UN Millennium Campaign: Latest News

Financial Industry Receives 10 Times More Money in 1 year than Poor Countries Receive in 49 Years

Sebastian Majewski — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:33:15 -0400

June 23, 2009 – The United Nations Millennium Campaign today released an analysis showing that since the inception of aid (overseas development assistance) almost 50 years ago, donor countries have given some $2 trillion in aid. And yet over the past year, $18 trillion has been found globally to bail out banks and other financial institutions. The amount of total aid over the past 49 years represents just eleven percent of the money found for financial institutions in one year. The UN Millennium Campaign is urgently calling on rich countries gathering at this week’s high-level summit on the economic crisis to make no further excuses that they lack resources and to urgently deliver on their aid commitments.

“The stark contrast between the money dispersed to the world’s desperately poor after 49 years of painstaking summits and negotiations and the staggering sums found virtually overnight to bail out the creators of the global economic crisis makes it impossible for governments to any longer claim that the world can’t find the money to help the 50,000 people who are dying of extreme poverty every day,” said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. “This is a straightforward question of political will. Rich countries’ priorities will become crystal clear at this week’s summit on the economic crisis, where we hope they will finally deliver on the aid they have repeatedly pledged but not delivered to those who need it most.”

Worse still, the global economic crisis is expected to further impact the delivery of aid to poor countries at a time when the need is greatest. Already, the consequences of the crisis, caused by the richest people in the richest countries, are being disproportionately borne by poor countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the economic crisis has resulted in 100 million more people going hungry, taking the total number of hungry people in the world to a staggering one billion. At the same time, only $9.4 billion of the $28.3 billion -- less than a third -- pledged at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005 to be delivered to Sub-Saharan Africa by 2010, has actually been delivered.

The Millennium Campaign believes any discussions of a new financial architecture must be inclusive of the voices and needs of the poor. The Campaign is therefore calling on donor countries to immediately and unconditionally do the following:

Urgently agree to a timetable to accelerate delivery of their aid commitments.
Make rapid progress toward achieving the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda to simplify and streamline aid, including a clear timetable for implementation of existing commitments.
Reduce and/or eliminate all trade-distorting agricultural subsidies.
Ensure that poor countries are fully represented in all decision making bodies and in the restructuring of the global financial infrastructure.

The Millennium Campaign is calling on poor countries to immediately do the following:

Ensure that national development policies and plans are pro-poor and focused on women and excluded groups.
Prioritize expenditures on the Millennium Development Goals.
Ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public money.
Prioritize domestic resource mobilization.

To arrange interviews with spokespeople across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America contact:
Kara Alaimo
212-906-6399
Kara.Alaimo@undp.org
Note to editors:
The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the UN Secretary General in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from the north and south, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes by 2015. Our premise is simple: we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org.

10 Days of Action: Countdown to Commitments

Sebastian Majewski — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:57:07 -0400

On June 19th, actions across the global are dedicated to the MDGs. 10 Days of Action: Countdown to Commitments is a collaborative effort by organizations and networks advocating for a more just, equitable and sustainable global economy leading up the UN Conference on the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Developing Countries from 24-26 June, 2009.

G-8 MINISTERS REMINDED NOT TO BE INDIFFERENT TO NEEDS OF POOR DURING DEVELOPMENT MEETING

Sebastian Majewski — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:11:26 -0400

Rome, June 12, 2009: On the occasion of the G-8 Development Minister’s Meeting that took place at the Foreign Ministry in Rome on June 11-12, GCAP Italy organized a stunt in Piazza del Popolo in order to grab the attention of G-8 leaders. A huge weight with the word “crisis” crushed southern poor people while representations of G-8 leaders remained indifferent and kept on drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. The stunt occurred as development ministers met to discuss the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries and sustainable development.

This action is part of the “ Press the 8” Campaign, launched by GCAP Italy at the beginning of May, designed to pressure world leaders to deliver on their promises at the upcoming G-8 summit in Italy in July.

LITTLE AUTHORS ASK THEIR LEADERS TO KEEP PROMISES

Sebastian Majewski — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:09:53 -0400

Rome, May 29, 2009: The award ceremony for the creative competition “Little authors of great thoughts: G-8 children write to the big leaders” today took place at Villa Wolkonsky, residence of the British Ambassador in Italy, in the presence of British Ambassador Edward Chaplin, actor Colin Firth, Italian Millennium Campaign Coordinator Marta Guglielmetti and Tavola della Pace Coordinator Flavio Lotti. Even the President of the Republic of Italy sent a message to the young authors.

The creative competition, which took place during the National Meeting of Assisi Schools of Peace on May 9, aimed to increase awareness among young Italian citizens of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ahead of the G-8 summit in L’Aquila. During the workshop, children sent messages to world leaders asking them to keep their promises to eradicate poverty, address climate change and achieve the MDGs by 2015.

