure quality directly, and the
assumption that improved sources are more likely to provide safe water than
unimproved sources is misleading."
Human Rights and MDGs in Practice:
A review of country strategies and reporting
United Nations
2010
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HRAndMDGsInPractice.pdf
"The JMP [official monitors] also tempered any
celebrations with a warning that the data collected only measured access to
improved water sources – those that adequately protect the source from outside
contamination – rather than assessed the quality, or reliability of the water
supply, or whether water sources were sustainable.
Testing the quality of the water at a national level
in all countries was too expensive and logistically difficult, said the report.
"As a result, it is likely that the number of people using safe water
supplies has been overestimated."
Millennium development goal on safe drinking water reaches target early
6 March 2012
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/mar/06/water-millennium-development-goals
The Millennium water pledge had already reduced the
ambition:
"Progress
fell far short of the goal set in 1990 to reach universal access to safe water
by 2000. Not only was the goalpost moved to 2015, the new MDG target was
lowered from universal coverage to halving the proportion of people without
access to safe water. Thus, the new target is nearly five times less ambitious
than the initial one."
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/capacity-development/development-policy-journal-mdgs-volume-3/DevelopmentPolicy-Journal-MDGs-Volume3.pdf
The
official statistics on "improved sources" are not a good indication
of safety or affordability as the Millennium Declaration required.
MDG water subtarget: MDG architect stated it had baseline of 2000,
not 1990
In the
official list of MDG targets published in 2001, 2003 and 2008, the drinking-water
subtarget does not have a baseline.
Other targets on the proportion of people have baselines of 1990.
I am
unaware of any commentator having pointed this out.
The answer
seems to be that its baseline was agreed as 2000.
A September 2001 document by
the
richer countries' organisation, the OECD, was prepared for its Development
Assistance Committee. This is the committee which asked UN agencies in March
2001 to merge the Millennium pledges with the 1990-baseline International
Development Goals.
The
September 2001 document was written after the OECD took a leading role in
deciding the targets. It was produced a week after the Secretary-General
had produced his Road Map containing the proposed list of goals, targets and
indicators. The OECD document states that the MDG target on drinking
water has a baseline of 2000.
“Staff from the Secretariats of the UN (Secretary General’s Office and
UNDG), IMF, OECD-DAC, and the World Bank met in New York on 21 June 2001 to
discuss aligning the goals [ie the 1990-baseline IDGs and
2000-baseline Declaration]. In subsequent correspondence they reached
agreement on a presentation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)...
It was agreed that there should be a standard baseline year of 1990 against which
to measure progress (with an exception of using 2000 for the safe water goal as that was agreed in a
recent UN conference).”
http://www.mofat.go.kr/webmodule/common/download.jsp?boardid=106&tablename=TYPE_DATABOARD&seqno=075ffcfdafa0fa2ff1fd103b&fileseq=05b06bfb1fd504dfa303b07b
Page
4. It is a .pdf document which may need the extension .pdf to be
added.
It is
also at:
http://millenniumdeclaration.org/mdgwaterbaseline.pdf
.
It is
puzzling that Jan Vandemoortele and Mark Malloch-Brown, who have each stated
they are or been described as co-authors of the MDG framework, have not
mentioned this in their accounts, and nor has Michael Doyle, the co-chair with
Dr Vandemoortele of the inter-agency group setting the MDG targets.
Several participants – Eric Swanson at the World Bank, Brian Hammond at the
OECD who was the contact given for the Secretariat's note stating that the
baseline was 2000, Michael Doyle and Jan Vandemoortele – have contributed to
accounts by others, sometimes by interview. I am unaware of any
participant or organisation having given the reason for the absence of the 1990
baseline in the official MDG list, apart from the OECD document of September
2001.
On 29 March
2001 the chairman of the relevant OECD committee had written to heads of UN
agencies. The text is in the document above. He proposed:
"agreement on the alignment of the international and millennium
development goals and the timing and role of BWA in regular reporting to the
General Assembly on development progress."
BWA - "Better world for all" - was the
four civil servants' agreement containing the International Development Goals,
with a 1990 baseline.
The
following sentence may be worth rereading and some thought. The OECD
Secretariat stated in the document of September 2001,
"It
was agreed that there should be a standard baseline year of 1990 against which
to measure progress (with an exception of using 2000 for the safe water goal
as that was agreed in a recent UN conference).”
Can you think of any UN conferences which were "recent" in 2001?
Did any of them resolve to achieve mortality
reductions from "current rates"?
Were any of them preceded by the Deputy
Secretary-General stating that the fact that leaders were making the
commitments made a "big difference"?
Did any government reject the Secretary-General's
recommendations to the Millennium Summit that they resolve to halve the
proportion without safe water "between now and 2015"?
Did any government reject his urging halving the proportion of people on under
a dollar a day from "currently 22 per cent"?
Did Reuters, the New York Times, the Economist and the Guardian not report 2000
baselines for the Millennium Declaration?
Does the OECD/IMF/World Bank/UN staff argument for restricting the 2000
baseline to the water target make sense?
UN
statements on water safety:
"this
week a joint UNICEF/WHO report announced that the world has met the MDG target
of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe [!] drinking
water."
Secretary-General's
remarks at press conference on Millennium Development Goals
Secretary General's Off-the-Cuff Remarks
New York, 8 March 2012
http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=2255
"The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the framework that has been a key part of
efforts to build a better world for the past 15 years [!]
– challenged the global community to reduce by half the proportion of the
population without safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Throughout this
period, the
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) has monitored progress.
As the MDG
era comes to a close, this report shows how far we have come. For example, in a
major global achievement, the target for safe [!]
drinking water was met in 2010, well ahead of the MDG deadline of 2015.
..."
Jan
Eliasson
Deputy UN Secretary-General
Progress
on sanitation and drinking water – 2015 update and MDG assessment
UNICEF
and World Health Organisation
http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/JMP-Update-report-2015_English.pdf
Unanswered
complaint 6 February 2014 to BBC Editorial Complaints Unit
Invited
comments on provisional response 1300394
"More
or Less of 10 March 2012...Unidentified speaker, apparently a World Service
newsreader or a person reading from a World Service news script:
The United
Nations says the first Millennium Development Goal, halving the number of
people who have no access to clean water, has been reached before the target
date of 2015.
[More or Less commenting on the misleading news report:]
...the Millennium Development Goals were agreed by all the countries of
the United Nations and the big aid agencies in the year 2000."
More or
Less makes a major error. The MDG targets agreed by consensus in 2002"
[Later
note: I was wrong here, apparently
because I had foolishly trusted one or more experts' accounts. In reality the Monterrey Consensus of 2002
referred to the Millennium Declaration goals]
"are in fact easier than the pledges in the Millennium Declaration of
2000. The latter is a UN General Assembly resolution. A major difference is
that the resolution's pledges were not backdated, and are therefore to, for
example halve the proportion of people in 2000 on under "$1 ", not
the 1990 level.".…
[The
programme contradicted itself by saying it had scrutinised the goal while
confusing it with the more ambitious UN pledge. ]"
28 May 2014 to BBC Editorial Complaints Unit:
"The BBC
has often conflated easier MDG targets agreed in 2002 with more ambitious (if
in some ways more limited) Millennium Declaration promises of 2000, and I know
of no evidence that any BBC output has noted the difference.
...
