Milestones For A New Millennium

New Direction - Keeping it more local with an eye on the global

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Because of work and other commitments, I have left off doing this blog for some time now. I am now going in another direction and have redefined my other blog from one with a focus on pathways to personal paradigm shifts to one on helping to define Pathways to New Community Paradigms. I will return here to post occasionally but my time here from before helped to convince me that people in America do not see the importance of the Millennium Development Goals. In part because they often do not see themselves as being empowered in their own communities, so it is hard to see how to empower others with even less. Many of the lessons learned in this endeavor will be applied to my new one and I will continue to interject more than occasionally a voice in support of the 8 Millennium Development Goals and what they hope to achieve.

US Global Development Strategy Put Forward; A First Long Time Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 14:22:00 +0000

Raymond C. Offenheiser, Board of Directors, Oxfam America Advocacy Fund tells us that President Obama announced a sweeping new effort called the US Global Development Strategy - at a big poverty summit in New York [one presumes they mean the UN MDGs Summit which goes to my previous point of too little and too much] delivering the message in person - a first for any president!
The White House's New Approach to Advancing Development goes beyond giving aid only in times of crisis, becoming proactive rather than reactive. It adopts a multifaceted approach to ending poverty - utilizing diplomacy, revamping trade and investment policies, reforming our foreign aid policies and partnering with governments, NGOs and the private sector.
Oxfam wants us to join in pushing Congress to make sure President Obama's new strategy on foreign aid stands for administrations to come - by emailing your House representative now!
The existing bill in the US House, H.R. 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009, would reform US aid to other countries and make sure key parts of Obama's plan are safe for years to come. That's why more representatives are needed to co-sponsor this reform bill and show the White House, Congress and the world that they're serious about real solutions for global poverty.

http://act.oxfamamerica.org/site/R?i=qJKdbgxVWRWzSxHpDPOOrQ.
So, officially speaking, what is its purpose?

Official: To direct the President to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting global development, and for other purposes. as introduced.

Why do we need this? This video from 2009, featuring Sabina Dewan, Associate Director of International Economic Policy at American Progress, provides some insights.

We need a National Strategy for Global Development which outline the goals of our development programs and the methods to reach those goals. A recent GAO report identified the lack of such a strategy as a major challenge for our global development efforts.
The current law on US foreign aid has been on the books for 50 years. It's grossly out of date and doesn't address the needs of modern poverty. The bill now being considered by the House will reform the way the US handles foreign aid, turning a key element of the Global Development Strategy into law and preventing it from being changed with each new administration.
A more thorough examination of the issue is provided by Farha Tahir in the article Interagency Coordination, Aid Effectiveness, and Corruption: A Roadmap found in the blog Random Musings.
Susan B. Epstein, Specialist in Foreign Policy also provides an in depth look at the issue through her article on Foreign Aid Reform, National Strategy, and the Quadrennial Review at International Humanitarian Policy CRS Reports relating to International Humanitarian Crisis and Emergency Aid Efforts
I recently became convinced to stop focusing on the United Nations as the primary means of implementing the Millennium Development Goals and focus instead closer to home on the policies of the United States. This is one policy that will help to implement the MDGs in a pragmatic and work in the political realities of this world type of way.
We need to make sure that these new policies on global poverty stand the test of time - we need to email Congress today and urge our House representative to co-sponsor this crucial piece of legislation before the end of the year.

Let No Family Go Hungry But on What Terms

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:34:00 +0000

The Stand Up Take Action and the UN MDG Summit are now both over and in my view it was all too little and too much at the same time, but more on that later.The events of the past week have induced me to change the focus with this blog to trying to go a bit deeper and include more relevant information on particular issues,with each post, especially those before Congress.
So while, I will still be responding when someone like Emily V. of Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team urges us to tell Congress to enact a global strategy to reduce world hunger, I will also be examining the issue more closely and raising questions.

Food.- It's one of our most basic needs. But the number of people suffering from chronic hunger is increasing every year. Today, one-sixth of the world's population goes hungry.The Global Food Security Act now before Congress would make it faster and cheaper to feed the more than 1 billion people facing chronic hunger. If passed, this bill would give more flexibility in food emergencies, like buying food locally and regionally, as well as providing social safety net programs for the world's poor. Plus, by developing long-term agricultural projects, it will help women farmers to increase their income and pull their families out of poverty. Tell Congress to pass the Global Food Security Act »

The overall sentiment behind the Care2 request is great but the details, as often is the case with these calls for action, are sparse. This involves a controversial bill S. 384: Global Food Security Act of 2009, which at least in its earlier form, was opposed by a number of organizations, some of which have been supported in this blog.
The Global Food Security Act has recently had a hearing before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. A video of the hearing is provided below.xx
[Some technical information first part starts at 19:38 and second Part starts at 122:20]
Committee on Foreign Relations: concluded a hearing to examine promoting global food security, focusing on the next steps for Congress and the Administration, after receiving testimony from Jacob Lew, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources; Rajiv Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and Global Agricultural Development Initiative Cochairs, Dan Glickman, Washington, DC, and Catherine Bertini, Cortland, New York, both of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

This blog has looked at the issue of Global Food Security before with the post Commitment to Global Food Security Sadly Lacking. All of the Millennium Development Goals, including Millennium Development Goal 1. End Hunger not only need to be attained by 2015, they also need to be sustained after that and that will not happen without a viable global food security program.
The level of disagreement, among those who would be assumed to be on the same side of an issue having to do with feeding the developing world, has a fairly wide range. The specific organizations opposing S.384 back in 2009 and perhaps still so today are a more numerous as well as a more varied crowd. One of the important concepts raised in this argument is balancing Food Security with Food Sovereignty. This is the sticking point with S. 384 from me. It seemingly places Millennium Development Goal 1. End Hunger in opposition with Millennium Development Goal 8. Global Partnership.

Some are opposed because they see the legislation as being in contrast with the principles of their organization. Whether this remains true for the final version of the bill remains to be seen.Many progressive organizations accuse the bill of being written in favor of large industrial agricultural firms, specifically in this case Monsanto.
Some organizations are basically opposed to genetic modification in any form as a means of feeding the world. At this point, I am not, but I will be studying this and the supposed negative effects of the so-called Green Revolution more closely.

Others see the failure of the Green Revolution being a result of political neglect not bad science.
Timothy Geithner and Bill Gates: A New Initiative to Feed the World

We should not be facing this challenge today. In the 1960s and '70s the world understood that agricultural development was an indispensable tool in alleviating hunger, reducing poverty, and driving economic growth. A combination of new, high-yielding crops developed by scientists such as Norman Borlaug and sustained investments from the U.S. and other countries helped save hundreds of millions of people from starvation in India, Mexico and elsewhere. Yet during the past three decades the world's interest in agriculture waned. Donor nations moved on to focus on other issues. The result is that there has been a sharp drop in aid for agriculture. In 1979, nearly 18% of all official development assistance world-wide went to agriculture. In 2008, about 5% did. Timothy Geithner and Bill Gates: A New Initiative to Feed the World - WSJ.com

The truth is that I am very likely relatively more conservative than many of those in the organizations opposing this bill. I do see technology as being an essential tool for meeting the Millennium Development Goals. I also remain an advocate of free enterprise and social enterprise as a means of facing these challenges. This can make for some strange political bedfellows on various issues (in this case Geithner), which means more thinking on my part on the subject.
Even though I may have some issues with Mr. Geithner, I still come down at this point with favoring the bill. My rationale is that CARE Urges Passage of Global Food Security Act; Commends Bipartisan Support in Both Senate and House. Besides the fact that they are making the request for support, their reasons for doing so seems not to be tied to the question of genetic engineering, rather they seem to have more on-the-ground pragmatic concerns related to their own efforts to get food to those most in need.