The project involved more than 300 primary school children who wrote messages to Italian MPs and world leaders attending the G-8 in July. Sixteen messages were selected as finalists and three winners were awarded with special plates and collections of children’s books for their school libraries.

At the ceremony, all participants received an educational kit on the MDGs, to be used in schools next year.

The project was supported by the British Embassy in Rome and run in cooperation with the UN Millennium Campaign – Italy, Tavola della Pace and Italian LAs for Peace and Human Rights, in collaboration with VVE Contract, a company specializing in communication towards children.

Campaigning for the MDGs: Making Votes and Voices Count in Elections

Sebastian Majewski — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:42:36 -0400

National and sub-national elections provide important opportunities to establish, reaffirm or redirect development priorities. This short guidebook describes how and why the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be important to this process—towards the larger end of achieving human development and a better, more equitable world.

The book is primary intended for civil society representatives interested in MDG advocacy during elections, although it has also been designed as a resource for political parties and candidates. It walks readers through basic strategies and tools to campaign for the goals, and lay the groundwork for political commitments to specific development achievements.

But first, two basic questions must be answered: What are the MDGs? And why exactly do they matter during elections?

Campaigning for the MDGs: Making Votes and Voices Count in Elections

View more PDF documents from endpoverty2015.

Anti-Poverty Campaigners Vow to Keep Pressure on Leaders At Civil G-8

Sebastian Majewski — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:39:43 -0400

Rome, May 4-5, 2009: The City of Rome today hosted 260 delegates from over 40 countries at the Civil G-8, the forum where representatives of civil society and the most industrialized countries have gathered to tackle some of the most important issues on the agenda for the upcoming G-8 summit. Issues on the agenda include global governance, climate change and the environment, funding for development, health, education, employment, gender equality and the fight against poverty.

The event, organized by the Municipality of Rome in collaboration with the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Coalition against Poverty (GCAP Italy), has been a fundamental leg of the journey toward the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila on July 8-10. The Italian Foreign Minister sent a personal welcome message to all participants.

Civil society groups have issued an official document that was delivered to G-8 countries’ sherpas during the last session of the event. During the roundtable, the sherpas received civil society proposals that will be submitted to G-8 leaders. Italian Sherpa G. Massolo has underlined the importance of the dialogue with civil society, which will provide essential contributions to the upcoming summit.

At the forum, the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, the Millennium Campaign’s Deputy Director for Africa, together with the Mayor of Rome, officially launched the “Press the 8” Campaign. A huge red button, which symbolizes the pressure civil society exerts on G-8 leaders, was pressed by the Mayor of Rome. He was the first Italian to take this significant action to remind G-8 leaders to keep their promises to eradicate extreme poverty.

e-Discussion on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development

Sebastian Majewski — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:18:44 -0400

A moderated e-discussion on the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, jointly organized by the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and UNDP, will be held as part of the preparatory process for the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development. For more information about the e-discussion, visit: http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/edis.shtml

Participants include government representatives, UN staff and staff of other multilateral institutions, donors, researchers and civil society representatives from around the world. Join this discussion and have your voice heard!

To join the mailing list, please send a blank message to: join-mdg-net@groups.undp.org.
After you are subscribed to the mailing list, you will be able to sent your contributions to the discussion to: mdg-net@groups.undp.org.

The first phase of the discussion continues till 26 June 2009. It focuses on issues of the global economic governance and the role of UN and other multilateral institutions:

1. How is the international system (i.e. the UN and other multilateral institutions) responding to the current financial and economic crisis? What is the impact of these responses, in your country, as well as at regional and global levels? Are these responses sufficient both in addressing the current situation, and in preparing the system itself for the future? What are the critical gaps (if any) that remain?

2. How can the system of global economic governance be best strengthened for the future? What are some ways in which issues of legitimacy, efficacy and relevance can be addressed? How should a greater voice for the under‐represented (State and non‐State actors) be enabled? What should be the key underlying principles to guide the changes – (e.g. inclusion, decentralization, regulatory diversity, and others)? What could be the most effective institutional arrangements.

Interview with Amnesty International in Lisbon

LucaPadovani — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:57:00 -0400

“We’re not a charitable organization. We’re not going to help the poor to escape poverty. What we’ll do is lobby, holding governments accountable so that poverty might be eradicated”, says Lucília Justino, president of Amnesty International Portugal. Amnesty is currently running a worldwide campaign for Human Dignity. This advocacy effort focus on poverty, violence against women and education for all.

Audio in Portuguese

Interview with Caterina Furtado

LucaPadovani — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:29:00 -0400

Portuguese actress and TV presenter Catarina Furtado is UNFPA ambassador. After travelling extensively through Africa, Catarina has always found “deep injustice and social inequalities”. Guinea-Bissau is the country that, in her view, best represents “total injustice” – and it’s precisely in that country that she is currently contributing for a project on child mortality and maternal health. According to Catarina, Guinea shows that one shouldn’t always rely on governments: “We must demand action from governments, but must also be aware that each one of us is also responsible for the society we live in”.