Contrary to
a common myth, the Declaration contains no reference at all to 1990. That is
why I find no references to 1990 baselines in BBC stories from 2000 about the
Summit and Declaration. I find no references from 2000 in BBC articles to the
phrase "Millennium Development Goals" either. The phrase was used in
2001 by the Secretary-General in his "Road Map" document in relation
to the "proposed" goals, targets and indicators.
Declaration:
Mortality rates reduced from "current rates": http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
MDG4:
Mortality rates reduced from 1990 rates:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/MDGsOfficialList2008.pdf
[Later
note: I failed to note something relevant here, as apparently do all or nearly
all experts in their published accounts after 2001. The MDG target for water says nothing about
1990. However, the official reports on progress wrongly report the
baseline as 2000.]
This
confusion appears to be widespread in BBC reports and analysis.
The BBC
could play a useful role in correcting the misinformation and thus enabling
people to hold governments to account. ...
I expect
many people tell the BBC their complaints are important. I stated in my
comments of 6 February on your provisional response that More or Less here made
a major error. The number of child deaths 2000-15 is likely to be over 90 million.
The rate went down between the two baselines of 1990 and 2000. You may not be
surprised to hear that the difference between steady progress on the
Declaration commitment and steady progress on the MDG target over the period
2000-15 amounts to several million child deaths.
I do not
know if ECU staff, or editorial staff, have fully taken in what I wrote. As I
say, I propose that in the interests of fairness, not least to the people to
whom the promises of 2000 were made, the ECU consider this complaint along with
the others.
I propose
that a staff member let me know within perhaps a week the ECU's considered view
as to what this particular complaint is, so that there is no misunderstanding.
The BBC,
after many complaints that it had given a wrong impression that the 1990
targets were what was pledged by world leaders in 2000, published this material
for children:
"It
was the start of a new millennium, which marks a thousand years. Global leaders
agreed that we should all do more to fight poverty, so that the new millennium
would be better than the last.
189
countries agreed to work together to achieve eight [!] big
goals by 2015 - called the Millennium Development Goals. [!]
"Simple things like safe drinking water and a clean home are crucial...
In 2000,
world leaders agreed to try and reduce the number [!]
of people suffering in this way by half.
This [!] target has
been met."
Have we
achieved the Millennium Development Goals? - CBBC Newsround
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/33382023
12 July
2015
This clearly
implies that the leaders agreed "Millennium Development Goals" to be
achieved by 2015. There are no official statistics on water safety. Neither
what leaders agreed "at the start of a new millennium" nor the MDG
official list has the 1990 baseline of the easier "met" target.
......................................................
Sanitation
Subj: FW: Sanitation goal
Date: 3 September 2002
From: lewallep@who.int
To: villare@who.int
CC: Matt Berkley
Dear Dr Villar,
The following message has been sent to me following a telephone conversation
this morning. As the expert dealing with poverty reduction and health, you
may wish to take up the issue with [Mr] Berkley.
Thank you.
Pierre Lewalle
Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy
World Health Organization
....From: Matt Berkley
Sent: 03 September 2002 10:05
To: lewallep
Subject: Sanitation goal
Dear Mr Lewalle
Thank you for giving attention to this
issue.
Sanitation goal and survival rates
As I said, I am raising some concerns about poverty reduction as a goal, since
basically what is measured in this case has not told us whether poor people's
income/consumption on average rose or fell. I am very happy
to send you more details on this point, which is relevant to official
terminology about progress on poverty.
As with the poverty reduction goal, the sanitation goal has the problem that if
in a country more of the worst-off die, the statistic makes more progress while
the people do worse. If a government increases survival rates
of the worst-off, the statistic will make slower progress while the people do
better. In both cases, I should add "other
things being equal", but no-one knows whether other things are equal or
not, or whether they will be or not in the future.
What we do know is that survival rates vary greatly between countries, and over
time. The impact of AIDS should be considered
here.
Subj: Need for balanced progress on Millennium Goals
Date: 03/09/02
To: gredmond@unicef.org
File: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\FAX.doc (23552 bytes) DL Time (32000 bps): < 1
minute
Dear Dr Redmond
Here is the fax I sent today to Nadia Younes.
Many thanks.
...
FAX
To: Sir Richard Jolly
Care of: Ms Nadia Younes,
Executive Director,
External Relations and Governing Bodies
United Nations, Johannesburg
Fax no. 00 27 11 508 0890
Tel. 00 27 083 383 3864
From: Mr Matt Berkley
Oxford, UK
... Fundamental problems with poverty statistics
and implications for the final declaration
1. The sanitation goal
The goal of halving the proportion of people without water could be reached
more quickly in a country where people without water die early.
In the age of AIDS, this may be an important issue. In a country
where the poorest survive longer, statistical progress on the goal may be
slower. Therefore, I would suggest that AMCOW needs an additional
mandate: to take account, when assessing progress, of trends in death
rates among those without water. If these are unavailable
then death rate data on the poorest might give a useful indication.
Otherwise the sanitation goal may provide less incentive to governments to
improve the nutritional status of people without water.
2. Other goals
Similar logical considerations apply to the poverty reduction goal and the
education goal.
...the proportion of underfed adults and children can be influenced in the
“wrong” direction by death rates; ...
the poorest fifth’s share of national income has the same problem...
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Is this a human rights violation?
Millennium
Declaration:
"We…resolve...by the year 2015...
dollar a
day…
hunger…
to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and
under-five child mortality by two thirds, of their current
rates"
"Targets (from the
Millennium Declaration)…
Halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day…
Halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people who suffer from hunger...
Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990
and
2015, the under-five mortality rate...
Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015,
the maternal mortality ratio…"
"targets come from the Millennium Declaration"
Official
list of Millennium Development Goals 2003
Current
list effective from 2008
un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/OfficialList2003.pdf
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Host.aspx?Content=indicators/officiallist.htm
Note: The World Bank figures do not even support the above
interpretation of progress on the Millennium Declaration pledge using a
relevant baseline.
The leaders' pledges are not for "developing regions". The latter is
easier due to population growth rates.
See "hunger" chart using UN undernourishment figures above for a
parallel example. It clearly shows the trend from around 1990 is steeper using
the non-existent "developing regions" "pledge".
Official list of MDG indicators does not mention "developing regions"
targets either.
The World Bank figures may include a made-up number, "imputed
income", for living in your own home, and a made-up number for the value
of what you produce and eat yourselves.
The value of different accommodation in villages, cities, in different
times and different countries is subjective.
……………………………………………………….
"Let us resolve therefore: - To halve, by the time this
century is 15 years old, the proportion of the world’s people (currently 22
per cent) whose income is less than one dollar a day."
Secretary-General, Millennium Report 2000
"The world has reduced extreme poverty by half...in
developing regions....to 22 per cent"
UN MDG Report 2014
............................................................................
"target of halving...extreme poverty, and so lifting more than 1
billion people out of it."
Secretary-General, Millennium Report 2000
"The world has reduced extreme poverty by half...people living in
extreme poverty by 700 million"
UN MDG Report 2014
………….……………..………….…………..…………..………….
Organisations which have failed to correct their errors about the
Millenium Declaration baseline after they were pointed out include:
BBC, New York Times, Financial Times, Reuters,
Lancet, Economist.
BBC Head of Editorial Complaints fails to respond for
a year
The BBC has broadcast and published a wide range of misleading material over
many years concerning the Millennium Declaration and relevant targets and
statistics.
