Taking the MDGs Beyond 2015: Hasten Slowly

Abstract

The authors advise to hasten slowly in defining the successor framework to the MDGs. The review of progress in 2010 should not be intermingled with the intergovernmental discussions about the post-2015 framework. The latter should not start until a UN panel of Eminent Persons has prepared a set of thoughtful options and suggestions. The worst decision would be to keep the same MDGs and add new Goals and more Targets. The panel will have to address the following topics: (a) new structure; (b) new Targets; (c) collective nature of global Targets; (d) type of benchmarks; (e) new time horizon; and (f) disaggregated monitoring. The world will miss the MDGs largely because disparities within the majority of countries have grown to the point of slowing down national progress. In order to overcome the 'tyranny of averages', this article proposes a method of incorporating equity in national statistics.

Sub-Saharan Africa and the health MDGs: the need to move beyond the “quick impact” model

“…Instead, most of the gains are taking place among the top socioeconomic quintiles, while the lower quintiles are seeing little or no progress. [34][35][36] For Kenya, for example, using access to caesarean section as a proxy for access to emergency obstetric care, a comparison of disaggregated data from the 1993 and 2008-09 Kenya Demographic Health Surveys 37,38 shows overall improvement at national level, but reduced access among the two lowest quintiles. In 1993, the caesarean section rate was four times higher for the highest quintile compared to the lowest quintile, but it was seven times higher in 2008-09 ( Figure 1).…”

From Development of the ‘Other’ to Global Governance for Universal and Sustainable Development

“…11 In 2007 James Raymond Vreeland reviewed a vast collection of studies on explanations for failures of adjustment policies and concluded that they had a strongly negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth in the long run. As he put it, 'the newly emerging consensus is that IMF adjustment policies hurt economic growth' (Vreeland 2007: 90 Kabeer (2006), Manning (2010), Pollard et al (2011) and Vandemoortele and Delamonica (2010). 14 See for example, Vandemoortele (2014Vandemoortele ( , 2016.…”

“…As he put it, 'the newly emerging consensus is that IMF adjustment policies hurt economic growth' (Vreeland 2007: 90 Kabeer (2006), Manning (2010), Pollard et al (2011) and Vandemoortele and Delamonica (2010). 14 See for example, Vandemoortele (2014Vandemoortele ( , 2016. 15 See Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, www.tandfonline.com/ toc/CJHD20/current.…”

The Millennium Development Goals; A Global Assignment

“…A major criticism of the MDGs, is that they are a donorled agenda and pay little attention to local context, particularly missing governance capabilities (18,19), MDGs miss out on crucial aspects of development (19) including climate change, the quality of education, human rights and democracy, economic growth, infrastructures, good governance, peace, disarmament and security (7,20). MDGs ignore the poorest and most susceptible, masked by using countrywide averages or aggregated information (21).…”