Audio interview in Portuguese

Day of the African Child: The Unending Plight of African Children

Sebastian Majewski — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:58:51 -0400

Africa observes the Day of the African Child, in memory of thousands of black school children who were maimed and killed in the 1976 Soweto uprising, as they took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language.

To honor the memory of those killed and to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to the welfare and safety of African children, the UN Millennium Campaign is calling on African states, civil society organizations and the private sector to tackle child and maternal mortality, school dropout rates, gender inequality in universal primary education and poor standards of quality in universal primary education.

As many as 50,000 African children under the age of five will lose their lives as the result of preventable or curable diseases. And as many as 38 million children of primary school age in Africa still remain out of school.

“Child survival, protection and development are not only universal aspirations enshrined in the MDGs; they are also human rights issues ratified in the International Convention on the Rights of Children and the African charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,” said the UN Millennium Campaign Communications Coordinator for Africa and Acting Deputy Director for Africa, Ms. Sylvia Mwichuli. “Investing in the health and education of African children and their mothers is a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to secure its future. Reducing child mortality and ensuring universal primary education requires strong political commitment.”

From Sierra Leone to Ethiopia, Angola to Mozambique, an average of more than one in every four children die before the age of five. In Liberia, Mali, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, the figure is more than one in every five children.

Even in Africa’s biggest and most developed countries, scores of children die before their fifth birthdays: in Nigeria 191 of every 1,000 children die by the age of five; in Botswana it is 124; and in Kenya it is 121.

Compounding the problem, while official reports indicate that children are now better off than they were ten years ago and can look forward to living beyond the age of five, their mothers still die while bearing them, consequently denying them parental care.
Whether it’s the mother or her baby that dies, life shouldn’t be lost in avoidable circumstances. No mother wants to produce a child for death to grab, nor does any baby wish to grow up an orphan, or come to life at the expense of the mother.
Even an African child who lives beyond his/her fifth birth day can be denied education as the result of hunger, disease, discrimination and/or inadequate facilities.
Although official reports like the UN Millennium Development Goals 2008 report show that there is widespread progress in primary school enrollment, user fees – for items such as uniforms, stationery and meals – as well as armed conflict, lack of birth registration, child labor and HIV/AIDS still keep about 38 million African children of primary school age out of school. The conditions are more devastating for girls; the higher the ladder of education, the wider their rate of dropout.

According to the UN Millennium Campaign Policy Associate, Thomas Deve, “To ensure that more vulnerable and marginalized children are enrolled in and remain in school, targeted programs and interventions aimed at poor households such as setting up satellite schools in remote areas, eliminating school fees, providing school meals, constructing separate sanitation facilities, ensuring a safe school environment and promoting later marriage must be designed and implemented across countries that lag behind on the MDG targets.”

Time and again, it has been proven that when political commitment is present, the results are often significant. Countries like Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana are good cases. Malawi, for example, has moved from a hungry country to a regional food supplier in recent years. It is only second to Costa Rica globally in reducing child mortality by more than 1/3 in the past three years!

Zambia has made great strides in HIV testing, prevention and education after President Mwanawasa declared a national emergency in 2004. By the end of the year, he had surpassed his goal of providing 10,000 citizens with antiretroviral treatment. The government has also focused on integrating HIV/AIDS education into the public school curriculum.

When it seemed impossible for pastoral communities in Kenya to access education, the government designed mobile classrooms in which the children of nomads access education as they wander about in search of water and pasture for their cattle.
In all of these cases the reason for success has been the country’s political will.

Millennium Campaign Expands Advocacy in Cambodia

Sebastian Majewski — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:35:42 -0400

On his visit to Cambodia, Minar Pimple, the Millennium Campaign’s Deputy Director and Head of Asia, met Leng Peng Long, Secretary General of the National Assembly, to discuss the progress of anti-poverty goals in the country.

Receiving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) poster from the Campaign, Peng agreed to encourage active participation of members of the National Assembly in “Stand Up and Take Action” in 2009.

The meeting was part of a series being held by Pimple during his Cambodia mission. He will also meet with chairs of the Commissions in the National Assembly related to the MDGs, such as Education, Health and Social Services, and Planning and Rural Development, to discuss progress towards achieving the Goals, challenges and recommendations. In particular, they will discuss the role of the Cambodian Parliament in helping to achieving the MDGs by 2015 and what the Millennium Campaign can do to expand its advocacy efforts in the country

DevCom workshop in Warsaw on 4-5 June

Sebastian Majewski — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:03:31 -0400

Eveline Herfkens, Founder of the UN Millennium Campaign, and Marina Ponti, Director for Europe, addressed a group of communication experts from European bilateral aid agencies and multilateral organisations. The workshop was jointly organised by the OECD, the Polish Government and the UN Millennium Campaign in Warsaw on 4-5 June.