On 3 March 2012 the World Service broadcast an edition of "More or
Less" to poorer countries. It claimed that the World Bank used a "basket
of essential goods" since "a couple of decades ago" to judge
poverty. This is not true. The truth is that the World Bank is on the other
side of the debate. Other people criticise it for not using a basket of
essential goods.
On 9 March 2012 the BBC published a web page, which was the BBC Editor's Choice
for poverty. This contained the same error, claiming that the World Bank used a
"basket of food".
A listener complained. The BBC ignored the complaint and two reminders.
The complainant gave up on the official complaints procedure and contacted the
presenter. The BBC removed one example of one word,
"essential", from that web page. But they left it in the podcast and
the Spanish page, and left the "basket of food" and other misleading
material. They left the page as "last updated 9 March 2012" when the
truth is that it was last updated in November. They then said the same thing
again in a new page..
On 10 March 2012 the BBC again broadcast More or Less to poorer countries. They
gave an impression that world leaders agreed an easier "MDG" baseline
for the Declaration's targets. The 1990 baseline is not in the Declaration.
World leaders did not agree eight goals, or MDGs, in 2000. Also, there is no
1990 baseline for the water target in the official MDG list.
The World Service Trust, now BBC Media Action, has said it aims to help
media be more accurate and accountable in poor countries.
In 2004 they produced an "MDG website" making the false claim
that the Declaration has the generally easier 1990 baseline.
Unsurprisingly, a BBC programme team in 2013 – Health Check – linked to
it in 2013.
The Head of Editorial Complaints was informed of the basic error on 6
February 2014.
The information is in a document which his department was bound to
consider by the BBC complaints procedure.
He failed to answer despite further complaints and
explanations. Meanwhile the BBC has broadcast and published more
false information about the baseline.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1112_mdg/index.shtml
Contrary to the BBC claims:
The Millennium Declaration in fact contains no reference to the
generally easier "1990" baseline, or "proportions in developing
regions".
The phrase "Millennium Development Goals" was not used at all
in 2000.
The Declaration does not contain eight goals or 18 targets.
The global commitment is in fact broader than "development", covering
for example human rights.
How can citizens take part in the democratic process if they don't know
what governments are committed to?
..................................................................…..........................…
Is this a human rights violation?
September 2000:
"We, heads of State and Government…resolve...by the year
2015...dollar a day...hunger...water…
...to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and under-five
child mortality by two thirds, of their current
rates"
Millennium Declaration
December 2000:
"Reduce...extreme poverty by half between 1990 and 2015. …
child mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. ...
maternal mortality ratios by three-fourths between 1990 and 2015...
The goals are included in the recent
United Nations Millennium Declaration"
Senior statisticians from World Bank, OECD, IMF
IMF External Relations Department publication, December 2000
2001: "under-five mortality decreased from 94 to 81
...between
1990 and 2000"
Secretary-General, Report on Implementation of the Millennium Declaration
2002: "...Declaration’s goals. Our hopes of reaching those goals…
...goals
set out in the Millennium Declaration express the resolve of the world’s political
leaders…
...the world has committed itself to reducing child mortality by two thirds between
1990 and
2015."
Secretary-General, Report on Implementation of
Declaration
2003 and 2008: "...Targets (from the
Millennium Declaration)...
Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the
under-five mortality rate ...
The
Millennium Development Goals and targets come from the Millennium
Declaration"
Millennium Development Goals official list
2004: "In 2000, as part of the Millennium Development Goals, world governments
pledged that by 2015 they will have reduced the 1990 under-five
mortality rate by two thirds – from 93 children of every 1,000 in 1990.. to
31"
UNICEF
2005: "We, Heads of State and Government…reaffirm
the United Nations Millennium Declaration"
References:
un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/12/gupta.htm
un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2001.pdf
un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2002.pdf
mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/OfficialList2003.pdf
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Host.aspx?Content=indicators/officiallist.htm
unicef.org/progressforchildren/2004v1/childSurvival.php
mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/ares60_1_2005summit_eng.pdf
……………………………………………………………………………………….
"Baseline
year – 1990 or 2000?
...In two cases - maternal mortality and under-five mortality - the term "current
rates" is used, directly specifying a 2000 baseline. For the remainder, the
targets are stated in the form of "to halve by 2015…" This would
imply a 2000 baseline year of the Millennium Declaration. After discussions within the UN system and with
other partners, the issues have been resolved in favour of 1990 serving as the
baseline year."
Guidance Note sent by heads of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA,
WFP to country
offices
October 2001
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/MDG%20Country
%20Reports/MDG%20Reporting%20Guidelines/1.%20English.pdf
"under-five mortality decreased from 94 to 81 per 1,000
live births between 1990 and 2000"
Secretary-General, 2001
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2001.pdf
"This, the first such annual report, focuses on commitments made in
all chapters of the Declaration...
The development goals set out in the Millennium Declaration express
the resolve of the world’s political leaders...
Most horrific of all are the statistics for child mortality.
...the world has committed itself to
reducing
child mortality by two thirds between 1990 and
2015."
Report of the Secretary-General
Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit
Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration
31 July 2002
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2002.pdf
Child mortality: UNICEF misleads
"In 2000, as part of the Millennium Development Goals, world
governments pledged that by
2015 they will have reduced the 1990 under-five mortality rate by two thirds – from 93 children of every 1,000 in
1990 dying before they were five to 31 of every 1,000 in 2015."
UNICEF. Child Survival: Global Trends 2004
http://www.unicef.org/progressforchildren/2004v1/childSurvival.php
"UNICEF publishes yearly reports on child survival to track progress, promote accountability for
global commitments made to children..."
Executive Summary ...
In 2000, the world made a promise to
children: to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds
between 1990
and
2015."
UNICEF
Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed
Progress Report 2014
http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/APR-2014-
17Oct14-web_194.pdf
"Key commitments, targets and timetables of the Plan of
Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development [held in
Johannesburg 2002]...
Reduce, by 2015, mortality rates
for infants and children under 5 by two thirds, and maternal mortality rates by
three quarters, of the prevailing rate in 2000 (reaffirmation of millennium development
goal)"
World Summit on Sustainable Development and its possible implications for the
work of the Statistical Commission
Note by the Secretary-General
30 November 2002
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/envpdf/2003-33e.pdf
Note: Although
the Secretary-General refers to the wrong "goal", the Summit did
commit to the reduction from the 2000 baseline.
...…………………………………………………………………………
Water
"Specifically, I urge the Summit to adopt the target of reducing by half, between
now and 2015, the proportion of people who lack sustainable
access to adequate sources of affordable and safe water."
Secretary-General
Millennium Report
27 March 2000
http://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/We_The_Peoples.pdf
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan000923.pdf
Chart from We the Children
Secretary-General
May 2001
http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-s-27-3e.doc
…………………………………………………………………………
Hunger: FAO, IFAD, WFP mislead
"In 2000, the Millennium Declaration (MD)
recognized the value of hunger and poverty reduction by setting the MDG target
of "halving, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people who suffer from hunger" (target 1.C). ...
Such estimates...are presented annually in the State of Food Insecurity in the
World (SOFI) report."
Food security methodology.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/fs-methods/fs-methods1/en/
"For the developing regions as a whole, the target to reduce the proportion of
the world’s hungry by 50 percent by 2015 was missed by a small margin. ….
In 1990, world
leaders met and
adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
They set out eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
including the first one to halve
the
proportion of hungry people and the rate of poverty, reflecting
the world’s commitment…72 countries
have already reached the MDG
hunger
target…"
[charts cite 1990-2 to
2014-16]
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;
International Fund for Agricultural Development;
World Food Programme.
