Dagens globale udviklingsmål løber til 2015 og allerede fem år før tiden kom hovedmålsætningen om at halvere antallet af fattige i hus, men nu toner en endnu mere ambitiøs udviklingsdagsorden frem – nemlig at frigøre verden for al ekstrem fattigdom over de næste 16 år. Talgymnastik eller realiteter? NEW YORK, 17 April 2014 (IRIN): The slogan “make poverty history” has been used by development pundits (skriftkloge) and pop star philanthropists for years. Now, in a bid to turn words into deeds, it is being discussed as a universal global target to be met within a generation. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs = 2015 Målene http://www.2015.dk) are eight poverty-reduction targets that were signed during a world summit in 2000. They will be retired next year. Diplomats, aid experts and UN officials are currently negotiating the 15-year objectives that will replace them in 2016. Discussions are ongoing, but they are likely to be called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and feature a dozen-or-so targets. The headline goal is likely to be the end of extreme poverty and having nobody living on less than 1,25 US dollar (knapt syv DKR) a day by 2030. (Det svarer til 210 DKR om måneden, red.). The new goals will not be finalized until September 2015, but the framework is already agreed. Proposed goals include raising the quality of schools for all children and steps towards providing universal health care to the world’s seven billion people. Limiting how much the richest people can earn More controversial planned targets include * making governments less corrupt, * halting climate change, * streamlining immigration systems and * limiting how much the richest people in any society can earn as compared to the poorest. Gina Lucarelli, a policy expert for the UN Development Programme, described a game-changing debate that – at least on paper – purports (angiver /hævder) to realize the long-stated goal of an equitable (retfærdig) and sustainable planet. “The diplomats want it to be measurable and ambitious, they want to be the generation of negotiators who broke through with something transformative,” she said, adding: “It is not business as usual. We have the resources. We have the expertise. We can really change things.” While few development economists debunk (piller ned af piedestalen) the MDGs, opinions are mixed over the effectiveness of targets agreed upon in New York in changing realities on the ground in the neediest parts of Africa, Asia and South America. This is partly because some MDGs will succeed by the end of 2015 and others will not. The goal of halving the number of people living on less than 1,25 dollar a day saw rapid progress and was met five years ahead of schedule. Other targets, such as enrolling all girls and boys in primary schools or slashing by three quarters the number of women who die in childbirth, have achieved partial success but will remain unfulfilled by next year’s deadline. Importance of targets overstated? Another reason for caution is the lack of clarity over whether UN goals caused the gains. Many analysts agree that advances against poverty were a by-product of double-digit (to-cifret) growth in the populous emerging markets of China and India. “We can massively overstate the importance of targets,” said Claire Melamed, from the UK-based Overseas Development Institute, noting: “At best, they tweak at (kniber lidt på) the they were weak on climate change and on making rich countries help the developing world via trade, debt relief and investment. Aid workers in the field say the MDGs can be misleading. Why count the percentage of children enrolled in primary schools when there are no teachers in classrooms? Others question the value of shared metrics (beregningstal) for such disparate countries as Bolivia, Botswana and Belarus. A brand identity for the development agenda But structural problems and missed targets have not consigned the MDGs to the dustbin of history. Governments are debating a successor deal. Talks begin in earnest next year. As Melamed says: “Lots of UN agreements wither (visner hen) and die. This one did not.” Amina Mohammed is the special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. For her, the MDGs served to create a brand identity for the development agenda that did not exist before. “The MDGs were the first time we cannibalized these platforms – health for all, education for all – and brought them together,” she said. “It provided momentum. We brought the minimum ask and said: ‘We should at least be able to do this’. Then we realized how difficult it was to do”, stated she. An Oxfam report, “How Can a Post-2015 Agreement Drive Real Change?”, points to MDG successes: setting global norms on such issues as women’s rights; giving activists a campaign tool and nudging governments into action. Annual reports and league tables act as both carrot and stick for ministers of health, education and transport, compelling them to monitor progress across national borders and ensure they are keeping up with the neighbours. “Fashions, fads (griller) and politicians come and go,” said Alex Evans, from New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, noting: “The MDGs have stood the test of time and created a resonant and long-lasting storyline on global development.” Danger of slipping backwards Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/report/99950/analysis-can-the-world-really-end-poverty-by-2030 Se også U-landsnyt.dks tema om 2015 Målene og fremtidens globale udviklingsdagsorden mod 2030 på http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/tema/2015-m-lene-og-fremtidens-globale-udviklingsdagsor