"Transporting food from the United States to hungry people in developing countries is expensive, slow and unpredictable -- it does not make sense to spend 65 cents of every dollar in food aid on processing and transportation," said Dr. Gayle.

CARE places special emphasis on investing in women and girls' empowerment. Passage of the Global Food Security Act could benefit families and move entire communities out of poverty by providing women farmers access to the necessary tools, skills and financial resources to feed their families and get their crops to local markets. ONE also seems to be supporting the bill as some of the articles cited below indicate.
I have been going back and forth on this issue. Here is some information on the LugarCasey  Global Food  Security  Act  (S. 384)  that lists organizations for and against the bill from 2009.
Below is some more information on the organizations that were opposing S.384 in 2009, though some of the links are old it appears until the language in the bill is changed most still do.

Food First

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Interfaith community response to Feed the Future, the U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative
Read more about the MOGC's analysis of Feed the Future in the July-August 2010 issue of NewsNotes.

National Family Farm Coalition

Union of Concerned Scientists

UCS calls on Congress to make the bill technology neutral by stripping a provision that appears to mandate research employing genetic engineering.

Organic Consumers Association
- US Senate, Bill Gates Give the Planet a Middle Finger for Earth Day

WHY Hunger Organization

Human Rights: Foundation for Progress on the MDGs

ONE for Four MDGS Equals Better World of Babies Free of HIV

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:41:00 +0000

I got two messages from the folks at ONE last week. One was from Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director for ONE, personally asking for our help to send a message to the White House which will soon be announcing how much they'll be committing to the Global Fund. The message to President Obama reads:

Please commit $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next 3 years.

The focus is to make sure that no child is born with HIV.

Over 52,000 ONE members have already asked the President to give the Global Fund the support that it deserves. Let your friends and family know that this is the moment to add their name too.

The second message was on the same basic subject, taking a different tack and proving flattery can get you somewhere.

You write some great blogs about the MDGs and the work that is needed in pursuing and supporting them. Today ONE launched the NO CHILD BORN WITH HIV BY 2015. This campaign will be an intense burst for a week channelled through www.one.org, culminating with the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit next Monday (20-22nd September) in NYC. It is a really entertaining way to show some support! Hopefully it will generate some internet buzz as babies get sent around threatening to 'Throw the bottle out of the Pram' or 'Put us on the naughty step' unless we show some support.

Check it out at http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/

We would immensely appreciate your support by signing the online petition and – if you're so inspired – to blog about it or share it with your friends by email or on Twitter. This is a cause that can only be made good with the help of the public. Every name on the petition counts.

I am so inspired though I usually don't go for the cutesy stuff. The policy being advocated by ONE does take the approach that asserts that the Next Millennium Development Goals 'should be more holistic' SciDev.Net in addressing the issues facing the developing world. By focusing on preventing babies from being born with HIV, ONE addresses 4 of the Millennium Development Goals 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health 5. Maternal Health and 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases together. Getting the funding commitment is the first step in a long struggle.

UN: Millennium Development Goals Still Realistic Yet Still Out of Reach

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Today starts the Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now! 3 day worldwide mobilization. Our Bloggers Unite event Make NOISE to End Poverty Worldwide is taking part online. Right now we have 39 bloggers including myself tapped to do posts over this weekend in anticipation of the UN MDG Summit next week.

There are numerous opportunities to learn about or make known your support for the Millennium Development Goals. For the next 3 days thousands of change-agent organizations across the globe, large and small, will be inspiring millions of people to Make NOISE in support of the Millennium Development Goals. Avaaz had a petition, which I signed, urging world leaders to step up their commitments to end extreme poverty, and save millions of mothers and children.

Millions of pregnant women and children die every year because of malnutrition or inadequate health services. It's shocking, but if our governments meet aid promises to women and children at the poverty summit later this month, it is avoidable.

Ten years ago world leaders committed to drastically reduce the disgraceful number of maternal deaths by 2015, but in fact aid levels remain shamefully low. Now, some governments could be prepared to boost aid for mothers and babies, but they need massive public support to get all governments to step up.

In days our leaders meet in New York. Let's build a global outcry against needless deaths. Sign the petition below to double aid for maternal and child health -- it will be delivered to key government leaders inside the meeting in New York.

There is still the weekend before the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals begins so here is the link to the petition. Right now they are at 152,338 and are trying to reach their target of 175,000.

It has been a mixed bag over the last 10 years since the Millennium Declaration was signed by 189 nations, during which although significant advances have been made to tackle poverty there is still plenty left to do.

-- one-third fewer mothers have died during childbirth due to increased aid and investment in maternal health care. But millions of pregnant mothers are still dying needlessly and every year 9 million children die before their 5th birthday.
There is already a specific mechanism to deliver aid for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, but no similar system exists to support health for mothers and children. Experts feel one of the best ways to have an immediate impact is to ensure that aid is doubled and pooled and coordinated to effectively bring health care to the mothers and children who need it the most.

Oxfam, "Minimal G8 Maternal Health Initiative sends disturbing message to women and girls":
“The G8 commitment to maternal health is extremely disappointing,” said Robert Fox, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada. “Last year in L’Aquila the G8 committed $22 billion over three years for food security. This year when the focus is on women’s health, they can muster only $5 billion over five years, $7.3 billion, if you include the longer list of donors.”

This sends a disturbing message to the women and girls of Africa, Asia and Latin America where nearly 1,000 women die each day in childbirth and in complications related to pregnancy, according to Oxfam.
The Countdown to 2015 Initiative tracks coverage levels for health interventions proven to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality:

There are only 5 years left to meet the deadline for the MDG targets. Avaaz correctly points out the danger of our leaders using the recession to shirk responsibilities to help the world's poorest. This despite the likely result of losing the progress already made and that helping to poor could in fact according to Joseph Stigliz would help the world's economy not hurt it. It is also in spite of the fact that the Millennium Development Goals are still seen as achievable.

UN: Millennium Development Goals still realistic

A new draft declaration on the UN Millennium Development Goals -- which the UN will formally adopt later in the month -- finds that the program's aims are still achievable despite recent setbacks, including the global financial crisis. Though the global depression continues to represent an obstacle to realizing the MDGs, UN officials say that through effective implementation and renewed commitment they can be achieved even in the poorest countries. The Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by the UN in 2000, aim to slash poverty, reduce hunger and improve gender equality worldwide, among other targets. Reuters

Avaaz and others are advocating for an approach agreed to by SciDev.Net which argues that the Next Millennium Development Goals 'should be more holistic'.