State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 In Brief
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4671e.pdf
"In
2000, world leaders met and adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
Later, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set
out, including the first one on halving hunger and extreme poverty rates, reflecting
the world’s commitment..."
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;
International Fund for Agricultural Development;
World Food Programme
State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e.pdf
"In 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit,
world leaders agreed to eight specific and measurable development goals
- now called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - to
be achieved by 2015."
International Monetary Fund
Factsheet: The IMF and the Millennium Development Goals
April 15, 2015
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdg.htm
………………………………………………………………………………………..
This selection of evidence, and the analysis, on the baseline and a
change from "proportions of the world's population" to the easier
"proportions in developing regions" follows observations by Thomas
Pogge that the Declaration mentions "current rates" and not 1990, and
that the "proportions" were changed.
He has raised such points for over ten years, for example:
Millions Killed by Clever Dilution of Our Promise
Thomas Pogge, 2010
http://www.crop.org/viewfile.aspx?id=218
………………………………………………………………………………….
Official list of Millennium Development Goals:
"Goals and Targets (from the Millennium Declaration)…
Halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day…
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger...
Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate...
Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio…"
"The Millennium Development Goals and targets come from
the Millennium Declaration,
signed by 189 countries, including 147 heads of State and Government, in
September 2000 (http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm) and
from further agreement by member states at the 2005 World Summit (Resolution
adopted by the General Assembly - A/RES/60/1, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/60/1).
"
List effective now, of 2008.
The previous list of 2003 made
the
same false statement about the
Declaration.
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Host.aspx?Content=indicators/officiallist.htm
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/OfficialList2003.pdf
Do the MDG Goals and targets "come from the Millennium
Declaration"?
The four well-known targets above with 1990 baselines do not.
Nor do the drinking-water target or the slum-dwellers target, if they are
interpreted as having 1990 baselines.
The 1990 baseline is not in the Declaration, or the Secretary-General's
recommendation to the Summit, or as far as I know in any of the speeches at the
Summit.
un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/We_The_Peoples.pdf
un.org/ga/55/pvlista55.htm
The MDG structure and baselines have more in common with the list
originated by the donor club, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and
Development, in 1996.
These were listed in June 2000 by the heads of OECD, UN, World Bank and
IMF - strangely after the Secretary-General had already proposed in March the
more ambitious targets for the Summit which countries ended up approving, as:
"The seven international development goals
1. Reduce the
proportion of people living in extreme poverty by half between 1990 and 2015.
2. Enroll all
children in primary school by 2015.
3. Make
progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women by eliminating
gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005.
4. Reduce
infant and child mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
5. Reduce
maternal mortality ratios by three-fourths between 1990 and 2015.
6. By 2015,
provide access to reproductive health services to all who need them.
7. Implement
national strategies for sustainable development by 2005 so as to reverse the loss
of environmental resources by 2015."
http://www.paris21.org/sites/default/files/bwa_e.pdf
An ex-chief economist of USAID, Colin Bradford, wrote:
"The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)...was the source in 1996
of the seven International Development Goals, now the MDGs".
The Millennium Development Goals: Raising the Resources to Tackle World
Poverty, edited by Fantu Cheru and Colin Bradford, 2005, Palgrave, page 222.
A website
to which he has contributed states:
"From 1994 to 1998, Bradford was chief economist of the United States
Agency for International Development where he served as a presidential
appointee in the Clinton administration. In this capacity, he played a key role
in initiating a set of international development goals agreed to by all donor
countries which eventually became the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs)."
https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/colin_bradford.pdf
……………………………….
Extracts from the Millennium Declaration:
"We, heads of State and Government…
...recognize that...we have a collective responsibility to uphold the
principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level. As
leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world’s people, especially the most
vulnerable and, in particular, the children...
6. We consider certain fundamental values to be essential to international
relations in the twenty-first century. These include:
Freedom. Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their
children in dignity….
Democratic and participatory governance based on the will
of the people best assures these rights. …
11. We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the
abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty….
We are committed to making the right to development a reality
for everyone...
12. We resolve therefore to create an environment – at the national and
global levels alike – which is conducive to development and to the elimination
of poverty.
13. Success in meeting these objectives depends, inter alia, on good
governance within each country. It also depends on good
governance at the international level and on transparency in the financial,
monetary and trading systems. We are committed to an open, equitable,
rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and
financial system.
19. We resolve further:
To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion
of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the
proportion of people who suffer from hunger and, by the same date, to halve the
proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water.
…
By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and
under-five child mortality by two thirds, of their current
rates. ...
To ensure that the benefits of new technologies,
especially information and communication technologies, in conformity with
recommendations contained in the ECOSOC 2000 Ministerial Declaration, are
available to all.
V. Human rights, democracy and good governance
24. We will spare no effort to promote democracy and
strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally
recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to
development.
25. We resolve therefore:
- To respect fully and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- To strive for the full protection and promotion in all
our countries of civil, political, economic,social and cultural rights for all.
…
- To work collectively for more inclusive political processes,
allowing genuine participation by all citizens in all our countries.
- To strengthen the capacity of all our countries to implement the principles
and practices of democracy and respect for human rights…
- To ensure the freedom of the media to perform their
essential role and the right of the public to have
access to information. ...
We request
the General
Assembly to review
on
a regular basis the progress
made in
implementing the
provisions of
this Declaration...
We therefore
pledge our unstinting support for these common objectives
and our determination to achieve them."
un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is
entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation
and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the
economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity
and the free development of his personality.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the
event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack
of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All
children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in
which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which
alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
……………………………………………………………….
2005 World Summit Outcome
"We,
Heads of State and Government…reaffirm the United
Nations Millennium Declaration…
We therefore resolve...to undertake concrete
measures to continue finding ways to implement the outcome
of the Millennium Summit and the other major United Nations conferences and
summits...
17. We strongly reiterate our determination
to ensure the timely and full realization of the development
goals and objectives agreed at the major United Nations
conferences and summits, including those agreed at the
Millennium Summit that are described as the Millennium Development
Goals
[? - "timely and full" suggests leaders' pledges for 2015, which are
not properly "described as the [MDGs]"]...
20. We reaffirm our commitment to the global partnership for development set
out in the Millennium Declaration…
22. ...we resolve: …
To adopt, by 2006, and implement comprehensive national
development strategies to achieve the internationally agreed
development goals and objectives, including the Millennium
Development Goals…
43. We emphasize the critical role of both formal and informal education in the
achievement of poverty eradication and other development goals as envisaged in
the Millennium Declaration…
56. ... we further resolve: ...
To assist developing countries' efforts ... to provide access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation in accordance with the Millennium Declaration and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, including halving by 2015 the proportion of
people who are unable to reach or afford safe
drinking water...
[note: The words "or afford" are in the Declaration but not the MDG
framework]
57... we commit ourselves to...integrating this [reproductive
health] goal in strategies to attain
the
internationally agreed development goals, including those
contained
in the Millennium Declaration, aimed at reducing maternal mortality, improving
maternal health, reducing child mortality... and eradicating poverty …
58. ...We reaffirm ...[the Fourth World Conference on
Women's]...essential contribution to...achieving the internationally agreed
development goals, including those contained in the
Millennium Declaration…
We call for strengthened cooperation between the United Nations
and...parliaments, in particular through the Inter-Parliamentary Union, with a
view to furthering all aspects of the Millennium
Declaration..."