Achieving the MDGs in times of crisis and changes was the overarching theme of the meeting, whose main objective was to equip communicators with tools that would enable them to adapt to such situations.

Eveline Herfkens contextualised the complex scenario we are facing today, in which rich countries are confronted with domestic economic and social challenges exacerbated by a global systemic crisis, requiring political support and financial resources.

Will the current economic downturn hamper progress already made towards achieving the MDGs? If development policy and development cooperation fail to achieve their goals, will the aid industry loose its credibility? Does this mean that communicators should scale down expectations now, or is this, on the contrary, the right moment to invest more in campaigning for the fight against poverty?

In response to these and many other questions raised during the two-day meeting, the Founder of the UN Millennium Campaign delivered an important message: “to hang on to the framework of the Millennium Development Goals.” The humanitarian imperative and the self-interest argument - “it is in our self-interest to act now” she added - should be underlined in our communication efforts as we highlight how much this crisis impacts on the achievement of the MDGs.

Achieving the MDGs in Times of Crises and Changes

In her intervention, Marina Ponti, delivered a series of lessons learned, intended to serve as a set of tools for better communicating and campaigning on the MDGs. “ Every crisis brings opportunities: people are more prone today to listen and we – communicators – need to use this opportunity to address the challenges we are faced with.” The suggestions provided by Ms. Ponti can be summarised in 8 simple but interdependent ingredients: adaptation to the local context, mapping of national supporters, simplicity of the message, clear policy objectives, credibility, feedback to supporters, political will and advocacy space, and communication as instrument to obtain advocacy objective.

All India People’s Manifesto, Wada Naa Todo Abhiyan, India

Sebastian Majewski — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:23:43 -0400

The UN Millennium Campaign was started to support citizens demanding accountability from their governments towards fulfillment of their MDGs related promises. The 15th General Election will play a vital role in developing advocacy for the MDGs. This is the time, when voters can select their candidates by accessing public policy directions, the adequacy of public service delivery and the allocation of resources.

The UN Millennium Campaign works with its partners to strengthen the participatory process and the people’s influence on elected officials and political leaders to improve the implementation of the MDGs. One of the strategies adopted by the Campaign in India is to make citizens aware of their governments’ commitments and motivating them to actively participate in democratic institutions and political processes. This is done through initiating an open social dialogue that enables participation in planning development programmes and by allowing different segments of society to identify and prioritise their issues and areas of development. In collaboration with partners across civil society, media, faith based organisations, local authorities, youth and private sector, the campaign focuses on advocacy actions to build political will in the government and help formulate a policy framework that accelerates and fosters the achievement of MDGs. In India, the focus is on achieving MDGs 1-7 through various innovative citizens and civil society initiatives that builds up sustained pressure on the government to deliver on their promises.

In order to create governance accountability in India, the United Nations Millennium Campaign is supporting Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (Keep Your Promises Campaign), which is a national coalition of over 900 development and grassroots organisations working across 15 states to monitor the Government’s promises on the ground by reviewing its performance in fulfilling its UN Millennium Development Goals, National Development Goals and the National Common Minimum Programme.

The All India People’s Manifesto, coordinated by WNTA (http://www.wadanatodo.net), is a first-of-its kind effort to create a 10-point national agenda through a localised process of consultation and dialogue.

The campaign aims to engage people in raising their voice for the future agenda of the country. Over 400,000 people have been engaged in the consultations held in 365 parliamentary constituencies across 29 States/UTs in developing the All India People’s Manifesto. This includes the direct participation of citizens from various organisations, local groups and civil society organisations.

The media has also played an extensive role in covering and reporting the proceedings across parliamentary constituencies thereby taking this process to a much wider audience. To target urban and youth voters, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA) launched an online version of the All India People’s Manifesto on YouTube in March 2009. The channel was listed as a Featured Video on YouTube’s homepage which recorded over 100,000 views across the site. The campaign developments were also reported in various media agencies like Dainik Jagaran, Hindustan Times, IBNLive.com, Kalingatimes.com, Navbharat Times, The Hindu, Times of India, Women’s Features Service, Zee TV, Lead India, All India Radio, etc., and global networks including Civicus, GCAP, International Budget Project, OneWorld South Asia, UN Millennium Campaign and Whitebandaction.org.

A charter of key demands have been developed on the basis of demands that emerged across parliamentary constituencies with the objective of influencing the Election Manifestoes of political parties and negotiating the integration of key demands in the post-election governance agenda.

Along with the key demands, a Women’s manifesto has also been developed in consultation with 231,984 people (both men and women) across 100 parliamentary constituencies. The Women’s Manifesto includes the following key points:

Equal political representation and participation
Equal property rights for women
Right to work and entrepreneurship support
Priority for girls’ education
End violence against women
Special programmes for women
Greater access to public facilities and public places
Stronger national and state women’s commissions

The All India People’s Manifesto, as a movement, will continue to function after the elections also. UN Millennium Campaign and its other partners will engage people in mobilisation and advocacy to lead this effort. This includes preparing Report Card for MPs in 100 parliamentary constituencies based on MDG-related indicators, a Citizens Report on the Status of MDGs, youth contest in colleges across India etc.

UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis Postponed to 24-26 June

Sebastian Majewski — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:17:57 -0400

The General Assembly this morning announced its decision to reschedule the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development to 24 to 26 June 2009, from its previously-scheduled dates of 1 to 3 June.

Opening the meeting, General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said given the ongoing dire and critical global financial and economic situation and the utmost urgency for Member States and the United Nations system to find a common and lasting solution soon, and on the request of Member States, he proposed to reschedule the Conference.

Following extensive consultations with representatives of negotiating groups and regional groups, a consensus had been reached, he explained. A letter to that effect, dated 22 May and circulated today by the President, explained that it is the common endeavor to ensure the success of the Conference, which would depend on a “positive and forward-looking outcome document and the active engagement of the political leadership of the Member States at the highest possible level”.

He also stated in the letter: “I have heard the concerns expressed by some Member States”, and reiterated that the process would be open, comprehensive, transparent and inclusive, and, above all, driven by Member States. Committed to ensuring that the draft outcome document, “at all stages of its evolution”, would be negotiated and approved by Member States by consensus consistent with General Assembly resolution 63/277, the Assembly President appealed to all to agree on its text “no later than Monday, 15 June”.

Welcoming the decision to reschedule the meeting on behalf of the European Union (EU), the representative of the Czech Republic said, however, that the EU still had some concerns and reservations regarding the transparency of the process. In that connection, he noted the President’s assurances to make every effort to ensure transparency, and in light of those assurances, said the EU would be a strong partner in that regard and was ready to work with all Member States in the weeks and days ahead in a spirit of cooperation and inclusiveness. It was his hope that the meeting would produce consensual results.

The representative of the Sudan, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, expressed appreciation that consensus had been reached on the new dates. He said the good spirit that had prevailed during the recent negotiations would ensure the successful outcome of the international meeting, and he was fully confident that both the facilitators and Member States would spare no effort towards that goal.

Haiti’s representative, on behalf of Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the group attached great significance to the upcoming meeting and viewed it as an important step to addressing the global financial and economic crisis. The meeting offered small island developing States like Haiti an opportunity to seek solutions to the financial crisis that would otherwise elude them. Thus, CARICOM welcomed the proposal to shift the meeting to the new dates. The importance that the regional organization attached to the meeting had been fully expressed at CARICOM’s recent ministerial meeting, at which member countries committed themselves to attending the high-level Conference. The ministers had accepted the new dates and had called on the General Assembly President to write to all Member States urging them to attend the meeting.

In closing today, the Assembly President said he would soon inform Member States of the first meeting of intergovernmental negotiations on the Conference’s draft outcome document. He urged Permanent Representatives to attend that meeting, which he said would be open.

Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, 1961-2009

Sebastian Majewski — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:53:41 -0400

Millennium Campaign Announces Passing of Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Deputy Director for Africa

Nairobi, May 25, 2009: It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of the United Nations Millennium Campaign Deputy Director for Africa and leading Pan-Africanist Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. He passed away in a road accident on his way to launch a maternal health campaign in Kigali, Rwanda. The accident happened early this morning on Mombasa road en route to Jomo Kenyatta airport, in Nairobi, Kenya.

UN Millennium Campaign Director Salil Shetty said that Africa had suffered an irreplaceable loss. “Taju was amongst Africa’s foremost voices for pan Africanism and social justice, both inside and outside the continent and his weekly postcard and columns in about 10 major African newspapers made him known to virtually everybody in Africa and friends of Africa across the world,” he said.
Noting that Dr. Tajudeen has over the last four years tirelessly campaigned for African leaders to keep their commitments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and poverty eradication by 2015, he added, “Dr. Tajudeen’s towering intellect, moral fiber and courage of conviction allowed him to speak truth to power like nobody could. It is ironic that on Africa Day (May 25) Africa has lost one of its greatest voices and the Millennium Development Goals, its most credible advocate in Africa.”

Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem joined the UN Millennium Campaign in March 2006 as the Deputy Director for Africa. His primary role was to lead the Africa team in inspiring citizens across Africa to become more proactive in engaging their leaders to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals. He is recognized for his outspokenness and strong leadership role in campaigning for global justice, good governance, public accountability, human rights, democracy, regional integration and Pan Africanism.

He has also been a freelance journalist, writer and political analyst writing and speaking regularly on contemporary Africa in newspapers, magazines, journals and radio and was an analyst for the BBC's World Service Programs on Africa in Hausa and English, Radio France International and Voice of America. He was the founding coordinator of the London-based Africa Research and Information Bureau and also editor of its journal, Africa World Review. He is better known on the internet and in the print media for his syndicated weekly column, TAJUDEEN’S POSTCARD, which is widely circulated online and is published in several newspapers in different countries in Africa.

