Millennium Development Goals

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Millennium Development Goals

• - A Challenge for European Cities
• 4th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and
  Towns
• Aalborg, 9-11 June 2004

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Millennium Development Goals September 2000
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Millennium Development Goals

• Eeradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce Child Mortality
• Improve Maternal Health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop global partnership for development

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Why are the MDGs unique?

• Global agenda signed by 189 heads of
  states
• Timebound
• Concrete targets possible to monitor

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Goal 8

• Recognizes that eradicating poverty requires a
• GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
• with shared roles and responsibilities for rich
  and poor countries

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• Developing countries
• - strengthen governance, institutions and
  policies
• Developed countries
• - additional and more effective aid
• - sustainable debt relief
• - increased trade and technology opportunities
  for poor countries

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Are the MDGs feasible?

• Not lack of finances or technological capability,
  but lack of political will.

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What can make politics shift?

• Public mobilization at the local and national
  level
• Jubilee campaign, anti-landmines, Agenda 21
  campaigns
• National level campaigning on MDGs is the
  backbone
• Millennium Development Goals are most effective
  when they are adapted to the local and national

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• Civil society, media, parliamentarians, and local
  authorities can hold governments accountable on
  goal 8
• - more effective aid
• - more sustainable debt relief
• - more trade and technology opportunities
• NEED TO DELIVER LONG BEFORE 2015!!

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National MDG reports

• Not only in the South
• Denmark and Netherlands finalized
• Belgium and Sweden in the pipeline

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Role of Local Authorities in OECD countries

• Agenda 21 possible to promote international
  issues locally
• MDGs provide local actors with a international
  framework for global action
• Strong support for helping poor countries
  political mileage
• Opportunity for starting a broad based debate for
  how to combat global poverty

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Role of local authorities continued.

• The Global Deal widening political platform
  towards development issues
• Local authorities devote a small percentage of
  their budget for development cooperation
• Symbolic act which sets international issues on
  the local agenda

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Role of local authorities continued.

• Development education in primary school
• City of LA adopted resolution in support of MDGs
  sent a strong signal
• Bottom up pressure advocacy, alliances with CSOs

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Think globally and act locally!

• A new global anti-poverty movement is emerging
• First generation to see poverty eradicated
• NO EXCUSES!!