"MDGs do address many but not all key development challenges," said Andy Haines, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "This report for the first time really casts an interdisciplinary spotlight on the MDGs, what they will have achieved and where we need to go afterwards."

"The broad picture of MDGs is patchy progress, and not at a pace capable of achieving the goals by 2015," said Jeff Waage, director of the LIDC, who added: "Is this just a matter of effort or are there fundamental problems with the MDGs themselves that will hamper their achievement?"

All of this flurry of activity is in anticipation of UN taking up MDGs as 2015 deadline looms.

Governments around the world are looking to forge agreement on a strategy for the last five years before the Millennium Development Goals deadline amid projections that none of the poverty, health or education milestones will be reached. "The final five years of the goals are going to require two things: more money to be spent and better policies," said Peter Yeo, executive director of the Better World Campaign and a vice president of the United Nations Foundation.

Avaaz, a community of almost 6 million people, also makes the point that it has always been the world's citizens that have led the fight against poverty and pushed our leaders to take critical action, and now it is up to us again. I believe that it is an obvious argument that the Web provides the greatest platform for world citizen collaboration.

Our job is to make sure that they don't become complacent by continuing to Make Noise.

From Stand Up, Take Action 2010 - Tomorrow the World will MAKE A NOISE FOR THE MDGs

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:27:00 +0000

CITIZENS' VOICES AGAINST POVERTY WILL CRESCENDO IN NOISES HEARD AROUND THE WORLD AS HEADS OF STATE TRAVEL TO UN SUMMIT

Citizens Will Make their Expectations that Governments Achieve the Millennium Development Goals Too Loud to Ignore at Events Across the Globe on September 17-19

On September 17-19, people across the globe will turn up the volume on their call for heads of state gathering at the United Nations on September 20-22 to demonstrate leadership in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Citizens will gather at events across continents to amplify their support for the eight MDGs, a set of targets to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes by 2015 that marks its tenth anniversary this week. They will be singing, chanting, blowing whistles, playing drums, blowing vuvuzelas, banging pots and pans and setting off alarm clocks. The sounds of these noises emanating from villages, towns and cities around the world as part of the three day mobilization "Stand Up, Take Action, Make Noise for the MDGs" will make citizens' commitments to track and support their countries' achievement of the Goals visible, vocal and impossible to ignore.

"The Secretary General's recent report on the Millennium Development Goals has made it clear that with only five years until the deadline by which world leaders have promised to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes, the active partnership of citizens and governments is more important than ever," said Corinne Woods, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign. "The citizens participating in 'Stand Up and Take Action' on September 17-19 will make it clear to heads of state gathering at the United Nations the following week that they support and want to be a part of the realization of the Goals."

The mobilization will serve as a launching point for a new initiative of real-time monitoring by citizens of basic service delivery in their communities. The availability of and access to quality, reliable and consistent basic services are essential for the MDGs to be realized at the country level. The Millennium Campaign will work with governments, civil society, technology partners and the media to launch pilot citizen tracking programs in India and Kenya in 2011.

Note to editors:

"Stand Up" events being organized across the globe include:

● Concerts across Bangladesh, Cambodia, Columbia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Korea, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, and Zimbabwe, where local artists will sing their support of the MDGs.

● In Jordan, 40,000 children are expected to simultaneously blow whistles in support of the MDGs, in an attempt to set a new world record.

● In India, "Stand Up" will kick off with a film festival on September 17.

● In New York City, Lincoln Plaza will be the hub of Stand Up activity on September 19, with exhibitions on promises and progress to end poverty as well as speakers and performers.

●In Paris, French citizens and civil society organizations are organizing a flash mob and Stand Up moment in front of the Eiffel Tower on September 18.

●In Washington, D.C. citizens will come together with local musicians, drummers and bands just two blocks from the White House, to amplify their voices in support of the MDGs.

•In the Philippines, various fiestas in towns and cities nationwide will be dedicated to the call for the achievement of the MDGs, including events from September 17-19 where citizens will play indigenous materials including coconuts and bamboo guitars.

• In Columbia, the United Nations, in partnership with the National Soccer League, will invite 30,000 spectators at one of the most important soccer matches of the season to Stand Up on September 19.

•In Egypt, religious leaders will give sermons calling for an end to poverty in more than 50,000 mosques and at Sunday masses in churches across the country. A national youth rally will take place on September 17 at the historic site of the Giza pyramids, entitled "The Sphinx Stands Against Poverty."

The "Stand Up and Take Action" mobilization comes amidst an ongoing process of citizen engagement with their leaders in support of the MDGs. Upcoming activities include the launch of an alternate report on MDG progress in India and the Philippines on September 15; a dedicated MDG Week in the Philippines House of Representatives where citizens will launch a roadmap for poverty reduction; and a collective appeal in support of the MDGs to be presented to the government of Nepal on September 15.

Last year, more than 173 million people participated in "Stand Up," setting a new Guinness World Record. "Stand Up and Take Action" is organized globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

For event listings, photos, sounds from Stand Up events and more information, visit www.standagainstpoverty.org

About the UN Millennium Campaign

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the UN Secretary General in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens' efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from rich and poor countries, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to achieve the Goals by 2015. Our premise is simple: we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org.

A Plan to Address Literacy Is a Plan to Address the Millennium Development Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:14:00 +0000

Today, BloggersUnite celebrates International Literacy Day, the day on which UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally.

September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world.

Since its foundation in 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas.

September 8th International Literacy Day

Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally.

This is obviously tied to Millennium Development Goal No. 2. Universal Education with 67.4 million children not being provided an education.

While four billion people in the world are literate, there are still one in five adults or some 796 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills. About two-thirds of those are women, so Millennium Development Goal 3. Gender Equity is also a factor.

Since January 2003 through resolution A/RES/56/116 the United Nations has declared the United Nations Literacy Decade, 10-year focus on the topic and International Plan of Action for the Decade.

Why is literacy important?

Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy.Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. There are good reasons why literacy is at the core of Education for All (EFA).

A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to school; literate people are better able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better geared to meet pressing development .

Zunia reports that Plan International is putting forward an Education Strategy 2010-2013 that covers the last 3 years of the UN Literacy Decade.

Plan is committed to high quality education for children and young people. This strategy focuses on Plan's 3 education priorities - improving equal access, enhancing quality and strengthening education governance.

Each strategic priority has a clear set of key actions designed to bring about change, not only for families, schools and communities, but also at national and international levels.

The strategy places particular emphasis on the need to eliminate gender discrimination, as well as focussing on other key challenges, such as the inclusion of marginalized children.

Education and literacy are the human capital basis for achieving the other 7 of the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign. From September 17 to 19 we need to Make NOISE to let the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, taking September 20 to 22, 2010, know of their importance and the importance of all the Millennium Development Goals.

TEDxChange: Learn more about the Millennium Development Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:52:00 +0000

The Stand Up Take Action Mobilization event, in which the Bloggers Unite event Make NOISE to End Poverty Worldwide is participating, takes place just before the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. The Stand Up Event is primarily focused on advocacy in support of the MDGs. There will be other events occurring while the UN Summit is taking place. One of particular interest is related to TED and to the Gates Foundation, websites that provided the original inspiration for this effort. Relevant TED sites are provided in the right hand column of this blog for background information on the issues involved under Learning More About the Issues.

