Millennium Development Goals: More than a numbers’ game
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were developed following the Millennium Declaration which was signed by all governments in 2000.The MDGs are only a first step towards the total eradication of global inequality. They still represent a unique set of commitments. For CIDSE they represent an opportunity to use the momentum they have generated to focus attention squarely on the underlying causes of poverty and injustice.
Almost all governments and international institutions have reaffirmed their commitments in favour of the MDGs at several international events and the goals have become a cornerstone of development aims and targets. However, the 2015 target still remains far from reachable, with global policy and action still not in place even to effectively meet these minimal targets. There is a real risk that many countries, principally in Africa will find it impossible to reach all the 8 goals by the deadline. The UN High Level event on the MDGs organised in New York on 25 September 2008 was an important initiative to underline the urgency for action.
The MDGs are only a first step towards total eradication of global inequality. Still they are a valuable instrument for lobby and campaign work by civil society organizations (CSOs) who can use them to hold governments to account on commitments made.
CIDSE and the Millennium Development Goals
- CIDSE was among the first organizations to inform its members, partner organizations and other interested organizations about the potential of the Millennium Development Goals as a tool. At the same time, we remain critical of their conceptual framework. CIDSE has issued a series of publications on the MDGs since 2003.
- CIDSE's public mobilisation campaign “Keep our Word, Make Poverty History”, put pressure on donor governments throughout 2005 (the year of the first Millennium Commitments Review Summit and the G8 Summit in Gleneagles) to act immediately to ensure that the MDGs were achievable by 2015.
- CIDSE refers to the MDGs to measure government action/inaction in its policy work. We use every opportunity we get at the EU and international levels to remind donor governments about the need for urgent action if the MDGs are to be reached by 2015.
Resources
- More than a Numbers Game? Ensuring that the Millennium Development Goals address Structural Injustice, a CIDSE-Caritas Internationalis Position Paper (PDF) (FR - ES) (April 2005).
- Justice Not Charity: Policy Recommendations to Donors ahead of the G8 Summit 2005, a CIDSE Position Paper (FR) (PDF) (January 2005).
