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Changing Regional and Global context of Development Challenges. Progress
of the MDGs:
Taking lessons for the post-2015 development framework
Minar Pimple
Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific
UN Millennium Campaign
Critical issues for post-2015 & changed international
context
 Revisiting values and principles of Millennium Declaration
 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change
 Inequality, vulnerability and exclusion
 Jobless growth and growth with low quality employment
 Migration and urbanisation, with increasing global population
 Poverty in middle-income countries
 Financial and economic crises making donor countries more
inward-looking
 New multilateralism particularly among emerging economies
(e.g. Brazil, India, China and South Africa)
Millennium Declaration and the MDGs
 Millennium Declaration establishes key principles for achieving
the MDGs, such as equality, solidarity, sustainability and good
governance, and emphasizes inter-linkages between
development, human rights, and peace and security.
 However, MDGs which focus on average progress measured
at the country and global level have masked the inequalities
that lie behind these averages.
 Another method of measuring progress is needed for a post2015 development framework, which will provide more
information about how that progress is distributed, and also
provide incentives to focus on those groups which are being
left behind.
Why care about inequalities?
 High levels of inequality not only harm economic growth, but also in
some cases contribute to high crime rates, political unrest and even
mental illness, making societies less stable and worsening
individual lives. High inequalities are also linked to less social
mobility, and to people being trapped in poverty across
generations.
 Higher inequalities make poverty reduction slower, and persistent
inequalities can prove a barrier for poverty reduction for some
groups. Without an equity focus, governments may have little
incentive to focus attention on the hardest to reach groups.
 If a post-2015 agreement is about the development of whole
societies, and focuses mainly on providing incentives to tackle
extremes of poverty, then there are also compelling reasons to
tackle distributional issues within a new framework.
Inequality and marginalization – major global issue
around the MDGs
“Progress tends to bypass those who are lowest on the
economic ladder or are otherwise disadvantaged because of
their sex, age, disability or ethnicity. Disparities between
urban and rural areas are also pronounced and daunting.
Achieving the goals will require equitable and inclusive
economic growth – growth that reaches everyone and that
will enable all people, especially the poor and marginalized,
to benefit from economic opportunities.”
(Foreword by UN Secretary General, MDG Report 2011)
Despite real progress, we are failing to reach the most
vulnerable
 In 2009, nearly a quarter of children in the developing world were
underweight, with the poorest children most affected. Children living in
rural areas of developing regions are twice as likely to be underweight
as are their urban counterparts.
 Children from the poorest households, those living in rural areas and
girls are the most likely to be out of school. Worldwide, among children
of primary school age not enrolled in school, 42 per cent— 28 million—
live in poor countries affected by conflict.
 Over 2.6 billion people still lack access to flush toilets or forms of
improved sanitation. Although gaps in sanitation coverage between
urban and rural areas are narrowing, rural populations remain at a
distinct disadvantage in a number of regions.
 In sub-Saharan Africa, an urban dweller is 1.8 times more likely to use
an improved drinking water source than a person living in a rural area.
(MDG Report 2011)
Significant gains in gender equality, but still a long
way to go
 In developing regions, 96 girls were enrolled in primary and in secondary
school for every 100 boys in 2009. This is a significant improvement since
1999.
 However, only 3 regions—the Caucasus and Central Asia, Latin America
and the Caribbean, and South-Eastern Asia— have achieved gender
parity in primary education, while the other regions it remains a big
challenge.
 Wide gaps remain in women’s access to paid work in at least half of all
regions.
 By end-January 2011, women held 19.3 per cent of seats in single or
lower houses of parliament worldwide, which is an all-time high. Despite
such growing numbers of women parliamentarians, the target of equal
participation of women and men in politics is still far off. Of the 50 African
countries for which data is available, only Rwanda has achieved gender
parity.
Recent trends in poverty and employment
•
Worldwide, 1 in 5 workers and their families are living in extreme poverty.
• In many sub-regions, the estimated employment-to-population ratio in 2010
has changed little since 2007.
• Progress in reducing vulnerable employment stalled following the economic
crisis.
Recent trends in poverty and employment in Africa
 Moderately good economic growth and legislative interventions in
Africa did result in a significant downward shift in the working
poor’s share of employment from 63% to 58.5% (2003 – 2008).
 Female unemployment levels are double the figures for males in
North Africa, compared with about 12% difference in Africa
excluding North Africa for the same period.
 In North Africa, the disparity is even worse for youth-adult
unemployment levels (15-24 year olds), which are four times that
of their adult counterparts. In Africa, excluding North Africa, the
same disparity is roughly two-fold.
(MDG Report for Africa 2012, UNECA)
MDG Gains in Asia-Pacific
 The region as a whole is firmly on track to meet the poverty goal,
by reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1.25
per day from 50% to 22% (1990 – 2009).
 It has also reduced gender inequality in primary, secondary and
tertiary education.
 On health, it has begun to reduce the HIV prevalence and has
stopped the spread of TB.
 On the environment, it has increased the proportion of land area
that is covered by forests or has protected status, while reducing
the consumption of ozone-depleting substances.
 It has more than halved the proportion of people without access
to safe drinking water.
MDG Challenges in Asia-Pacific
 The region has yet to ensure all children complete primary
school.
 Over 1.8 billion people remain deprived of basic sanitation.
 On health targets, the region has been slow to prevent people
from going hungry, stop children from dying before their fifth
birthday, and prevent mothers from dying from causes related to
childbirth.
 Disparities between countries are widening in some cases. E.g.
population in poverty, underweight children, infant and under-5
mortality, maternal mortality, and TB incidence and prevalence.
 Wide disparities within countries exist. E.g. Gaps between urban
and rural areas, b/w boys and girls, and b/w more and less
educated population.
Some ideas for Community “Development” work going forward
towards and post-2015 development agenda framework
1. Local vs Global interface (Glocal), need for new approaches in building
solidarity and partnerships
2. Empowerment is a key, building citizenship, building and democratizing
democracy
3. Citizen’s as agency of change, women and youth in driving seat
4. Building a culture of hope, can do and we will do community attitude,
building identity while respecting diversity
5. Revisiting community roots and art forms and adapting them to new
value context and realities
6. Getting everyone engaged for reclaiming the present and future for
sustainable and equitable society ensuring life with dignity for all.
Thank you for your attention