Reaching the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
An overview of the current process
and its implications for UNESCO
BSP/PMR, July 2002
A. Defining the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
 Why the MDGs ?
 What are the MDGs ?
 Why the MDGs ?
The 1990s: a decade of faltering progress
progress continued
 … but too slowly to reach agreed targets
 … and slowing down
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 Under-5 mortality rate
 Maternal mortality rate
 Child malnutrition
 Water and sanitation
 Income poverty
 Primary education
MDGs are meant to accelerate progress
 What are the MDGs ?
MDGs were set by all Government leaders at the
UN Millennium Summit, September 2000)
All UN organisations decided to be guided by
MDGs in their future action: unity of purpose,
coherent action, synergies and strategic approaches by
the UN system as a whole (guided by CEB)
Leaders pledged to strive, individually and
collectively,
towards
these
goals
through
international, regional and national action, concerted
by the UN.
MDGs are a combination of …
Millennium Goals …
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Emanate from UN Summits and Conferences of the 1990s…
… proposed in the UN Secretary-General’s Millennium Report:
« We, the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century »
… and endorsed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (8
September 2000)
7 areas explicitly addressed in the Millennium Declaration:
 Peace, security and disarmament
 Development and poverty eradication
Development goals
 Protecting our common environment
& targets
 Human rights, democracy and good governance
 Protecting the vulnerable
 Meeting the special needs of Africa
 Strengthening the United Nations
… and of International Development Goals
(IDGs)
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For several of these key areas, specific indicators were
included in the Millennium Declaration – constituting the
international development goals (IDG)
Subsequently, IDGs from other declarations were combined
and harmonised with the IDGs set in the Millennium
Declaration goals
The resulting set of goals, numerical targets and
quantifiable indicators to assess progress constitute the
Millennium Development Goals…
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… presented in the SG’s “Road map towards the
implementation of the United Nations Millennium
Declaration” (September 2001)
MDGs: 8 goals, 18 targets, 48 indicators
(as of 22 May 2002)
Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower
women
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
Goal 5. Improve maternal health
Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases
Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8. Develop a Global Partnership for
Development
For each goal: one or several targets; one or several indicators
However, several key areas identified have not been captured adequately
MDGs: Drawbacks and lacunae
Essential goals/targets/indicators are missing from
the MDGs – especially in areas of concern to
UNESCO. However…
 … they may be referred to in other provisions of
the Millennium Declaration,…
 … or in other 1990s Conference documents,
including those convened by UNESCO.
Principle: «The list of millennium development
goals does not undercut in any way
agreements on other goals and targets
reached at the global conferences of the
1990s.” (Kofi Annan, “Road Map…”, September 2001)

B. Progressing towards the MDGs
 Overall
strategy
 Key instruments and mechanisms
 Coordinating and monitoring progress
Proposed overall strategy for
achieving the MDGs (as of 7 June 2002)
Three complementary initiatives:
 the Millennium Project, a research initiative to be led by Professor Sachs,
under guidance of UNSG and UNDP Admnistrator, including (1) a UN Expert
Group (with UNESCO representation), (2) an International advisory panel, (3)
10 Task Forces (UNESCO to play a role)
 the Millennium Reports, an effort to oversee comprehensive global and
national reporting and monitoring of progress, and
 the Global Millennium Campaign, a special initiative aimed at building
awareness and creating new coalitions for action across North and South for
development generally and the MDGs in particular.
with emphasis on:
 country-level action and reporting
 greater system-wide coordination
   See text Jeffrey Sachs
Global coordination and monitoring
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“Campaign manager” and “scorekeeper” for the MDGs
within the UN system: Mark Malloch Brown (in his capacity
as Chair of the UNDG) (December 2001);
SG’s “Special Adviser on the MDGs” : Professor Jeffrey
Sachs, Director, Earth Institute,Columbia University, with a
brief to work closely with Mr Malloch Brown on these issues
(February 2002)
DESA/SG: annual reports to the General Assembly:
comprehensive (every 5 years beginning in 2005) and
thematic (yearly):
- 2002: preventing armed conflicts and the treatment and prevention of diseases;
- 2003: financing or development and strategies for sustainable development;
- 2004: bridging the digital divide and curbing transnational crime
 MDGs: Key actors
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United Nations Development Group
(UNDG) – with UNESCO as a member
Chief Executives Board (CEB; formerly
ACC) – with UNESCO as a member
UN Country Teams
Key role of UNDG in system-wide &
country-level mobilization for MDGs
Executive Committee
UNDP (Chair)
UNICEF
UNFPA
WFP
UNIFEM
DESA
UNCTAD
UNAIDS
IFAD
UNDCP
OHCHR
UNCHS
UN-Habitat
UNOPS
FAO, ILO, UNIDO, WHO
UNESCO
Regional Commissions
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Representative of the SG for Children in
Armed Conflict
Observer: World Bank
UNDG and its machinery
UNDG Executive Committee
supported by UNDP Development
Group Office (DGO) as secretariat
UNDG Programme Committee
UNDG Working Group on MDGs
Millennium Campaign Unit
Millennium Project Expert Group
and other ad hoc groups, as required
The arbiter : the Chief Executives
Board - CEB (former ACC)
27 Members
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UNDP
UNFPA
UNICEF
WFP
ODCCP
UNHCR
IFAD
UNCTAD
UNEP
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ILO
 UN
FAO
- DESA
UNESCO
- OCHA
UNIDO
- HCHR
WHO
- Reg. Coms.
