2010 MDG Review

This year passes 10 years when Millennium Development Goals were invented and enthusiastically accepted by all UN nations. 2010 is a high time to review the progress, identify so far failures and their causes, and conceive a plan for the five years left to the deadline.   

Task is tough, but feasible. To attain MDGs significant acceleration of progress rate is a necessity. It will take a lot of efforts and devotion of all actors: citizens, civil society organisations, international community and primarily governments of respective countries. Winning political will in the times of global economic crisis is going to be one of the major challenges the 2010 Summit in New York will need to face.

Expectations from the Summit

• Summit should bring more attention to the needs of children. Progress made within MDGs has a great impact on their current lives as well as their future. Therefore, they should have every right to participate in the process that affects them.

• Summit should be a response to the criticism surrounding MDGs. MDGs are commonly bashed for insufficient integration into national strategies, which often ignore the targets set within each goal. As a result progress is scanty. The Summit should point out shortcomings of national strategies and provide a solid framework for developing nations on how to integrate MGDs with their national strategies.

• It should take comprehensive approach in identifying why so far progress has been disappointing in many areas. All causes should be highlighted and scrutinized in order to work out a remedy

Why we should not give up the MDGs ?

The Summit should also convince representatives form developing countries, leaders of developed states as well as international community that MDGs are worthwhile and that the success is still possible. Why? Because:

• They create a sense of urgency for action. They are a reminder to the humankind that it is high time to act to ensure better future for millions of children around the globe.

• They concentrate the attention of public opinion on the issues most relevant to the human kind these days: poverty, hunger, lack of educational opportunities, lack of equality just to name a few.

• They provide set of clear targets and point to the ways of reaching them. This has motivational impact on the policy makers. Clear targets also create a sense of responsibility for meeting them. Targets constitute a point of reference to assess the effectiveness of a given government.

• Their reach is global. They unite people from all over the world around issues mankind no longer can afford to ignore. As a joint project developed under the auspices of recognised and worldwide organisation – the UN- MDGs generate a sense of solidarity among all nations.