Do millennium devt goals offer hope for the poor

Recent developments have indicated that many stake holders are uneasy about the pace towards achieving the millennium development goals-MDGs in several of the target countries most especially in Africa. For the uninitiated MDGs are eight targets that countries in the international community represented by a coterie of international institutions and agencies agreed upon to have achieved by the year 2015. Against this backdrop the UNDP administrator Dervis Kermal undertook a journey to several African countries including Rwanda to carry out on the ground assessment of the progress towards the Millennium Development Goals namely -Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV aids, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development. The United Nations secretary General Ban Ki-moon on September 14 launched the millennium development goals African steering committee with development partners after it had been realized that the millennium development goals would most probably not be achieved if the current efforts towards their realization are not improved upon. While acknowledging the fact that a number of African countries were on the right paths and had their priorities right in as far as achieving the MDGs is concerned, the members of the African Steering committee agreed that three areas must be focused on in a unique way that would go along way towards achieving the goals that were agreed upon by world governments and international agencies a couple of years ago. Thus the heads of such organizations as the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African development Bank to mention but four agreed that efforts be put in identifying mechanisms for implementing commitments in the areas of health, education, agriculture and food security, infrastructure and security systems. In addition to these points the African steering committee agreed to work on the improvement of aid predictability and strengthening of joint efforts at the country level in support of the MDGs entirely. But why is it that half way since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals at the turn of the century by the leaders of one hundred and eighty countries of the world, evidence still suggests that most of the targets as contained therein still have a long way to go in order to be realized. It is apparent that most poor countries will definitely not achieve those underlined targets. Many countries are still wallowing in poverty and ignorance and diseases. Malaria remains a leading killer disease and HIV and Aids is still a major cause of death despite the introduction of such interventions like Anti retroviral drugs. With many developing countries still shackled on to foreign aid which is given prominence in the MDG strategy it remains apparent that they can only serve a remedial purpose but can not serve to put less developed countries on the same development pedestal with the developed countries. What all this serves to project in a nutshell is the fact that aid has been put ahead of other interventions like trade. What all these actors on the national and international levels forget is the fact that no country has ever developed from the third world to any other level on the basis of foreign aid that most international agencies have advanced for so long a time. The last point of the millennium development goals dwells extensively on how a global partnership can foster development in the less developed parts of the world. Historically all global partnerships between the third world and the developed countries have not been partnerships of equals. This time round if the partnerships are not based on mutual respect and a clear understanding of social dynamics in the developing countries involved, then no difference will be made. Developed countries and the coterie of international agencies and institutions that are working in the area of development in less developed countries must make significant concessions. These concessions like removal of subsidies to their farmers and industries, opening up markets for goods from the developing world and allowing the manufacturing of generic drugs to stem such diseases as AIDS, they will have demonstrated true commitment to the poverty stricken people of the world. Ends