World Bank
- UNU
IMF
- UNITAR
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UNRWA
ITU
ICAO
UPU
WMO
WIPO
IAEA
WTO
Assisted by the High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP)
and the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM).
   See Minutes of the CEB retreat in Rome (11 April 2002) on MDGs
 MDGs: Key instruments
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The Common Country Assessment (CCA)
– United Nations Development Assistance
Framework (UNDAF)
MDG Country reports
N.B.: these instruments are new
or being revised
A thoroughly re-oriented CCA/UNDAF

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Goal: to create a single common development assistance
framework (UNDAF) for all UN programmes at country-level,
with common objectives and time frame,
 identifying priorities for action
 identifying areas where the UN can make a significant,
strategic difference (especially in favor of the poorest and
most vulnerable) – including in UNESCO domains
 strengthening the coherence of the UN system as a whole
Being revised to include MDG targets and indicators, which
are now an essential sub-set in the 2002 revised CCA
Indicator Framework
   See 2002 Revised ACC/UNDAF Guidelines
MDG Country Reports
 A UNDP-coordinated initiative
 An essential tool for country-level coordination and
monitoring
 Mainly descriptive, not prescriptive or analytical
 Adapted to country priorities (relevant goals, targets,
indicators)
 Several pilot reports already completed (Bolivia,
Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Madagascar, Mauritius,
Tanzania and Viet Nam), 40 more in preparation in 2002.
By the end of 2004, every programme country is expected to
produce at least one MDGR in time for the SecretaryGeneral’s global report on MDG progress in 2005.
Status of UNESCO’s involvement
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Revised CCA-UNDAF: need to be involved in the
5 UNDG pilot countries selected (Benin, Ecuador,
Kenya, Madagascar and Pakistan)
Country-level MDG Reports: need to develop
UNESCO’s involvement
Problem: insufficient presence in many countries
CEB and UNDG (including CEB’s HLGP and
UNDG’sWorking Group on MDGs)
C. Implications for UNESCO
 How comprehensive ?
 Some major issues
 How comprehensive are
MDGs?
Are the strategic interests and programmatic
priorities of UNESCO adequately reflected in
the MDGs ?
 Do MDGs sufficiently incorporate existing
goals, commitments and plans of action set
by or developed within UNESCO ?
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MDGs and natural sciences
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Millennium Declaration aims at « Protecting our
common environment »
The word « science » is not mentioned at all in the
Millennium Declaration
No mention of ethics of science (« new ethic of
preservation and stewarship »)
MDGs focus on environmental sustainability, with
strong implications for UNESCO’s water-related
programmes
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country
policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water
MDGs and social and human sciences
Millennium Declaration strongly emphasizes
the role of human rights, and the values of
freedom, justice, solidarity and shared
responsibility
 MDG # 8 on « Develop a Global Partnership
for Development »
 Target # 11 related to slum-dwellers
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MDGs and culture
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The Millennium Declaration addresses culture
of peace and dialogue among civilizations,
and cultural diversity, but only in its part on
« Values and principles »: « Human beings must respect
one other, in all their diversity of belief, culture and language. Differences
within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but
cherished as a precious asset of humanity. A culture of peace and dialogue
among all civilizations should be actively promoted.”