Until his death, he was serving as a trustee, board member or patron of many civil society organizations and charities including the Centre for Democracy and Development, Justice Africa, Hauwa Memorial College and the Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme. He was also the Secretary to the Advisory Committee of the Abuja-based Media Trust Group of Newspapers’ “African Person of the Year Award” which recognises Africans who have made real contributions to the development of Africa in the preceding year.

Prior to joining the Millennium Campaign, he was the General Secretary of the Pan African Movement Secretariat in Kampala, Uganda and Co-Director of the London-based human rights and peace organization Justice AFRICA.

Dr. Abdul-Raheem was born in 1961 in Funtua, Katsina State, Nigeria. He was educated at government schools in Funtua and went to Bayero University, Kano, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in Political Science in 1982. He was winner of the Federal Government of Nigeria's Merit Award as the best student of Political Science between 1980-1982 at Bayero University. After his National Youth Service, Tajudeen was elected Rhodes Scholar for Nigeria and preceded to St. Peter's College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, where he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Politics.

He will be laid to rest at his ancestral home in Funtua, Katsina State, Nigeria on May, 26 2009. UN staff, civil society campaigners and grassroots activists will pay their last respects at the Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi today at 1:00 p.m.

Please join in passing on our deepest condolences to his wife and his two children and his extended family

Your comment will be published soon after approval. We appreciate your understanding.

Chairman of US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Expresses Support for MDGs

Sebastian Majewski — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:26:52 -0400

Among his recommendations, Senator Kerry urged support for the Millennium Development Goals, specifying that by 2015 under-five mortality should be cut by two-thirds, hunger and poverty should be cut in half, the spread of HIV/AIDs, malaria and other major diseases should be reversed and primary school enrollment should be made universal. He went on to say, “And while we’re at it, let’s eliminate gender disparity in education once and for all. As a proud father to two daughters, let me tell you: no child anywhere should be denied the right to learn just because she’s a girl.”

Click here for the full remarks

The Akosombo Declaration Journalists Commit Themselves to help Achieve the MDGs

Sebastian Majewski — Fri, 22 May 2009 06:30:10 -0400

This was after three days of intensive deliberations at a workshop organised by the Ministry of Information, with support from the United Nations Development Planning (UNDP), at Akosombo over the weekend.

The theme for the programme was ‘The state and the media as development partners in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).’

In recognition of the political polarisation in the country, the group pledged to enhance professional media practice as a means of contributing to national stability and peace, a critical consideration for the attainment of the MDGs, which include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal basic education, promote gender equality, and women empowerment.

The rest are reducing child or infant mortality, improve maternal mortality, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and to develop a global partnership for development.

In a seven-point communiqué, the group recommended for government consideration, the need for the establishment of a multi-sectoral team, comprising representatives of the Ministry of Information, UNDP, National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), media, political parties and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) by the end of June 2009.

The team would be tasked with a responsibility of submitting progress reports on Ghana’s efforts at attaining the MDGs, to the Ministry of Information by the end of September 2009.

It was further recommended, for the consideration of government and other stakeholders, the formulation of a national development agenda, which recognises the attainment of the MDGs as binding, regardless of which government is in power.

“We further recommend the setting up of a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the performance and progress made or achieved in attaining the MDGs,” the communiqué said.

In order to ensure community participation and ownership towards the attainment of the goals set, it was further recommended that stakeholder meetings should be organised at district, regional and national levels, to create awareness and commitment in attaining the MDGs.

Link to the Ghanaian Chronicle

Dealing with global governance deficits and the MDGs

Sebastian Majewski — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:52:40 -0400

Since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed in 2000, many developing countries have made great strides. The world was on track to achieve at least the first Millennium Goal of halving the number of extreme poor, and it was coming close to reaching several other objectives as well. But the present crisis is wiping out that hard fought progress. Poor countries’ access to credit has been reduced, resulting in slower investment and growth; already pitiful official development assistance (ODA) levels are falling; and Africa might be robbed of its one chance in a generation to make real progress. In the meantime, the world lacks an effective system of global governance. The three deficits in the system I elaborate on below have hampered the structure in the past, but they are especially crippling in the present situation.

1. A Compliance deficit.
Too many government officials agree on the most wonderful promises at international meetings (e.g. the Millennium Declaration), and take the plane back home to business as usual, not following through on their pledges. The most blatant example is the 0.7% ODA/GNI target agreed at the United Nations (UN) more than three decades ago and every year since. Most recently, on tradethe commitment of the G20 leaders in Washington, DC last November to a one-year moratorium on protectionist measures was broken by most participants within a few months. The promise made by the G7 Finance Ministers in Rome this February that the group “remains committed to refrain from protectionists measures which would only exacerbate the downturn,” lacks credibility in view of the reality of the “lend local” conditions in bailout packages and “buy local” conditions in stimulus packages. In the past I have praised the World Trade Organization (WTO) for its dispute settlement mechanism. It remains to be seen whether this mechanism will prove robust enough to cope with today’s emerging economic nationalism.

