Millennium Development Goals
Following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in the year 2000 eight international
development goals were created, to help promote sustainable development in countries worldwide.
These goals became known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), each has a specific target to
be accomplished by the year 2015. According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Millennium
Development report http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Jamaica/Jamaica_MDG_2009.pdf the
country has made good progress in eight of the fourteen MDG targets.
Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
Target: achieved…reduced by two thirds
Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Status: Achieved…proportion of food to poor reduced by two thirds
According to the 2009 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, the number of Jamaicans living below the
poverty line and the number of persons who suffer from hunger has been reduced by two-thirds of what
it was previously. In 1990 the number of persons living in poverty decreased from 28.4% to 9.9% in
2007; unfortunately it has subsequently increased in recent years, from 12.3% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2009.
Decline in the rate of poverty has been slowest in the rural areas, which in 2009 had the highest
prevalence of poverty of 22.5%, compared to 12.8% in the Kingston Metropolitan Area and 10.2% in
other towns. While there are more males than females living in poverty, the country has managed to
reduce by three-quarters the proportion of under-weight children less than 5 year’s old living in Jamaica.
Today, Jamaica is ranked as an upper middle-income country and is considered to have achieved this
MDG.
Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of
primary schooling
Status: Achieved Net enrolment over 90%. Gross enrolment almost 100%
Over the last fifteen years, Jamaica has managed to raise the net school enrollment rate to over 90% and the gross
enrollment rate to almost 100 %. Unfortunately issues such as the quality of access, especially among the poor and
those in the rural areas, and the quality of primary-level teachers remains a concern.
Based on the PIOJ’s MDGs report on Jamaica's progress the island still faces challenges in the provision of quality
education, it points out that Jamaica has an equity problem as it relates to the provision of quality education for all
children. This unfortunately results in a two tiered education system which affects the quality of teaching and the
availability of resources at each school which is often reflected in the results from standardized tests.
The Education Ministry is working to rectify these issues as it seeks to redress this imbalance. The steps include the
expansion of school facilities and infrastructure, strengthening school leadership and management, ensuring
literacy and numeracy at the end of primary school, addressing poor attendance and truancy, providing more
teaching resources and aids, educating against violence and anti-social behavior and correcting the low levels of
teacher training at the early childhood level.
Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of
education no later than 2015
Status: Lagging…
The PIOJ’s MDG report indicates that Jamaica is lagging in meeting the relevant objectives for this goal. The gender
disparity starts at the grade 6 level in primary schools and the completion rate at the secondary level shows boys
as being in the majority of drop outs. Males also continue to be under-represented at the tertiary level by a 2:1
ratio, yet, there still is a low representation of women in Parliament (13%) and in other areas of decision making.
According to the 2009 report, the number of unemployed women far outnumbers the number of unemployed men
with rates standing at 14.5% for women and 6.2% for men in 2007 in Jamaica. Also, the society suffers from
elevated levels of domestic and sexual violence against women.
The report also reveals an imbalance in education caused by societal norms, stating: "Research shows that
socialization in the home along rigid gender stereotypical lines produces different educational outcomes for girls
and boys. Boys are given less tasks and responsibilities and allowed to go outside with limited supervision, whereas
girls are given domestic chores and kept inside. These patterns are manifested in the education system whereby
girls are more prepared to handle routine and responsibility than boys.
Target 5. Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Status: Far behind
The country is far behind with regard to this MDG as the under-five mortality rate has only been reduced by 14%
up to 2005 and the infant mortality rate reduced by almost one-third. It is estimated that majority of infant deaths
occur in the neonatal period, and the National Early Childhood Plan attempts to address this by expanding
screening and service delivery to infant populations in public health clinics island wide.
Plans to improve infant and child health are also targeting vaccination schemes, which have historically been very
successful in Jamaica.
Current issues facing the success of immunization include:
- A shortage of nurses and public health professionals.
- Schools accepting children without complete immunization.
- Insufficient health monitoring in communities.
Unfortunately financial and logistical constraints prevent these from being adequately addressed by national
agencies.
Target 6. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Status: Far behind
Target: Achieve by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
Status: on track
There has been a 20% reduction in maternal mortality over the past fifteen years with universal access to
reproductive health on target, however Jamaica's progress with this MDG is said to be far behind. Factors in the
mortality of the antenatal population include HIV/AIDS, hypertension, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. These
are mainly pre-existing conditions that need to be addressed in overall community health as well.
Unfortunately data management in maternal health has neither been adequate nor consistent, leading to a lack of
useable data post 2001. Based on available data, however, a shortage in the number of professional midwives was
also a factor in the levels of maternal mortality, and efforts made to find resources to train midwives and also
attract health workers to developing countries.
Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Status: on track
Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Status: On track
Target: Achieve by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
Status: On track
Over the last fifteen years there has been a 20% reduction of the maternal mortality rate due to HIV/AIDS,
however Jamaica's progress with this MDG varies; with some considering Jamaica far off while others consider the
island to be on target to achieve this goal.
Factors in the mortality of the antenatal population include HIV/AIDS, hypertension, heart disease, obesity and
diabetes. These are mainly pre-existing conditions that need to be addressed in overall community health as well.
Data management in maternal health has neither been adequate nor consistent, leading to a lack of useable data
post 2001. Based on available data, however, a shortage in the number of professional midwives was also a factor
in the levels of maternal mortality, and efforts made to find resources to train midwives and also attract health
workers to developing countries.
Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the
loss of environmental resources
Status: Lagging
Target 10. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation
Status: On track
Target 11. Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
Status: Slipping back
92% of the Jamaican population have access to safe drinking water and 98.9% have access to basic sanitation, this
shows the country being on track in halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation by 2015.The country is reported to be lagging in integrating principles of sustainable
development into country policies and programmes and in reversing the losses of environmental resources.
While countries worldwide are grappling with the effect of climate change, Jamaica's situation - both geographic
and socioeconomic - renders it especially vulnerable. As a Small Island Developing State, the island's future is
inextricably tied with the progression of climate change. Currently, long-term projections predict a reduction in
mean annual precipitation, and an increase in annual temperature.
Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system
(includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction both nationally and
internationally)
Target 13. Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for
Least Developed Countries? exports, enhanced program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries [HIPCs]
and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries
committed to poverty reduction)
Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states
(through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd
General Assembly provisions)
Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and
international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Target 16. In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive
work for youth
Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in
developing countries
Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially
information and communications technologies
Jamaica has benefitted from Official Development Assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral sources over
the years and this has facilitated the achievement of many of the government’s goals of macro-economic stability,
growth and poverty reduction. However, the volume of ODA has been declining recently, with Jamaica having
reduced access to some grant programmes and ODA funding, which has shifted focus from preferential
arrangements to trading relationships. ODA to Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) has decreased since 1990,
from US$70.62m to US$27.87m. This has posed a serious debt burden challenge for Jamaica with the value of
exports representing only a portion of the debt service costs.
Source: Planning Institute of Jamaica, PIOJ.
See more at http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Jamaica/Jamaica_MDG_2009.pdf