Global development plan continues to fail

The UN has recently released an Africa and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2007 report which states that sub-Saharan Africa is not on track to achieve ANY of the MDGs. This is cause for concern, bearing in mind we are exactly half way through the period in which the goals were meant to be achieved. Guido Schmidt Traub, from the UN Development Programme says "the stark reality is that there's not even a single country in the continent that is on track to achieve the MDGs". So what has gone wrong?

The Africa & MDGs report says although there have been major gains in several areas and the Goals remain achievable in most African nations, even the best governed countries on the continent have not been able to make sufficient progress in reducing extreme poverty in its many forms.

Before I discuss this issue any further, let me remind you of the Millennium Development Goals, which committed to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development.
(You can go to the official MDG site to find out more)

The Africa & MDGs report shows while there have been some success stories, they are few and far between, as targets have failed to be met in all of the eight categories. The report attributes continued challenges as ranging from lack of capacity to unfair global trade, as well as the failure of rich countries and donors to live up to their pledge of doubling aid to Africa.

My previous discussion about the new economy increasing the digital divide has interesting implications here, as the era of technology and digitisation may be a contributing factor to increasing global economic divides, and preventing the achievement of the MDGs in countries like those of sub-Saharan Africa.

However, this is not to say that the MDGs are unachievable and we should all give up. Reports such as the ICT for Development: Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals shows there are projects around the world where ICTs have successfully aided development. As I discussed previously, developing countries need to work effectively with the changing global regime of ICTs and need to adopt practices such as telemedicine, distance learning and e-government in order to work towards development in this new economy.

This 2003 report sees what we can learn from ICT projects in developing countries about proper design, sustainability and impact of such interventions. It notes the widespread hope within the international development community that ICTs could potentially “be a powerful tool of development and poverty reduction, and of achieving the Millennium Development Goals”.

We need to transfer hope and plans into concrete reality. The Africa & MDGs report says donors need to “accelerate their plans to scale up assistance” and concludes on a positive note, saying that “despite the lack of progress towards the MDGs, the Goals remain achievable in most African countries”.

Yet time is indeed running out, and the commitments made and reaffirmed by world leaders “must be urgently translated into practical plans with systematic follow-through”. Once again, world leaders need to put talk into action, and one of the key areas they should be focusing on is how ICTs can be used in development.

See the following articles on this issue:
China's Xinhau news agency
SABC News