2. A Coherence deficit.
Global governance is fatally fragmented. Dueto the lack of coherence within governments,both rich and poor countries are taking divergent positions in various international organisations and forums. Today’s world facemultiple daunting challenges: climate changeterrorism, a global food crisis, a water crisis, and an economic downturn that provokes protectionism. These challenges cannot be dealt with separately, stove piped in different multilateral forums. Over the last several years, world leaders, in rhetoric at least, haveincreasingly acknowledged interdependence – not just of countries, but also of issues. However, most countries leave the UN system to foreign affairs ministries to deal with; the UN remains at the margin of political domestic agenda’s, while the involvement of heads’ of government/state is mainly limited to photo opportunities. They leave trade policies to trade ministers in the WTO and they leave the international financial institutions to their finance ministers and central bank governors, whose positions are more similar to their peers than to the positions taken by their foreign affairs colleagues at the United Nations (or their health or labour colleagues in the World Health Organization (WHO)/International Labour Organization (ILO), etc). The only way to deal effectively with today’s global challenges is by global collaborative action in a coherent way, instead of leaving them to fragmented separate negotiation processes in various isolated and autistic forums. The problem is not that the leaders of international organisations do not want to co-operate: it is the member states’ national governments who speak through different ministries with diverse tongues and messages at various international bodies. Coherence starts at home. It is high time to make trade work for development and ensure trade negotiation outcomes are consistent with the lofty, but unfulfilled promises of our political leaders: a small concrete step within the WTO would be to broaden the Trade Policy Reviews to include a review of how trade policies impact sustainable development goals (for better or for worse) and proposals for how to integrate sustainable development concerns into trade policies.

3. A triple Democratic deficit:
That is, the lack of voice of poor countries, lack of voice of people in general, and lack of voice for the poor in developing countries in particular.

a. The crisis might have one silver lining: global governance might become slightly more inclusive. Last year’s G20 meeting showed that rich countries now acknowledge the need to fully involve several large countries in financial global governance. The G7 had paid lip service to this for a long time, but now these “newly emerging” countries have the negotiation leverage as they are dearly needed to help out in the present crisis to keep up demand. This will accelerate the process already underway in the WTO. Only a few years ago, it was the United States and the European Union that decided the outcome of the negotiations. If they agreed, the deal was basically done. Those days are over, as we saw exemplified in the cast of players in last summer’s breakdown of Doha Round negotiations: India and China on one side, the US and Brazil on the other, and the EU trying to find compromises. Still some 100-plus countries hardly have a voice. It would help if these new “emerging powers” would leverage their new influence in international meetings to account for the interest of those not represented. Within the WTO itself, the traditional ‘member driven’ governance leaves the poorer and smaller developing countries with very limited institutional capabilities at a disadvantage both in analyzing and negotiating issues. Strengthening the role of the WTO Secretariat in providing the weakest countries information and analysis regarding the development impacts of specific proposals on the negotiating table would help enable more effective engagement in negotiations and could even the playing field.

b. Parliamentarians need to hold their governments accountable for their decisions in international arenas. In general, instructions to international meetings are typically insufficiently discussed by parliaments and within trade policies. Moreover, most relevant international organisations lack a parliamentary assembly, such as those for the Council of Europe and NATO. Thus, they lack a constituency and educated parliamentary involvement. Politicians tend to act based on wining – not losing – votes. They will continue to get away with playing to the domestic protectionist gallery, as long as the general public and its elected representatives remain illiterate of its costs. It is time to liberate trade from the clutches of the powerful lobbies who hijack our trade policies at the expense of everybody else. The WTO could help, not only by making Trade Policy Reviews more coherent by incorporating sustainable development considerations, but also by involving more stakeholders in countries in the process, more widely disseminating these reports, and promoting parliamentary debate about them in the country concerned. Some parliaments already discuss OECD/ Development Assistance Committee Peer Reviews, which increasingly cover coherence issues.

c. Many developing countries fail to ensure that their own trade policies benefit the poor. “The rich make the rules at the expense of the poor” does not apply only at the international level. Developing country trade barriers often protect the rich, at the expense of the poor. Benefits arising from preferential market access are not always used or often do not help the poor as they are captured by officials through nepotism, and export growth does not realize its potential to become pro-poor inclusive growth. For trade to reduce poverty, complementary domestic policies are needed. The poverty reduction objective should be mainstreamed in developing countries’ trade policies, while trade needs to be integrated in national poverty reduction strategies, as no country ever developed through aid alone. Effective policies should empower the poor proactively to grab new opportunities provided by market access and by investing in human capital, as education and skills are critical for integration in the world economy.