16 September 2005
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/ares60_1_2005summit_eng.pdf
………………………………………………………………………………………
"We resolve therefore:..To ensure... the right of the
public to have access to information."
Millennium Declaration
8 September 2000
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
"Ever since I became Secretary-General I have tried to open up the
Organization.
I have tried to create transparency within our own house ...
Of course, we will also continue to be more open ourselves. ...
I think the effort to shine a light on who is doing what and who
is not doing what they promised to do may also help us forge ahead."
Press conference at the Millennium Summit
5 September 2000
http://www.un.org/press/en/2000/20000905.sgsm7525.doc.html
"We, heads of State and Government...have a duty therefore to...in
particular, the children...
We resolve...by the year 2015...to have reduced ...under-five child mortality
by two thirds, of their current rates. ...
We request the General Assembly to review
on
a regular basis the progress made in
implementing the provisions of this Declaration...
We therefore pledge our unstinting support for these
common objectives and our determination to achieve them."
Millennium Declaration
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
In the distributed version of a speech of February 2001 at a conference
about child poverty, Gordon Brown talked of
"the 2015 development targets", "we
have made a pledge" and "the goals set by all of us"
but not of world leaders or the Summit.
Instead he refers to "the international development targets" agreed
by four civil servants.
The "International Development Targets", more
often known as "International Development Goals", had been devised by
the rich countries' club, the OECD, in 1996.
They were endorsed by four civil servants from the OECD, UN, World Bank and IMF.
That document of June 2000 stated:
"This report has been prepared by the staff of the four institutions and does
not necessarily represent the views of their member countries".
http://www.paris21.org/sites/default/files/bwa_e.pdf
In the same speech Mr Brown said,
"Too often, we have set targets, reset them, and
reset them again…"
and referred to
"accountability".
At the same time, Mr Brown was confusing the four
civil servants' easier goals with the pledges by 147 heads of state or
government.
"Horst Kohler and James Wolfensohn...leaders who...have, along with
Kofi Annan, the United Nations, Unicef, and UNDP, committed themselves
to...work together to meet the 2015
development targets,
not least:
- halving the number of people living in poverty…
- and reducing by two thirds infant and child mortality rates.
...the purpose of this conference today is to examine the detailed means of
reaching these
goals. [?]…
Too often, the world has
set goals like the [?] international development
targets of 2015 and failed to meet them. Too
often, we have set targets, reset them, and reset them again …
So it is not enough that we [!]
have made a pledge.
...the accountability we all must demand of ourselves and demand
of one another. For if the sum of our actions amounts to no more than its
parts, we will be fated to ask ourselves, in the year 2015, ''why did we
fail"...
...our shared responsibility does not diminish our
individual accountability…
And so as the UK Government we make this declaration: that as
we discuss with all of you how to meet these 2015 goals...the
actions of each of us make possible the attainment of the
goals set by all of us.[?]
…
...our thoughts are on and our inspiration drawn from the needs of
children...so that we will achieve our goal, the goal
of decent minded people everywhere in the world, that no child is left
behind."
"HM Treasury
Attached is the text of the speech given by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP,
Chancellor of the Exchequer at the International Action Against Child Poverty
conference, London.
26 Feb 2001
Check against delivery"
http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-
1.nsf/54e6de9e0c383719802572b9005141ed/16a74d7ded390bff802572ab004b3d19?
OpenDocument
"Millennium Development Goals...
The proposed formulation of the 8 goals, 18 targets and 40+ indicators are
listed below. ...
...the normal baseline year for the targets will be 1990"
Report of the Secretary-General: Implementation of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration
6 September 2001
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2001.pdf
"6 November 2001
The International Development Goals (IDGs) and the development goals contained
in the Millennium Declaration have recently been
merged under the designation of "Millennium Development Goals"
(MDGs). They have been agreed by the United Nations system, World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, and OECD/DAC. ...
The Guidance Note is attached.…
Yours sincerely,
Mark Malloch Brown Administrator UNDP
Carol Bellamy Executive Director UNICEF
Catherine Bertini Executive Director WFP
Thoraya Obaid Executive Director UNFPA"
http://www.undg.org/archive_docs/1607-MDGs_-_letter_-_MDGs_-_letter.pdf
Note: The letter above, which ordered the change to an easier baseline
than what leaders had pledged but without authority from the General Assembly,
was available on the UNDG website on 15 August 2014. The Guidance Note itself
was also available, on July 1 2014.
In July 2015 the same web addresses resulted in the message “not found”.
Searches of the site have not found the documents.
The letter was preserved in August 2014:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://undg.org/archive_docs/1607-MDGs_-_letter_-_MDGs_-_letter.pdf
http://web.archive.org/web/20140815174058/http://www.undg.org/archive_docs/1607-MDGs_-_letter_-_MDGs_-_letter.pdf
The Guidance Note below was at
http://undg.org/archive_docs/2356-English.doc
and is now at
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://undg.org/archive_docs/2356-English.doc
and
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/MDG%20Country
%20Reports/MDG%20Reporting%20Guidelines/1.%20English.pdf
The United Nations Development Group is a committee of heads of UN
development funds and programmes. It is chaired by the head of the UN
Development Programme. Currently, the chair is Helen Clark. Ms Clark, as Prime
Minister of New Zealand in 2000, approved the Millennium Declaration at the General
Assembly.
It is not clear why in 2014 or 2015 the UNDG has removed the document in which
civil servants authorised a diluting of commitments by world leaders, without
authority from the General Assembly.
The Guidance Note reads:
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)…
For the purpose of monitoring progress, the normal baseline year for the
targets will be 1990... ...the
Secretary-General is to report annually to the General Assembly on progress towards a sub-set of the
MDGs…"
"Baseline year – 1990 or 2000?
...In two cases - maternal mortality and under-five mortality - the term
"current rates" is used, directly specifying a 2000 baseline. For the
remainder, the targets are stated in the form of "to halve by 2015…"
This would imply a 2000 baseline year of the Millennium
Declaration. After
discussions within the UN system and with other partners, the issues have been
resolved in favour of 1990 serving as the baseline year."
Guidance Note sent by
heads of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP to country offices
United Nations Development Group
Reporting on the Millennium Development Goals at the Country Level
October 2001
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/MDG%20Country
%20Reports/MDG%20Reporting%20Guidelines/1.%20English.pdf
14 December 2001
"The General Assembly…
Requests the Secretary-General to prepare an annual report and a
comprehensive report every five years on progress …towards implementing the Millennium
Declaration, drawing upon the "road map" and in accordance with
resolution 55/162, and requests that… quinquennial comprehensive reports
examine progress achieved towards implementing all the commitments
made in the Declaration…
Invites the United Nations system, in cooperation with Member States, to adopt
specific measures to give
widespread publicity to the Millennium Declaration and to increase the dissemination of
information on the Declaration"
Resolution 56/95
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/56/95&Lang=E
"Something must be done to galvanize the global political will for
an accelerated drive to meet the Millennium Declaration
targets. …
I am convinced that the UN Millennium Declaration points the
way forward."
Han Seung-soo
President of the General Assembly of the United Nations
International Conference on Financing For Development, Monterrey, Mexico
March 2002
http://www.un.org/ffd/statements/gaunE.htm
"In its resolutions 55/162 of 14 December 2000 and 56/95 of 14
December 2001, the General Assembly requested that I prepare an annual
report on progress achieved by the United Nations system and Member
States towards implementing the Millennium Declaration.