TEDxChange: Learn more about the Millennium Development Goals

On September 20, live in New York and webcast around the world, TEDxChange will examine the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs.

Another event, occurring at the same time as the Stand Up Take Action events, will be taking place at the home of the Millennium Promise at Columbia University. Millennium Campus Conference (www.mcc2010.com) September 17-19.

Held on the eve of a major UN Summit discussing extreme poverty, MCC 2010 will provide you with two full days of networking, stories, workshops, a career fair and keynote addresses from today's leading advocates for sustainable international development. You will hear from global advocates including:

Dr. Bernard Amadei- Founder, Engineers Without Borders USA
Filmmaker Bobby Bailey- Co-founder, Invisible Children
Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf- Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biodiversity
Governor Mitt Romney

Can the MDGs End Poverty by 2015? asks the UN - What have they done so far? asks a billion others

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:34:00 +0000

The claim is that We Can End Poverty with Millennium Development Goals by 2015: UN Summit, 20-22 September 2010, New York"> - Annotated

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.
“Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs” the Secretary-General stated in his report in preparation for the September summit. “Our challenge today is to agree on an action agenda to achieve the MDGs.”

Here is the question one billion people at the bottom of the global wealth scale could be asking themselves this month. Are the Millennium Development Goals helping me? At least one person has made this question explicit.

Are Millennium Goals helping me? « Ethnicsupplies’s Weblog
This week the Department for International Development here in the UK has issued a new report ELIMINATING POVERTY : Building Common future, which spells out a new direction and desire to address issue of poverty in the developing world and amongst other things the report looks at the impact of the economic downturn on those in the developing countries. And at the UN summit of September 2000 the richest nations in the world made pledges to the development world that are summed up in what has become to be known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs.

So, how do we monitor the MDGs? When the United Nations meets in a few weeks do discuss the Millennium Development Goals what will they be using as their benchmark? How will they assess how effective programs have been?

MDG MONITOR :: Tracking the Millennium Development Goals"> - Annotated

The MDG Monitor shows how countries are progressing in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With the 2015 target date fast approaching, it is more important than ever to understand where the goals are on track, and where additional efforts and support are needed, both globally and at the country level.

The MDG Monitor is designed as a tool for policymakers, development practitioners, journalists, students and others to:
TRACK progress through interactive maps and country-specific profiles
LEARN about countries' challenges and achievements and get the latest news
SUPPORT organizations working on the MDGs around the world
Diigo tags: Millennium Development Goals United Nations mdgs Monitor

In Action on the MDGs - Making NOISE for the MDGS and taking it up a notch

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:59:00 +0000

The Make NOISE to End Poverty Worldwide in support of the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs is still growing. Supporting the MDGs is the primary reason for this blog. So if anybody else is out there doing the same its worth reporting. There are two basic approaches to reporting on the Millennium Development Goals - education and inspiration. Here are examples of both.

Kathy Bushkin Calvin, the CEO of the UN Foundation, wrote recently that,

You may not have realized it before, but your actions have moved us closer to solving some of the world's biggest problems. You are helping advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Next month, the UN will convene world leaders to review our progress on the MDGs. This important summit in New York needs your voice and support -- together, we're going to make significant progress toward ending poverty and hunger, improving the health of mothers and children, fighting preventable diseases, and bringing universal energy access to all. We are going to do all this by supporting the United Nations and working in partnership to focus attention and resources where they matter most. We know the UN is the institution with the international reach and capacity to accelerate our goals and improve lives.

Well, the truth is that she was writing about all of us taking part in this effort. Problem is that while millions are taking part online and especially in the streets, there still isn't enough awareness in the mainstream of the developed countries, particularly in the United States. I could be wrong about other parts of the world, but I suspect not. The challenge, as I see it is still a matter of education. The UN Foundation has put together a resource to help people learn about the Millennium Development Goals, ( I will put aside the question as to why they did not just use this blog for the time being ;-}) which if they want me to share to increase their impact, I am more than happy to do so.

The MDGs are not only a "to-do" list for the UN and world leaders, but as people with a global perspective, they are our to-do list as well.

Find out more about the MDGs and how you can help advance them on our new "MDGs in Action" page

KENYA: Poor Women Beset On All Sides By Violence and other stories on the MDGs

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:11:00 +0000

I have not put up anything for sometime because of work and trying to work out some issues with the Stand Up Take Action folks. So in typical up against the deadline or way late blogger fashion, here is a reblogged posting of what has been happening in the world regarding the Millennium Development Goals.

2010/8/19

DEVELOPMENT-AUSTRALIA: It's Not Just About More, But Better, Aid
Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, Aug 19 - Australia's foreign aid budget is likely to double by 2015, but civil society groups say this is far from enough if it is to keep to its "fair share" of commitments to poorer countries.
MORE >>

AFRICA: Woman Researcher Tackles Aflatoxin Poisoning
Isaiah Esipisu
NAIROBI , Aug 18 - Despite a bumper harvest of maize just a few months ago, many residents in the eastern part of Kenya are facing hunger and starvation. While granaries in the region may be full, the grain cannot be sold, let alone be eaten.
MORE >>

Q&A: "We Must Move from a Masculine to a Feminine Economy"
Mario Osava interviews Brazilian feminist ROSE MARIE MURARO
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 - It is necessary to move from a "masculine" economy based on competition and a win-lose mentality to a "feminine" win-win economy based on the concept of collaboration, says writer Rose Marie Muraro, one of the pioneers of Brazil's feminist movement.
MORE >>

SWAZILAND: Finding Ways to Care for HIV Orphans
Mantoe Phakathi
KANGCAMPHALALA, Swaziland , Aug 17 - In the poor, drought-stricken community of Kangcamphalala, AIDS orphan Nomvula Dladla* is in tears. The 17-year-old has been told that her aunt, the only surviving relative she could live with, passed away a few hours ago of an HIV-related illness. And if she had been living anywhere else in the country, it would have made Dladla destitute.
MORE >>

Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis
Ousseini Issa*
NIAMEY, Aug 17 - In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds.
MORE >>

KENYA: Poor Women Beset On All Sides By Violence
Susan Anyangu-Amu
NAIROBI, Aug 17 - "My daughter had repeatedly tried to describe to me what her step-father would do to her when I was not home," says Wanza*, a 28-year-old mother resident of Nairobi's Mathare slum. "On this particular night I pretended to be asleep and watched as he left our bed and went for my eight-year-old daughter."
MORE >>

RWANDA: Improving the Lives of Small-Scale Farmers
Aimable Twahirwa
KIGALI, Aug 16 - Joelle Nsamira Kajuga, a female agricultural researcher has a ready answer to describe which modified crop will produce a higher yield, which will be resistant to bacteria, and which will ensure food security and generate a higher turnover for poor small-scale farmers in different regions in Rwanda.
MORE >>

