Whither MDGs?

MDGs suffered from experimentation

… as world looks beyond 2015

 

By Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK - A senior United Nations official has said that the failure by many African countries to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be attributed to lack of precedent which led to experimentation as well as to overreliance on external support.

Ambassador Musinga Bandora

Ambassador Musinga Bandora, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Namibia made this observation while delivering a public lecture at the University of Namibia on Tuesday, August 19, 2014. The public lecture, was one of a series planned by the University of Namibia through its faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to stimulate vigorous discourse around socio-economic and other issues. The topic of the lecture was: “From MDGs to Sustainable Development Goals of the New Post 2015 Development Agenda: Process and Prospects for Africa and Namibia – Making the New Agenda Work.”

UN Member states adopted the current eight MDGs in 2000, primarily to eradicate extreme poverty. With only months before the end date of the MDGs, there is a general consensus among experts that for many countries, especially in the developing world, that noble goal remains elusive.

Bandora said there was evidence that since the MDGs were introduced without precedent, they suffered from “experimentation” which may have jinxed their successful implementation. Yet all was not lost. In many countries, he said, things were a lot better than they were before the MDGs were adopted.

Quoting a report produced by a the United Nations’ High Level Panel appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in July 2012, Bandora said that MDGs had made a remarkable difference to humanity and transformed lives.

“Overall, progress and achievements of the MDGs in Africa has been mixed, not just across goals, but also across countries and even within countries,” the career diplomat told his audience.

Citing the 2013 Africa MDG Report, he said Africa was on track toward achieving four of the MDGs: achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; combating HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases; and strengthening global partnership for development.

Turning to Namibia’s performance, Bandora said the country was on course toward meeting most the MDGs, albeit partially. Specifically, the country has done remarkably well in reducing poverty; achieving universal primary education; bringing about gender equity and empowering women; addressing HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases; promoting environmental sustainability; and developing global partnerships for development.

“(Namibia) is not likely to achieve the child mortality and maternal health targets” he observed.

The 2013 Africa MDG report that Bandora cited is unequivocal in stating that there has been a mismatch between poverty reduction and economic growth on the continent and that although some African countries have achieved universal access to primary education, the quality of that education remains cause for concern. There was also evidence that some countries including Namibia that made remarkable progress toward meeting MDGs have done so through channelling domestic resources toward implementation rather than relying on external or donor support.

Bandora explained that following a series of consultations led by the United Nations, 17 new sustainable goals with 169 targets have been developed for implementation in what is been touted as the post 2015 Agenda. Like the MDGs, the proposed new goals have a 15 year time line.

The 17 new goals proposed for implementation after 2015 are:

1. End poverty in all forms everywhere.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable r equality and agriculture.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well – being for all.
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning for all.
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and Girls.
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.
8. Promote sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
13. Combat climate change and its impacts.
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. This includes enablers and cross-cutting issues of Finance, Technology, Capacity building and  Trade as well as Systemic issues of Policy and Institution coherence, Partnerships, Data, monitoring and accountability for results.

Although there seems to be agreement over the proposed new goals, discussions are ongoing around sticky issues that include the rule of law, sexual and reproductive health rights, climate change and subsidies for fossil fuel.

While acknowledging that the new goals may appear many and even overambitious, Bandora said they present governments with an opportunity to choose well and focus even as the world citizens demand boldness and ambition.

“Whatever compromise emerges, the challenge for Africa is to sustain active engagement and ensure that these negotiations culminate in a lean agenda – one focusing on the most catalytic areas to its development,” he said.

ALL EARS: Part of the crowd that attended the public lecture on MDGs

Calling for introspection, Bandora said Namibia and Africa must draw lessons from implementing the current MDGs if they are to be successful in implementing the new goals.

“Evaluations of the MDGs have pointed out several shortcomings and lessons… There was inadequate analysis and justification behind some of the chosen goals…MDGs were adopted by governments without consulting with the people and in the main, the goals remained marginal and not integrated into national development plans.”

Additionally, Namibia and the continent must redouble efforts to eradicate poverty, tackle inequality and exclusion and address unemployment among the youth, which he said was a ticking time bomb that could undermine the proposed new agenda.

“Equally, addressing gender inequality, investing in women’s empowerment, providing equal and accessible education for girls will impact positively on the new agenda…The spirit of consultations that characterised the development of the new agenda must be embedded into its implementation,” he advised.

At continental level, there was need to achieve and sustain high economic growth rates and take advantage of the new opportunities in globalisation for implementing the new agenda.

“Africa’s overriding growth objective should be to wean itself over dependence. In its 2014 Africa Transformation Report, the African Centre for Economic Transformation underscores that African economies need more than just growth if they are to transform. They need to grow with ‘depth’: diversify, make exports competitive, increase agricultural productivity, invest in technology, innovate and improve human capital.”

Noting that Africa was emerging as the new frontier for massive natural resources, Bandora called for political prudence and skills for managing those resources for the benefit of the continents’ citizens.

“Africa should ensure that these resources become a blessing and not a curse, as we have seen in the past. Only then can Africa effectively leverage internal resources to implement the new agenda with the political independence and autonomy of action that financial capacity engenders.”

While acknowledging that Africa was still far from being able to go it alone and might continue to require donor assistance, Bandora called for the proper coordination of donors to avoid duplication. There is also need to promote public private partnerships on the continent, as well as to reinvigorate the pace of regional integration.

“Fifty three African countries acting individually lack the critical mass to be meaningful players on the global scene. Africa needs to partner, interact and trade more. Bandora advanced the thesis that the new proposed post 2015 goals can best be implemented with deeper political commitments to promoting good governance, peace and security on the continent.

“Giving Parliaments, civil society, media and space to freely exercise their oversight, advocacy and public accountability roles must continue to form part of that political agenda,” he said, adding that efforts to resolve conflicts should be intensified.

He called for tact in managing diversity and noted that political “rigidity and marginalisation, ethnicity and religious tolerance,” were wreaking havoc on the continent.

With many African countries facing a critical shortage of human resources for development, Bandora said there was need for the continent to strengthen its institutions and systems, raise people with the right skills and in sufficient numbers to push the post 2015 agenda.

 “Investing in education and skill, in building capacity of state institutions and systems to oversee the implementation must be part of the agenda itself.”

Scores of people who included UNAM students, professors and lecturers, members of the United Nations family in Namibia, as well as members of the diplomatic community attended the lecture.

*Winner of the SADC Media Award and 10 other journalism awards, Moses Magadza is a Masters in Media Studies student at the University of Namibia. Email: moses.magadza@gmail.com