This, the first such annual report, focuses on commitments
made in all chapters of the Declaration …
It contains a statistical annex that tracks the progress
made
in achieving the Millennium development goals, starting
from a common baseline.
...long way to go towards fulfilling the Declaration’s
goals. Our hopes of reaching those
goals rest, more than ever, on the ability of Member
States to take sustained individual and united action. In the paragraphs below
I describe how far we have come,
The development goals set out in the Millennium Declaration express the resolve
of the world’s political leaders...
...the world has committed itself to reducing child
mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015."
Report of the Secretary-General
Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit
Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration
General Assembly 31 July 2002
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2002
"In 2000...world governments pledged that by
2015 they will have reduced the 1990 under-five
mortality rate by two thirds"
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/progressforchildren/2004v1/childSurvival.php
"In 2000, the world made a promise to children: to reduce the under-five mortality
rate by two thirds between 1990 and
2015."
Progress Report 2014
Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed
UNICEF
http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/APR-2014-
17Oct14-web_194.pdf
"John: Hello. Today, we’re going to meet Mark Malloch-Brown, former
Head of the United Nations Development Programme to talk about poverty. And the
goals, or targets, the United Nations set in the year 2000 to try and
tackle it. .…
John: There have been many international goals or targets against poverty that
have not been met in the past. So, will these eight goals be any
different?
Mark:.....a hundred and eighty governments meeting at the Millennium
General Assembly solemnly adopted these simple straightforward eight
goals…
I’ll either go out with a big gold watch having met the goals or
presumably will be driven off into a humiliated retirement somewhere."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/indonesia/mobile/bahasa_inggris/2011/01/101221_ebyr_worldxtra16.shtml
"Millennium Declaration,
which….set out a series of time-bound targets – with a deadline of 2015 – that
have become known as the Millennium Development Goals."
Resources for Speakers on Global Issues
Millennium Summit
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/mdgs/
"Resources for Speakers on Global Issues
The United Nations deals with the
world's major problems. .…
Less well-known is its work ....to provide dependable statistics on global
economic issues."
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/index.shtml
"Between
now and 2015, we must make sure that promises made
become promises kept. The consequences of doing
otherwise are profound: death, illness and despair, needless suffering, lost
opportunities for millions upon millions of people.
We must hold each other accountable.
The UN system and I personally will do our utmost to
promote accountability on all sides. ..."
As delivered
The Secretary-General
Closing remarks at High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the
Millennium Development Goals
New York, 22 September 2010
"I am pleased that the Declaration we are about to adopt at this
Summit has such a broad range of commitments, and the specificity
of the language and the time scales mean that we can and will be held
accountable for delivery."
Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of Ireland at the Millennium Summit
6 September 2000
"...let us be honest at this Millennium Summit, too
many times we have set new deadlines to reach old goals."
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
8 September 2000
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/55/PV.7&Lang=E
"This Summit embodies the commitment of the world's political
leaders to strengthen the foundations of the United Nations…In the international
arena, there is no alternative to strong, multilateral institutions based on impeccable
democratic legitimacy. Decisions and procedures must be
transparent. Civil society must be more directly
involved."
Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, 8 September
2000
"Our leaders endorsed this new vision in their Summit Declaration.
But if we have truly come to the understanding that security means more than
protecting borders, we must now act to turn last week’s good intentions into effective
action. This means taking responsibility to.... increase
transparency and accountability to make a tangible difference for the people we
represent. It also means responsible, accountable global
behaviour..."
Lloyd Axworthy, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada.
General Assembly 14 September 2000.
"The Millennium Declaration, which we all adopted on 8 September,
shows us the way forward. The implementation of this Declaration should be a
main focus of the consultations of this and future sessions of the General
Assembly. …
The Millennium Declaration points the way ahead. …
We must therefore muster the strength to resolutely implement the
Millennium Declaration."
Joschka Fischer, Deputy Chancellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Germany.
(spoke in German; English text furnished by the delegation)
14 September 2000
http://www.un.org/ga/webcast/statements/germanyE.htm
"His Millennium Report...offers concrete, accomplishable and
far-sighted recommendations.
Austria welcomes this roadmap for the future course of UN activities and
will follow its guidelines."
Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner
http://www.un.org/ga/webcast/statements/austriaE.htm
"Gordon Brown has expressed "anger" at the failure of
rich nations to honour pledges to combat global poverty. The United Nations'
eight Millennium Development Goals were set out in 2000
with the aim of being reached by 2015. …
"I'm angry because we made commitments that we would meet these Millennium
Development Goals," he told the BBC....
"I think rich countries have not done enough to honour the promises that
we made." …
Mr Brown, who was UK chancellor at the time the pledges were made, said the
governments of wealthy nations needed to face continuing public pressure to ensure
they stuck to their pledges…
Target:..between 1990 and 2015…
Target:...between 1990 and
2015."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11378604 21 September 2010
………………………..…………………………………..
"Let us resolve...To halve, by the time this century is 15 years
old, the proportion of the world’s people (currently 22 per
cent) whose income is less than one dollar a day"
Secretary-General, Millennium Report 2000
"The world has reduced
extreme poverty by half...in developing regions....to
22 per cent by 2010"
United Nations MDG Report 2014
............................................................................
"Several MDG targets have been met ...
The world has reduced extreme poverty by half ...
In 1990, almost half of the population in developing regions lived on less than
$1.25 a day. This rate dropped to 22 per cent by 2010, reducing the number of
people living in extreme poverty by 700 million."
United Nations, MDG Report 2014
mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2014/English2014.pdf
"I call on...Heads of State and Government convened at the Millennium
Summit - to adopt the target of halving the proportion of people living in
extreme poverty, and so lifting more than 1 billion people out
of it, by 2015."
Kofi Annan, Millennium Report 27 March 2000
un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/We_The_Peoples.pdf
"The Clinton Administration strongly supports Secretary
General Kofi Annan's call to action on poverty alleviation, on economic and
social development"
U.S. Efforts on the Millennium Report "Call
To Action" on Poverty and Economic Development Issues
The White House
September 7, 2000
http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/new/html/Wed_Oct_4_132349_2000.html
"President Clinton is strongly committed to working with the United Nations and the United
States' international partners to strengthen environmental protections
worldwide and to meet the vision of a sustainable future outlined in the
Secretary General's Millennium Report."
The White House
September 7, 2000
http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/new/html/Wed_Oct_4_133235_2000.html
[New York Times quoting Ambassador Bolton:]
" "Quite some time ago the president [George W.
Bush] said unequivocally we support the development goals in the
millennium summit declaration,"
Mr.
Bolton told reporters. "Now that's different from the
goals that were actually written by the secretariat. There is no backing away
by the United States in the support for the millennium summit declaration."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/international/01nations.html
"Charter of this United Nations....Universal Declaration of Human Rights…a
decade ago, at the dawn of a new millennium, we set concrete
goals to free our
fellow men, women and children from the injustice of extreme poverty.
These are the standards that we set."
Remarks by the President at the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New
York, 2010
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/22/remarks-president-millennium-development-goals-summit-new-york-new-york
"We, heads of State and Government....at
the dawn of a new millennium....resolve...
To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income
is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger and, by the same date, to halve the proportion of people who are unable
to reach or to afford safe drinking water.…
By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and
under-five child mortality by two thirds, of their current
rates."
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
"In 2000, 189 U.N. members agreed to the Millennium
Development Goals, an ambitious agenda that included halving the
proportion of people living on less than $1 a day"
How ambitious the world?