MALAWI: Local Management the Tonic for Water Woes
Charles Mpaka
BLANTYRE, Aug 16 - Hop over a seep of filthy sludge behind a bathroom screened with ragged sacks, turn past the toilet with battered cardboard walls, crab between mud-brick shanties roofed with rusty metal... There: emerge into a small, neat yard where a dozen women and girls are filling plastic buckets from five water taps sticking out of concrete wall.
MORE >>

U.N. Targets "Lost Generation"
Jennifer Leong
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 16 - Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs.
MORE >>

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Land Reform Underfinanced and Failing
Fidelis Zvomuya
RAFFINGORA, Zimbabwe, Aug 14 - Mavis Muchena sits on the veranda of her mud hut, a middle-aged single mother of four with a face worn beyond her years and hands creased from working the soil. She should represent the future of a renewed farming boom in Zimbabwe, but instead she represents its failure.
MORE >>

GUATEMALA: Multi-Pronged Effort to Boost Food Security Still Falling Short
Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 13 - "I used to work on the south coast, cutting sugar cane, and I would go all the way to Belize to pick oranges during the harvest. I went through a lot so we could get by," Héctor Pan, a Q'eqchi Indian in Guatemala who has now abandoned farming to become a river rafting guide, told IPS.
MORE >>

SOUTH SUDAN: Children Too Hungry to Return to Civilian Life
Zack Baddorf
SOUTH SUDAN, Aug 13 - When Timothy was forced into the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) at age 11, the first thing they did was beat him. Then they took him to a military base where his tasks were to carry other soldiers' bags, wash their clothes, collect firewood for them, and cook their food.
MORE >>

IPS is partnering with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) to increase coverage of poverty issues and distribution of poverty related news articles worldwide. The core of this partnership is a three year (2010-2012) EU funded project that focuses on the situation in the Least Developed Countries.

This page includes independent IPS news coverage financed by the EU in a project to cover the MDG situation in Least Developed Countries.
The contents of this news coverage, including any funded by the European Union, are the sole responsibility of IPS and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here.


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President Obama sets Right direction for United States Role in Achieving the MDGs

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 13:08:00 +0000

Four days ago, David Lane, ONE President and CEO, informed me and more than 40,000 other ONE members that we had been successful in petitioning President Obama to deliver on his powerful pledge to present a plan for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the upcoming September's United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York City. (Excuse for not doing this sooner is that again work got to hectic)

President Obama followed through on his pledge by releasing a new plan spelling out how the United States will work to achieve the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign. 1. End Hunger 2. Universal Education 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health 5. Maternal Health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases 7. Environmental Sustainability 8. Global Partnership by 2015.

The plan, (you can read more about it here) stresses the importance of good governance, promoting economic growth and measurable results.

We should also feel proud to know that our work made a difference, and that the US is taking a real lead on the MDGs. But we can't forget that there's still a lot of hard work to do. We must make sure that the US acts on its new plan to tackle both the MDGs and broader development issues. We must urge other countries to commit to do their part at the September UN Summit. We must continue to let our leaders know that we support these goals and the hope, health, security and opportunity they offer to the world's poorest people.

The actual report is here:

Celebrate, Innovate, and Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond

I like the fact that it says "Toward2015 and Beyond" and leading with the word "Celebrate" is intriguing. First thing is to sit down and read it.

From principle to practice: Making the US MDG plan a reality (one.org)
President Obama is releasing the US's MDG strategy today...but where's the bigger plan? (one.org)
Breaking: White House releases MDG Plan (one.org)
US gets a strategy to meet the Millennium Development Goals - please explain (aidwatchers.com)
UN Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner Calls on Private Citizens to Do Their Part to Help Achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals (prweb.com)
To Achieve MDGs, Economic Policies Must Help Poor, UNDP Head Says (medicalnewstoday.com)

Help Women Thrive Worldwide and Help the World Thrive

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:22:00 +0000

The petition for the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) sponsored on Change.org by Help Women Thrive World Wide, and supported by a number of other organizations featured in this blog, was signed sometime ago and I had already asked my Senators to support it. Here is a response from Senator Boxer who helped introduce the bill on the Senate side. Senator Boxer and the International Violence Against Women Act (S.2982).

Now further movement has been with the announcement in July that Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), described as a moderate, has decided to sponsor H.R.4594 - International Violence Against Women Act of 2010.

This has direct application to Millennium Development Goal No. 3. Gender Equity. You can't speak of equity or empowerment in a world where you are not safe. It also applies to all of the Millennium Development Goals because women will pay such a large part in bringing them about in thousands of villages across the globe.

It is all the more important because it is times of disaster that bring out best in some people but the worst in others. As a post earlier this year stated Women make a difference in Haiti and will make a difference in the new millennium. The threat of violence becomes all the worse during such calamities. The International Rescue Committee has called for support for this reason.

... months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many women and girls are still living in makeshift crowded camps in Port-au-Prince. In these teeming and often poorly lit settlements, women face the threat of physical and sexual assault and grapple with dangers posed by active criminal gangs.

Fwd: Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:25:00 +0000

These are stories regarding the Millennium Development Goals featured in the IPS Inter Press Service found further down below these posts under Global News Sources.

I am simply making them available. Anybody who wants to can sign up to have them sent directly.

2010/8/6

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Removing Barriers to Trade
Charles Mpaka*
BLANTYRE, Aug 4 - Cecilia Gondwe waits in the shade of a tree at the Mwanza Border Post between Malawi and Mozambique. Somewhere inside, a clearing agent is completing elaborate paperwork on her behalf.
MORE >>

ZAMBIA: Election Violence Could Mean Fewer Women Participants
Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA , Aug 4 - There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence.
MORE >>

DR CONGO: Sticks And Straw Out of Our Schools
Badylon K. Bakiman
KIKWIT, DR Congo, Aug 3 - Led by the local church, residents of Gungu administrative zone, in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have used their own resources to transform the conditions in which their children study.
MORE >>

HIV-positive Kenyans Need Tribunal to Address Rights Violations
David Njagi
NAIROBI, Aug 3 - Nancy Njeri's life changed when she contracted HIV through a gang rape. Not only did the infection traumatise her, she was ostracised by close friends and neighbours whom she had known for almost a decade. She was fired from her job and when she attempted to sell vegetables, people boycotted her stand because of her status.
MORE >>

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Boost Cross-Border Trade for Food Security
Lewis Mwanangombe*
LUSAKA, Aug 3 - Small-scale traders on either side of the Mwami Border Post between Zambia and Malawi are key to meeting local demands that larger importers do not.
MORE >>

Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists
Isaiah Esipisu
NAIROBI, Aug 2 - In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes.
MORE >>

Q&A: Clean Energy and Cultural Survival in Nicaragua
Julio Godoy interviews ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT, of blueEnergy France* -
PARIS, Aug 1 (Tierramérica) - For the past six years, French and U.S. engineers have been installing solar panels and wind turbines in the southeastern Nicaraguan town of Bluefields, promoting clean energy and development among the region's Rama indigenous peoples.
MORE >>

BURKINA FASO: Race to Achieve Goals on Sanitation
Brahima Ouédraogo
OUAGADOUGOU, Jul 31 - The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015.
MORE >>

MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates
Claire Ngozo
LILONGWE, Jul 30 - You will find Beauty Kasonda on her campaign trail at funerals, weddings, church functions or just about any local gathering in her community. Kasonda does not have the sort of funding her male counterparts have for campaigning in the country's November 2010 elections but she is not letting that stop her.
MORE >>

POLITICS-GUINEA: Women Amongst Also-Rans in Presidential Elections
Saliou Samb
CONAKRY, Jul 30 - Celou Dalein Diallo gained a significant advantage over Alpha Condé, his main rival for the Guinean presidency, when a third candidate said he would back Diallo in a second round of voting in August. But what has become of women candidates for high political office in this West African country?
MORE >>

Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here.