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There are no culture-related MDGs
MDGs and communication - information
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NICTs, freedom of the media and right of the
public to have access to information strongly
advocated in the Millennium Declaration
No mention of the « digital divide » in the
Millennium Declaration
MDG Target 18: « In co-operation with the private
sector, make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and
communications »
Indicator 47. Telephone lines per 1000 people
Indicator 48. Personal computers per 1000 people
Other Indicators to be developed
MDGs and education
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children
everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to
complete a full course of primary schooling
Goal 3: Promote gender equality
and empower women(including)
6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education
7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who
reach grade 5
8. Literacy rate of 15-24-year-olds
Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity
in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and to all levels
of education no later than 2015
(including)
9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and
tertiary education
10. Ratio of literate females to males of 15-to-24-yeargoals/targets/indicatorsolds
(HIV/AIDS, poverty, …)
+
Other related
Education MDGs and EFA :
establishing linkages
MDG goals:
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By 2015, to ensure that children
everywhere, boys and girls alike,
will be able to complete a full
course of primary schooling
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Eliminate gender disparity in
primary and secondary
education preferably by 2005
and to all levels of education
no later than 2015.
EFA goals:
1.
Early childhood education
2.
UPE (free, compulsory and
of quality) by 2015
3.
Learning needs of young
people and adults
4.
Adult literacy increase by 50%
by 2015
5.
Gender parity by 2005
(primary and secondary),
gender equality by 2015
6.
Quality of education
NB: The UNGASS on Children (May 2002) set a 90 percent target for
primary education by 2010
 Major challenges
for UNESCO
1.
2.
3.
Ensuring a proper reflection of UNESCO’s
priorities, content-wise and process-wise
Ensuring UNESCO’s participation and
representation at global (UNDG/CEB)/countrylevel (UN country team)
Sensitising all UNESCO programme managers
that ALL UNESCO programmes must
henceforth be related to and cast in the context
of MDGs
This is a problem shared by all specialized
agencies (e.g.: ILO, WHO, FAO…)
 Some immediate
requirements for UNESCO
1.
2.
3.
4.
Contribute to review of CCA/UNDAFs for 5 pilot
countries (Benin, Ecuador, Kenya, Madagascar and
Pakistan)
Contribute to work of UN country teams in pursuit of
MDG Global Campaign and national MDG reports
Contribute to monitoring and reporting on MDG
attainment (including UIS involvement)
Contribute to (UNDP) Human Development Report
2003 (with its focus on MDGs)
…/…
…/…
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Solidify UNESCO’s presence, participation and
substantive contribution on all issues raised
within UNDG and its sub-groups
Senior presence at major intergovernmental
events (such as ECOSOC, General Assembly)
to pursue UNESCO’s strategic interests
In-house information, communication and
training (of staff at HQ+field) on MDGs
MDG monitoring and
reporting requirements
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At the global level:
 contribute to thematic reports emanating from Prof. Sachs’
MDG Project;
 obtain agreement of all partners that EFA Monitoring
Report serve as the main global reporting tool on the two
education-related MDGs and other international MDGrelated instruments (such as PRSPs);
 contribute to the statutory annual reporting to DESA.
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At the national level:
 contribute and highlight UNESCO input to country-level
MDG Reports;
 contribute to CCA-UNDAF activities at the country-level.
Solidify UNESCO’s
presence, participation
and contribution to UNDG
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Designate offices responsible for substantive input at HQ
Ensure substantive capacity by NYO, beyond present factual reporting on
developments
Mainstream knowledge about MDGs and promote linkage to MDGs in
activities of all Programme Sectors and Field Offices
Raise UNESCO’s profile in MDG-related fora:
 at the global level (CEB, UNDG; sectoral contributions to CCA/UNDAF)
 at the country-level : preparation of CCA/UNDAF and MDG country reports
(NB: this may have budgetary implications)
Emphasize relevance to MDGs of existing frameworks and mechanisms
where UNESCO plays or can play a lead / coordinating / significant role
(especially EFA)
Promote UNESCO issues (cultural diversity, dialogue, peace, science,
communication, quality education, etc.) in context of MDG pursuit and within
framework of UNDG/CEB.
In-house information,
communication and training
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Demonstrate UNESCO’s institutional
commitment
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give higher profile to MDGs in institutional information -- including C/4,
C/5, regional strategies, EX/GC documents, speeches, press releases, etc.
contribute to UNDG’s Communication Strategy at all levels (including
country-level).
develop MDG-related UNESCO Website (in progress by BSP, at
www.unesco.org/bsp)
ensure timely information and backstopping to sectors and Field Offices
on scheduled ACC/UNDAF, PRSPs, etc.
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 Increase in-house awareness
 develop staff training modules on interagency cooperation – including
revised CCA/UNDAF, MDGs and UN reform processes – with special
focus on Field staff (drawing on sample modules by other UNDG/CEB
organisations).
 reflect on the effectivesness of UNESCO’s past interagency contribution
and develop a strategy for enhancing influence and impact.
http://www.unesco.org/bsp/eng/mdg.htm