By John Podesta…
John Podesta is the chairman of the Center for American Progress. He served as
chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, 1998-2001."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-how-ambitious-the-world-
idUSBRE98O0QX20130925
"The Millennium Report calls for one billion people to be
lifted out of poverty by the year 2015."
Mr Douglas, Dominica at the Millennium Summit
"the Secretary-General has placed before us an enormous challenge:
a 50 per cent reduction in the number... living in extreme poverty between now
and the year 2015. This represents almost a billion people. Everyone
agrees that this result…"
President Guelleh of Djibouti at the Millennium Summit.
There is no obvious sign of any objection to the English version.
"...halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by
2015 - which means a billion people being lifted out of poverty between
1990-2015."
Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development
September 26 2000
http://www.clareshort.co.uk/speeches/DFID/DFID%20Speech%20Sept%202000.pdf
Note: The mention of 1990 in the post-Declaration period is rare.
Likewise, the UK Government White Paper of December 2000, "Eliminating
World Poverty..."
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
+/http:/www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications/whitepaper2000.pdf
bizarrely reaffirms commitments to the goals with the easier 1990 baselines,
rather than what Mr Blair had recently pledged at the Summit:
"we strongly reaffirm the UK Government’s commitment to the International
Development Targets set out in our first White Paper."
The 2000 White Paper says it was
"Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for International
Development by Command of Her Majesty".
The Queen commanded Clare Short to present easier commitments than Mr Blair
agreed in September?
Did the Government tell the Queen these were the same targets?
"...Millennium Report serves as
an excellent reference for
checking whether our homework has been properly done."
Mr Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
Millennium Summit
....................................................................................................
"The commitment by world leaders at this month's United
Nations Millennium Summit to halve global poverty and hunger …
These and other goals that the world signed up to are...best-case scenarios…
...might be called a "stretch target."
Mark Malloch Brown
Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
September 21, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/21/opinion/21iht-edbrown.t_0.html
"...the Summit is a unique, symbolic moment. The Summit Declaration
...will guide our work....for years to come. …
The Declaration will constitute an authoritative mandate for our work.…
It will be the responsibility of the General Assembly to...put into practice
the political commitment of our Heads of State or Government. The General
Assembly and its Main Committees ...must reflect the results of the Summit in
their work. We need to avoid a business as-usual mentality.
…"
Harri Holkeri, President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session
"…this historic Millennium Summit…
We cannot, therefore, afford to go back home from
here and continue business as usual."
The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)
8 September 2000
"[MDG] targets ….are the projections
to 2015 based on the global trends in the 60s, 70s and 80s."
Yongyi Min, United Nations Statistics Division
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Capacity/manila/Presentations/S6_P6.2_2_MDG%20monitoring%20Post%202015%20rev.1.ppt
"Based on historical trends at the global level, we
decided to take 1990 as the base year."
Taking the MDGs Beyond 2015: Hasten Slowly
Jan Vandemoortele, co-chair of civil servants' UN/OECD/IMF/World Bank group in
2001 setting MDG targets and indicators
May 2009
http://www.devstud.org.uk/downloads/4b9ea0272d30b_Vandemoortele_PAPER.pdf
"the [MDG] team determined that 1990 would be
a more reasonable fit compared to historical trends, thereby lessening
the pressures on world leaders for 2015."
The Origins of the Millennium Development Goals
johnmcarthur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SAISreview2014mcarthur.pdf
"Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
...thank you all for ...having given us clear guidance. ....
I have read carefully the Declaration you have just adopted. …
You have said that your first priority is the eradication of extreme poverty.
You have set specific targets to that goal...
...we all know the targets can be reached."
Final words of Secretary-General at the Millennium Summit:
"It lies in your power, and therefore it is your responsibility, to
reach the goals that you have defined. Only you can determine whether the
United Nations rises to the challenge. For my part, I hereby rededicate
myself as from today to carrying out your mandate. I know that the whole
staff of the United Nations does the same.
Now let me wish you all a safe journey home. Thank you very much."
"The Co-Chairperson [Tarja Halonen, President of Finland] : This
Summit has been a great success. The Millennium Declaration gives inspiration
and guidance for the future of the United Nations."
"The Co-Chairperson [Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia]: We have
come to the close of this historic Millennium Summit.…
We cannot, therefore, afford to go back home from here and continue business
as usual. We, as heads of State or Government, have the mandate and the
responsibility individually and collectively to take bold steps...We must act
now by translating our commitments into action. It is time to combine our
vision and our renewed commitment...We must fulfil our promises..."
[The following text of the co-chairperson Mr Nujoma's
statement is from a press release,
http://www.un.org/press/en/2000/20000908.ga9758.doc.html
,
since the official record refers to a non-existent paragraph in the
Declaration:]
"I ... call upon [the new President of the General Assembly, Harri
Holkeri] to ensure the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and pay particular
attention to paragraph 31."
Paragraph 31 of the Millennium Declaration reads:
"We request the General Assembly to review on a regular
basis the progress made in implementing the provisions of this
Declaration..."
"The General Assembly…
requests the Secretary-General to prepare a comprehensive report every five
years, supplemented by an annual report on
progress achieved towards implementing the Millennium
Declaration, taking into account the following:
(a) The annual reports should
reflect the broad array of specific goals and commitments
enunciated in the Millennium Declaration…
(b) All reports should focus, in this respect, on the
results and benchmarks achieved, identify gaps in
implementation….
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
55/162 Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit
14 December 2000
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/55/162
Finance and Development: A quarterly magazine of the IMF
December 2000, Volume 37, Number 4
Progress Toward the International Development Goals:
"In 1996, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) published a report...in which it selected seven goals...
...Reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by half between 1990 and 2015.
…
Reduce infant and child mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
Reduce maternal mortality ratios by three-fourths between 1990 and 2015.
…
The goals are included in the recent United Nations
Millennium Declaration by Heads of Government. ….
One of the great merits of the international development goals is that they
address a specific set of objectives in a definite time period. "
|
The seven international development goals |
|
1. Reduce the proportion of people living in
extreme poverty by half between 1990 and 2015.
|
[Note how the authors' false statement that the Declaration included the
1990-baseline goals affects the starting point for East Asia and the Pacific on
their chart:]
[Note how their false statement about the Declaration has an effect on
the child mortality baseline:]
"Eric Swanson is a Program Manager in the World Bank's Development
Data Group; Sanjeev Gupta is Chief of the Expenditure Policy Division in the
IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department. Brian Hammond is Head of the Reporting Systems
Division at the OECD Development Cooperation Directorate. Richard Leete is
Manager of the Theme Group on Data Systems Including Indicators in the
Technical and Policy Division at the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA)."
Finance and Development: A quarterly magazine of the IMF
December 2000, Volume 37, Number 4
Progress Toward the International Development Goals
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/12/gupta.htm
"The process to develop the ‘final’ MDG list ...was undertaken by
an ad hoc group….
Key figures ...were the World Bank’s Eric Swanson, OECD-DAC’s Brian Hammond,
and UNDP’s Jan Vandemoortele. All had worked together on the IDG monitoring
document, 2000: A Better World For All published in June 2000. As Swanson
reflected, this group had developed a sense of solidarity and camaraderie ...