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Right food, Right Time, Right Now

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:51:00 +0000

I am on Twitter now with this online persona and keep finding more people and groups working on the Millennium Development Goals with which to connect. The latest was with the World Food Programme (which I connected to through a fellow MAKE NOISE for the Millennium Development Goals BloggersUnite blogger from the Philippines).

The World Food Programme or WFP connected back with me and sent me a direct message.

WFP: Malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished children - we can break the cycle of hunger http://t.co/Mg8MxfR @WFP (pls share this)

The link goes to the video below.

This combines a number of the Millennium Development Goals together. MDG 1. End Hunger is an obvious one but as the cycle of malnutrition makes clear MDG 5. Maternal Health is an important aspect of the problem and if malnutrition impacts developmental health it is also a matter of MDG 4. Child Health. Finally, since most of this is handled by women MDG 3. Gender Equity should also be natural connection.

It can also be extended to include MDG 7. Environmental Sustainability because as the folks from Oxfam pointed out,

Poor women around the world are hardest hit by changes in the environment. When wells run dry, they may have to walk hours farther for water. Women are largely responsible for feeding their families, so when crops fail and food is scarce, they're the last to eat or they go without.

Oxfam is spearheading Sisters on the Planet, bringing women from poor countries together with powerful American women leaders to put pressure on Congress and bring the voices of these communities directly into the debate.

Supporting Women's Health with the Global MOMS Act

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:48:00 +0000

Back in June, I signed a Care2 petition supporting the Global MOMS Act which is designed to reduce global maternal mortality .

Implementation of MDG No. 5 Maternal Health would actually help stabilize our planet's population. It would also help to ensure economic vitality in our future, presuming we also fulfill the other of the 7 Millennium Development Goals.

As Kayla from the Care2 ThePetitionSite tells us:

No woman should have to put her life or health at risk during pregnancy or childbirth, and all new borns should have a healthy start in life. The Global MOMS Act will help countless mothers worldwide get access to quality health care services and reduce maternal mortality.

The term Maternal Death should become an oxymoron. Currently, they are are petitioner 12,857 and they are trying to reach 20,000. The bill seems to be going nowhere fast so needs all the help it can get. There doesn't seem to be any great amount of coverage by the main stream media.

Tell your members of Congress to support the Global MOMS Act and fight for women's health around the world. »

I did and got a response from one of them though it was not the one that is running for re-election and it was from the wrong part of the Congress .

Dear Mr. Dowling

Thank you for writing to express your support for the "Improvements in Global Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes while Maximizing Successes Act" (Global MOMS Act) (H.R. 5268). I appreciate hearing your views on this pending legislation, and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Like you, I believe that the United States must continue to lead international efforts to improve maternal and child health care and reduce child mortality rates worldwide. During my tenure in the Senate I have worked hard to ensure that international maternal and child welfare programs are adequately funded. For example, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I supported the $7.8 billion included in the fiscal year 2010 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (Public Law111-117) for the Global Health and Child Survival Account, which funds programs to provide nutritional support and vaccines to women and children. Further, I coauthored a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) requesting that the Committee support full funding for the President's fiscal year 2011 international affairs budget request of $58.5 billion, which includes funding to directly improve the health, nutrition, sanitation, and educational needs of women and children worldwide.

As you may know, the "Global MOMS Act" is pending consideration by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and at this time, there is no companion bill in the Senate. Please know that I will continue to do my best to ensure that child health and welfare programs receive the funding they deserve, and be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come before me in the Senate.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will continue to write on matters of importance to you. Should you have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Make Noise MDGs 07/30/2010

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:34:00 +0000

These are some of the links that I have saved at the Make NOISE for the Millennium Development Goals Diigo Group page with some of them having been featured in this blog. Seems like a quick and easy way to promote them again. Most of the comments are from the sites themselves, not me.

Nets Save Lives | Nothing But Nets Campaign

Simply put, malaria kills. Nets can save lives. Here are some harsh realities about malaria:
Fact: Malaria is preventable, but causes nearly 500 million illnesses each year and kills more than 1 million of those who become infected.

Fact: Ninety percent of deaths caused by malaria occur in Africa, where the disease is a leading killer of children. Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria.
Fact: Malaria is the #1 killer of refugees in Africa. Two-thirds of the 33 million refugees worldwide live in malaria endemic countries.
So, as engaged global citizens, what can we do to help?

tags: global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN nets save lives
Measles Initiative

Launched in 2001, the Measles Initiative is a partnership — led by the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and World Health Organization — committed to reducing measles deaths worldwide.The Measles Initiative founding partners provide technical and financial support to governments and communities conducting mass vaccination campaigns, improving routine immunization services, and establishing effective disease surveillance. To date, the partnership has invested US $670 million in measles control activities, helping to save an estimated 4.3 million lives.

tags: measles initiative global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN
Global Polio Eradication

The goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to ensure that no child will ever again know the crippling effects of polio. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is the largest public health initiative the world has ever known.

tags: polio eradication
global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN
U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs

The Committee that will be reviewing the Foreign Assistance Act which is an important component in America's effort to help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

tags: Foreign Assistance Act millennium development goals house committee
USAID: USAID History

On September 4, 1961, the Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which reorganized the U.S. foreign assistance programs including separating military and non-military aid. The Act mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic assistance programs, and on November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

tags: usaid millennium development goals Foreign Assistance Act
United Nations Foundation » Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: Progress Through Partnerships

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin testified on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. The subject of her testimony: how cross-sector partnerships are advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

tags: mdgs United Nations Foundation UN

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Powering the MDGs through Partnerships

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:34:00 +0000

On Tuesday, I wrote about Congress hearing testimony on Millennium Development Goals for the first time. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs heard testimony on the Millennium Development Goals from John McArthur, CEO, (pdf) Millennium Promise, Scott Ratzan, Vice President, Global Health, Government Affairs and Policy, Johnson & Johnson and Kathy Calvin, CEO, United Nations Foundation.

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin testified before Congress about how collaboration and partnerships are key to advancing the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 (Read the full testimony here (pdf)).

The UN Foundation Team reminds us that:

Just as no nation should go it alone in the international arena, no single player can achieve the MDGs. From bishops to basketball players, collaborations across government agencies, corporations, foundations and individuals are absolutely essential to eradicating extreme poverty and bringing the MDGs within reach.

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, will soon be considering legislation to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act. "Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: Progress Through Partnerships," is an essential means for creating smart, effectively-coordinated global poverty solutions – like those linked above.