Conclusion
It is high time to put an end to vested interests and lobbies dominating our trade policy and to educate public opinion and increase awareness among taxpayers and consumers of the costs and perils of present protectionism. It is also time for developing countries to take responsibility for making trade work for the poor.

But most of all, it is time to make trade policies part of the broader relationship, not just with other countries, but, more importantly, of the broader agenda of challenges of global poverty, the environment, and security. Unless we start addressing the three deficits of global governance immediately, the present crises will result not only in missing the lofty promises of the Millennium Development Goals, but set back development for decades to come.

Author
Eveline Herfkens is the Special Advisor on the MDGs to the Administrator of UNDP.

President Obama Strengthens Health and Development with 2010 International Affairs Budget Request

Sebastian Majewski — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:21:47 -0400

The ONE campaign has a detailed breakdown of the numbers and programs affecting global poverty: http://one.org/c/us/issuebrief/1776/

Earlier in the week, President Obama outlined his six-year vision for global health. According to the United Nations Foundation, “The President's statement signals the administration's dedication to extending and strengthening U.S. leadership in global health and developing key strategies toward fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but also to broader global health challenges including the need to improve health systems, reduce childhood mortality, improve maternal health and reduce unintended pregnancies, with a renewed emphasis on prevention.”

“We applaud the administration for the renewed U.S. commitment to reaching the … Millennium Development Goals. At the UN Foundation, we believe in the importance of diverse public-private partnerships with governments, advocacy groups, corporations, individuals, and most importantly the United Nations to address our most pressing challenges and achieve broad results. Overall, this new White House position on global health demonstrates the Administration’s commitment to extending the significant progress that has been made while seeking new and effective means toward reducing deaths and suffering to the world’s poor.”

Click here for more information: http://www.unfoundation.org/press-center/press-releases/2009/un-foundati...

The plan focuses not only on AIDS, but also on tropical diseases and other treatable and preventable illnesses by boosting lifesaving global health spending by $459 million in fiscal year 2010. The commitment includes a $165 million increase for the global AIDS initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), and a $200 million increase towards eradicating malaria in FY2010. In total, the White House announced a $63 billion commitment to global health over the next six years.

According to the Fact Sheet released along with the statement, “The U.S. global health investment is an important component of the national security ‘smart power’ strategy, where the power of America’s development tools -- especially proven, cost-effective health care initiatives -- can build the capacity of government institutions and reduce the risk of conflict before it gathers strength. In addition, the Administration’s funding plan can leverage support from other nations and multilateral partners so that the world can come closer to achieving the health Millennium Development Goals.”
More information is available here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-by-the-President-on...

UN Millennium Campaign Petitions African Governments To Address Inequality and Unemployment

Sebastian Majewski — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:03:28 -0400

Nairobi, April 30- As the world marks this year’s Labor Day, the United Nations Millennium Campaign is calling on African governments to use human rights approaches to tackle poverty if they are to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day by 2015.

“Poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to destroy the livelihoods of people in Africa and underline the need for governments to adopt urgent measures not only to get the Millennium Development Goals back on track, but also exceed on some of the targets wherever it is possible,” said Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, UN Millennium Campaign Deputy Director for Africa.

Calling on employers to pay their workers decent wages for decent work, Dr. Tajudeen added: “Governments must desist from promoting neo-liberal market-driven policies and promoting self-serving corrupt government practices that reinforce unacceptable employment conditions, particularly for lower cadre employees. Governments should instead prove that they are protectors of the marginalized by executing pro-poor employment strategies that foster the creation of wealth, decent work and productive employment.”

In 2000, when the Millennium Declaration was signed, more than a billion people were trapped in abject poverty and gross inequality. Eight years later, children and young people who make up half of Africa’s population continue to be denied access to basic services and employment. Millions of people are working in insecure jobs and deteriorating conditions while millions more are unemployed and unable to feed their families in a world with plenty of resources, knowledge and technology.

Dr. Tajudeen further says that people should not be denied the very material and philosophical basis that allows them to flourish as human beings and calls on states to reorient their strategies to approaches that promote human rights, dignity and security.

“Poverty continues to intensify due to the exclusion of groups of people on the basis of class, caste, gender, disability, age, race, religion and other status,” he concluded.

The Millennium Campaign and its partners assert that African governments have unlimited potential to guarantee their citizens sustainable development and eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Under international law, including the African Union charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, governments are obliged to enforce human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. This means that tackling poverty should be a major priority for governments.

In solidarity with the working people in Africa on the occasion of World Labor Day, the United Nations Millennium Campaign calls on African governments to:

Reverse privatization, corporatization and commercialization (cost-recovery) policies, and create national and regional programs to ensure free accessible and accountable public services, including public housing and free education for all.

Introduce development and diversification strategies to combat poverty and prioritize the creation of decent employment and the right to work, as major components of accelerating progress towards meeting targets set in the Millennium Development Goals.

Develop national plans and accompanying policies with the active and full participation of the unemployed youth, women, small traders and the informal sector.