They found such joint work satisfying. The group was ready made to work on the
MDGs, given their experience with the IDGs. Their task was to translate the
MD’s development chapter into a list of targets and indicators that could be
monitored and reported on annually. The main criteria were: to adhere as
closely as possible to the wording of the MD to ensure the legitimacy of
goals/targets/indicators….These individuals played a central role in MDG
formulation…"
International Norm Dynamics and ‘the End of Poverty’:
Understanding the Millennium Development Goals
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, David Hulme
2009
http://www.bwpi.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/publications/working_papers/bwpi-wp-9609.pdf
Jan Vandemoortele, co-chair with Michael Doyle of the group setting the
MDG targets:
"It was left to the group of UN experts to set the baseline
year. The choice quickly fell on 1990, for two reasons. First, it proved
unrealistic to reduce hunger, poverty and the proportion of people without
access to safe drinking water by half, infant and child mortality by
two-thirds, and maternal mortality by three-quarters between 2000 and 2015. It
was obvious that more time would be needed to achieve such ambitious targets.
...The Millennium Declaration refers to the baseline year only for the targets
on maternal and child mortality. Moreover, the reference is indirect — i.e. ‘of
their current rates’, which implies the year 2000 without saying so explicitly.
The other targets are totally silent about the baseline year. The Declaration
never refers to 1990.
...Once the title was agreed, the remaining step was to release the MDGs into
the UN system. At the time, the ‘Road Map’ was being finalized — a report of
the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on how to monitor the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration (UN, 2001). The list of eight
goals, eighteen targets and forty-eight indicators was annexed to that report
and submitted to the General Assembly. In the relevant resolution, the
‘Assembly noted with appreciation the road map report’ (A/56/L.61).
Although no explicit mention was made of the MDGs, they got an implicit
blessing from the UN member states. The US administration at the time took the
view that the General Assembly never formally endorsed the MDGs; thereby
questioning their legitimacy and authority. But since the targets were lifted
verbatim from the Millennium Declaration, we argued that formal endorsement
was redundant because member states had already agreed upon them earlier."
http://courses.arch.vt.edu/courses/wdunaway/gia5524/vandem11.pdf
"Notably, this Road Map [of September 2001, including
Secretary-General's proposed MDG framework] was not formally endorsed by
UN member states. Nonetheless, the UN continues to utilize a slightly
adapted version of this framework to report on MDG progress.
...the Millennium Declaration measures development progress against a baseline
year of 1990."
http://www.cgdev.org/files/1424377_file_Leo_MDG_Index_FINAL.pdf
UK Government linked to a) misleading news coverage from The Economist
and
b) a page to which the BBC later applied several corrections after a complaint:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130531014355/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22719812
In its edition of April 11th 2015 The Economist printed letters
responding to its coverage of March 28th and perhaps March 14th.
One letter wrongly claimed that several countries had met targets set in
2000:
"You suggest that the world is likely to fall far short of the
ambitious targets that were set in 2000 of reducing child mortality by
two-thirds and maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015. In practice,
however, the world will actually come far closer to achieving these goals than
sceptics believed when they were adopted.
Many developing countries, including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, and
Bangladesh, have met the child- mortality goal ahead of schedule..."
http://www.economist.com/news/letters/21647947-letters
The UN Statistics Division figures for 2000 and 2013 per 1000 live
births are:
Bangladesh 88.1 reduced to 41.1
Ethiopia 145.5 to 64.4
Malawi 174.2 to 67.9
Tanzania 131.5 to 51.8
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx
Leaders resolved in 2000 to achieve 33% of "current rates".
While there may be argument as to whether they meant in each country or
globally [and note Thomas Pogge's point that the Declaration is about global
rates, the MDG reports are about "developing regions" and birth rates
mean it is easier to achieve the MDG "global" targets for that reason
also] that does not affect the claim of the correspondent. The above rates in
2013 are, as proportions of 2000 rates:
Bangladesh 46.7%
Ethiopia 44.3%
Malawi 39.0%
Tanzania 39.4%
So none of these countries achieved, according to UN figures, what the
correspondent claims.
The correspondendent is from the Gates Foundation – as is the writer of
an article published by the Lancet in 2015.
Another man, Ted Turner, has made a related wrong statement.
Times of India, December 30, 2005, page 30.
Many people failed to read the Millennium Declaration for many years while
thinking they knew what they were talking about when it came to world poverty.
So did I.
Matt Berkley
"The road map towards the implementation of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration...outlines potential strategies for action that are
designed to meet the goals and commitments made by the 147 heads of
State and Government, and 189 Member States in total, who adopted the Millennium
Declaration.
The report addresses fully each and every one of the goals and commitments
contained in the Millennium Declaration…
"GOAL [quoting commitment in the Millennium Declaration]:
By the year 2015, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and
under-five child mortality by two thirds of their current rates…
...under-five mortality decreased from 94 to 81 per 1,000 live births between
1990 and 2000. ...
Millennium development goals…
...consultations were held among members of the United Nations Secretariat
and representatives of IMF, OECD and the World Bank
in order to harmonize reporting on the development goals in
the Millennium Declaration and the international development goals. The group
discussed the respective targets and selected relevant indicators...
[Misleading. The civil servants
selected the targets]
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. [!]
[False. The MDG list greatly undercuts the World Food Summit pledge of 1996.
The statement is also misleading, because the MDG list also undercuts the
Millennium pledges.]
The
eight goals represent a partnership between the developed countries and the
developing countries determined, as the Millennium Declaration states, “to
create an environment — at the national and global levels alike — which is
conducive to development and the elimination of poverty”...
The proposed formulation of the eight goals, 18 targets...are listed below…
For the purpose of monitoring progress, the normal baseline year for the
targets will be 1990…
Target 5. Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015,
the under-five mortality rate..."
Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium
Declaration
Report of the Secretary-General, 6 September 2001
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2001.pdf
"In its resolutions 55/162 of 14 December 2000 and 56/95 of 14
December 2001, the General Assembly requested that I prepare an annual
report on progress ...towards implementing the
Millennium Declaration. …
This, the first such annual report, focuses on commitments
made
in all chapters of the Declaration …
It contains a statistical annex that tracks the progress
made
in achieving the Millennium development goals, starting
from a common baseline.
...long way to go towards fulfilling the Declaration’s
goals. Our hopes of reaching those
goals rest, more than ever, on....
...below I describe how far we have come….
The development goals set out in the Millennium Declaration express the
resolve of the world’s political leaders...
...the world has committed itself to
reducing child mortality by two thirds between 1990 [!] and 2015."
Report of the Secretary-General
Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit
Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration
General Assembly 31 July 2002
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sgreport2002
Note:
The General Assembly had in reality reaffirmed on 21 December 2001 - and would
in subsequent years reaffirm - the Millennium Declaration, which resolved to
reduce it by two thirds from the "current rate".
On 4 September 2002 the World Summit
on Sustainable Development resulted in the Johannesburg Declaration:
“We, the
representatives of the peoples of the world…
commit ourselves to the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and to
expedite the achievement of the time-bound, socio-economic and environmental
targets contained therein….… we solemnly pledge to the peoples
of the world and the generations that will surely inherit this Earth that we are determined to ensure that
our collective hope for sustainable development is realized.””
The Plan of Implementation
includes:
"Develop programmes and initiatives
to reduce, by 2015, mortality rates for infants and
children under 5 by two thirds, and maternal mortality rates by three quarters,
of the prevailing rate in 2000 and reduce disparities between and within developed and developing
countries as quickly as possible"
http://www.un-documents.net/jburgdec.htm
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/WSSD_PlanImpl.pdf