The Millennium Development Goals can be achieved but only with pragmatic solutions backed by political will. There is no lack of do-able, pragmatic solutions, the problem is political will and unless the United States finds the moral fiber to take a leading role in this endeavor the world will fall further and further behind in keeping this promise.

Today: A First: Congress to Hear Testimony on MDGs

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:23:00 +0000

A reposting and updating of information from:

Bulletin from the cause: UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Go to Cause

Posted By: Millennium Promise To: Members in UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

A First: Congress to Hear Testimony on MDGs Today!

Dear Supporters of the Millennium Development Goals,

We are excited to announce that Today, July 27, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will hear testimony on the Millennium Development Goals--it is the first time Congress has ever held a hearing on the MDGs!

John McArthur, CEO, Millennium Promise will testify alongside Kathy Calvin, CEO, United Nations Foundation, and Scott Ratzan, Vice President, Global Health, Government Affairs and Policy, Johnson & Johnson.

The congressional committee wants to hear about the status of the Millennium Development Goals—the world's integrated targets to reduce extreme poverty by 2015—and discuss specifically what steps should be taken to ensure the achievement of the Goals.

You may watch a live feed of the hearing here: http://www.hcfa.house.gov/

On the bottom left-hand side of the page you'll find the link to the live feed. The link is only put up when something is being broadcast -- there is currently a picture inserted in the corner as a placeholder where the link will appear for the live feed.

Of course, if you are in DC you are welcome to attend the hearing in person!
Video and text of the testimony will available soon on the Millennium Promise website (www.millenniumpromise.org).

Here are further details:

Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight
Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Chairman

Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals:
Progress through Partnerships

Rayburn House Office Building
Room 2172
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
9:30 AM

Witnesses:
John McArthur, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Millennium Promise

Ms. Kathy Calvin
Chief Executive Officer
United Nations Foundation

Scott C. Ratzan, M.D.
Vice President, Global Health, Government Affairs and Policy
Johnson & Johnson

Thank you!

--The Millennium Promise Team

Call to Action

Support the cause. Be counted:

I Read This

Obama Promised to Cut World Poverty in Half - Hold Him to It!

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:50:00 +0000

The promise of the Millennium Development Goals is not some recent action by our governments. It is actually more than a promise, it is a commitment defined through the cooperative agreement of 189 nations that signed onto the Millennium Declaration on 8 September 2000. Numerous promises have been made since then, some closer to home than others.

Andrew at Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team reminds us that last year, President Obama stood before the UN and pledged to the world that the U.S. will support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and approach next year's summit with a global plan to fight world poverty.

This lifesaving pledge is due this September and we need more than just talk. Urge President Obama to follow through on his words and take the lead on achieving the MDGs by 2015 »

If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy. Help cut poverty in half

Update: I was signatory No. # 12,111: they are looking for 15,000, which to my mind is far too low.

The Cardin-Lugar Transparency Amendment can help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:12:00 +0000

A little over a week ago, David Lane, President and CEO of ONE let his fellow ONE members know that they helped score a big, big victory for the world's poor in the halls of high finance.

The Cardin-Lugar Transparency amendment to the financial regulation bill that passed will now become law.

This is a victory of public transparency for the benefit of citizens.

Developing countries far too often see money from their natural resources end up in the pockets of corrupt government officials. But now, citizens will get to see exactly where this money is going—which means they can hold their governments accountable and make sure funds are spent on health care, clean water and the everyday necessities that everybody needs to lead healthy, productive lives. It boils down to this:

Hidden transactions between corrupt governments of developing countries and the multinational corporations that do business with them will now be brought into the light of day.

This means that any company listed on the New York Stock Exchange will be required to report if they pay a foreign governments to drill for oil and gas or mine gold and diamonds in their countries. As our friends at Care2 tell us.

When governments are transparent, people can hold their governments accountable. When people hold their governments accountable, real, positive change is possible.

This is a step in the right direction for transparency is an essential ingredient in getting the Millennium Development Goals met. We need to enable people around the world to be able to hold their governments responsible, which means we need to first make them aware of the challenges and provide them the means of overcoming those challenges. Our governments need to keep an eye on global businesses and people need to keep an eye on both. One of the purposes of this blog is to contribute in the endeavor.

Articles from Diigo Make Noise MDGs 07/12/2010

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:34:00 +0000

What Next for the Millennium Development Goals? "> - Annotated
It is just about time for yet another round of international development goals. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - the eight goals, 20 targets and 60+ indicators that came out of the United Nations in 2000 - are coming to the end of their natural life. Although the official end date is not until 2015, if your country is not close to reaching the MDGs now, there is simply not much time to catch up. (Helpfully, the UN's MDG Monitor website counts down to 2015 by the second.)

tags: wiley millennium development goals mdgs
- So what should MDGs redux look like if we want them to be constructive and not merely more of the same? A good place to start is to consider the pluses and minuses of the current set. On the positive side, the MDGs have been hugely successful at fundraising. The MDGs evolved out of a set of goals created at the OECD in the mid-1990s as a direct attempt to try to reverse the steep cuts in foreign aid after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Total aid plummeted by more than 20 per cent between 1992 and 1997, prompting waves of panic within the aid community. At the time of the September 2000 UN Summit when the MDGs were adopted unanimously by the largest-ever gathering of heads of state, total aid was around $60 billion per year. By 2005 the level had doubled to around $120 billion and it has hovered around this level ever since. Coincidentally, a series of 'MDG costing studies' suggested that just such a doubling was necessary for those goals to be achieved (Devarajan et al., 2002; Zedillo, 2001).
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — UN Women "> - Annotated
In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.

tags: mdg3 UNDP gender-equity millennium development goals
- The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.
UNFPA - Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival "> - Annotated
The report provides a mix of good and bad news. One good news message is that the under-5 child mortality rate has declined by 28 percent, from an estimated 90 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 65 deaths per 1000 in 2008, accounting for a reduction of nearly 4 million child deaths per year.

tags: unfpa mdg5 population millennium development goals
New Statesman - An enlightenment fit for the 21st century "> - Annotated
The Tories’ “big society” challenges the people, and not just governments, to embrace change. To effect its own change for the better, Labour and the left must imbibe new ideas about human psychology and learn how to speak a collective language of ethics.

tags: Enlightenment Royal Society of Arts 21st-century Tories
- The Royal Society of Arts has a new motto: 21st-century enlightenment. It pays tribute to the 18th-century founders of the society and is a statement about the RSA's role today. We have been asking how Enlightenment principles have come to be interpreted and whether they should be rethought in the light of today's challenges and important new insights into human nature. Although this may sound a long way from the more prosaic debates in Labour's leadership campaign, perhaps that process might benefit from imagining a radical politics that seeks not merely to respond to modern values, but to shape them.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Articles from Diigo Make Noise MDGs 07/11/2010

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:36:00 +0000

Home - Wiley Online Library Transition Information
Wiley Online Library will host the world’s broadest and deepest multidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities. Built on the latest technology and designed with extensive input from scholars around the world, Wiley Online Library will deliver seamless integrated access to over 4 million articles from 1500 journals, 9000 books, and hundreds of reference works, laboratory protocols and databases from John Wiley & Sons and key imprints including Wiley-Blackwell, Wiley-VCH etc

tags: online home wiley
UN Foundation and Devex — Making the Millennium Development Goals Happen "> - Annotated

Over the coming months, Devex will host a global conversation on each of the eight Millennium Development Goals – we want you to share your success stories, thoughts on what obstacles remain, and ideas for how the development community is Making the Millennium Development Goals Happen.

tags: millennium development goals millennium campaign mdgs United Nations
- As development professionals, you are working towards realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – we want to hear from you about the on-the-ground successes and challenges you've experienced working on international development projects around the world.
- World Population Day 2010 "> - Annotated
This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA’s lead role in population and development.

tags: United Nations world population
- Reliable data makes a difference, and the key is to collect, analyze and disseminate data in a way that drives good decision making. The numbers that emerge from data collection can illuminate important trends. What striking situation does research reveal in your country? What do the numbers tell you about progress toward meeting the MDGs? Are certain groups getting left behind?
The Responsibility to Protect—Five Years On
The Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) has become a prominent feature in international debates about preventing and responding to genocide and mass atrocities. Since its adoption in 2005, it has been discussed in relation to a dozen major crises and been the subject of discussion at the UN Security Council and General Assembly. This article takes stock of the past five years and examines three questions about RtoP: What is its function? Is it a norm, and, if so, what sort?

tags: international UN Security
The Environment and Climate Change: Editors' Overview. Takatoshi ITO. 2010; Asian Economic Policy Review - Wiley InterScience
Asian Economic Policy Review

tags: millennium development goals mdg7 environmental sustainability
Reaching a Global Agreement on Climate Change: What are the Obstacles? "> - Annotated
A successor accord to the Kyoto Protocol was supposed to be wrapped up in Copenhagen in December 2009, but negotiations are now expected to extend through the South African UNFCCC conference in 2011 since the Copenhagen talks failed to yield a binding agreement. To reach a comprehensive deal, major gaps between developing and developed countries must be narrowed. The gaps include the character of common but differentiated responsibilities, financial support, technology transfer, and trade subsidies and sanctions. The paper concludes with some options and recommendations.

tags: millennium development goals mdg7 environmental sustainability
- Reaching a Global Agreement on Climate Change: What are the Obstacles?
Reconciling Economic Growth and Carbon Mitigation: Challenges and Policy Options in China "> - Annotated
In this paper, we review some of the climate burden-sharing proposals raised by Chinese scholars to shed some light on China's perspective on the post-Kyoto climate architecture. Then we summarize China's current pollution abatement policies and measures, and analyze some potential policy instruments for China to reconcile its future economic growth and carbon mitigation, as well as some practical design and enforcement issues to be considered for the near term

tags: millennium development goals mdg7 China environmental sustainability
- As the biggest carbon emitter in the world, China is facing tremendous pressure domestically and internationally. To promote the international efforts to tackle climate change, the Chinese government announced its 2020 carbon intensity target and is actively taking part in the international climate negotiations.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Getting Ideas from Hans Rosling on controlling global population growth through better child health

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:09:00 +0000

Tomorrow is another of the Blogger Unite events that I am supporting through this blog. This time it is in support of the United Nation's World Population Day.

Back on World Population Day 2008 the goal was to reaffirm the right of people to plan their families by encouraging activities, events and information that helped make this right a reality — especially for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need to plan their families, such as marginalized populations and young people.

When people can plan their families, they can plan their lives. They can plan to beat poverty. They can plan on healthier mothers and children. They can plan to gain equality for women.

This year World Population Day 2010 highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA's lead role in population and development.

Reliable data makes a difference, and the key is to collect, analyze and disseminate data in a way that drives good decision making. The numbers that emerge from data collection can illuminate important trends. What striking situation does research reveal in your country? What do the numbers tell you about progress toward meeting the MDGs? Are certain groups getting left behind?

This makes perfect sense considering the United Nation's focus on the Millennium Development Goals Summit planned for this September. Over-population has a direct impact on all of the Millennium Development Goals. The Video from TED.com featuring Hans Rosling on global population growth connects the idea of empowering the poor, especially women, and taking steps to control world population growth. What he demonstrates is that achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially Millennium Development Goal 4. Child Health will have a significant impact on population growth.

So the only way of really getting world population to stop is to continue to improve child survival to 90 percent. That's why investments by Gates Foundation, UNICEF and aid organizations, together with national government in the poorest countries, are so good. Because they are actually helping us to reach a sustainable population size of the world. We can stop at nine billion if we do the right things. Child survival is the new dream. It's only children surviving that we will stop population growth.

Others have put forward a similar perspective in the past.

Sustainability And Collier And Ending The Homo-Defictus Age

The Millennium Development Goals remain the most extensive, far reaching set of programs to address this planet's greatest global concerns. There is not a lack of ideas, there is a lack of will and of awareness.

Telling President Obama: First Lead America to Clean Energy Now Then the World

noreply@blogger.com (Briandrpm) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:26:00 +0000

The Environmental Defense Action Fund put out the video above to make the point that

As far back as Richard Nixon, every president has called for energy reform and action to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. And for 40 years, not a single one followed through forcibly enough to make change happen.

They are looking to encourage President Obama to turn his public commitment to passing strong climate and energy reform in 2010 into action. They need at least 50,000 signatures (click here) before the Senate comes back to work next week to send a strong message.

We have never been closer to success. What we have so far is our President's support. What we need is a full court press by White House officials to do what it takes to get the 60 votes needed to secure Senate passage of a bill.

Nothing short of that will do. History will be made this month. Please help us make this a chapter with a happy ending.

Getting an Energy Bill in the United States is important but it is not the end of the matter. We still need to address Millennium Development Goal No. 7. Environmental Sustainability. My letter to President Obama was geared in that direction.

Dear President Obama

You have given strong voice to the need to pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill to end our over-dependence on oil and other fossil fuels and to build America's clean energy future. Only then will we have the moral authority to help lead the rest of the world to a sustainable future. We thank you for your inspiring words. But now your words must be followed by your actions. As the BP Gulf Disaster makes all too tragically clear, the time for half measures is over. Now is the time to act.

Unless we get our own house in order, we will have little ability to convince the rest of the developed world and emerging markets that an environmentally sustainable planet as envisioned by the Seventh Millennium Development Goal is not a desirable objective but an essential one. We need your constant, hands-on leadership to apply maximum pressure on the Senate to pass a strong bill. And we need you to direct your all-star team of cabinet members and White House staff to engage directly in making it happen. Failure simply cannot be an option.

If the USA fails in this then there is little hope for the rest of the world, because even if they to agree to take action or impact will be too great for it to make a difference. We stand with you, Mr. President, and pledge to do our part to maintain unrelenting grassroots pressure to pass a strong bill. The time is now. The solution is clear. This is America's chance to finally break our addiction to oil and other fossil fuels. Please step up and use the full power of your good office to pass a strong climate and energy bill in the Senate this month. We cannot wait any longer.

Brian Dowling

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Getting Ideas from Hans Rosling on controlling global population growth through better child health

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