'ROAD MAP' OF MILLENNIUM SUMMIT GOALS SETS OUT BLUEPRINT, TIMETABLE
FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION
Secretary-General's Report Signposts Road Ahead
In a report published today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan examines in detail how Member States, United Nations bodies, international organizations and civil society are putting into practice the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all 189 Member States at the Millennium Summit in September 2000.
The 59-page report -- "Road Map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration" (document A/56/326) -- reviews progress under way, suggests paths to follow and presents “strategies for moving forward” for each of the goals of the Declaration.
"The heads of State and Government at last year's summit charted a cooperative path to meet the challenges ahead", says the Secretary-General.� "This road map has attempted to carry forward their vision, identify the areas in which we need to work and offer suggestions for the future."
The road map draws on the work of governments, the entire United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, and the World Trade Organization, intergovernmental organizations, international organizations, regional organizations and civil society.� Accordingly, "the entire United Nations family of Member States, international organizations, funds, agencies, programmes, the private sector and civil society must join together to meet the lofty commitments that are embodied in the Millennium Declaration", says the Secretary-General.� "Success requires solidarity."
The road map makes clear the scale of the challenge that lies ahead, and focuses on implementation.� "What is needed", the Secretary-General says, "is not more technical or feasibility studies.� Rather, States need to demonstrate the political will to carry out commitments already given and to implement strategies already worked out". �Its eight sections range from maintaining international peace and security, through development and poverty eradication to strengthening of the United Nations system.�
Under the heading, "Peace, security and disarmament", it outlines measures to help promote human security.� These steps include strengthening the rule of law, and taking action against transnational crime by helping States ratify treaties and harmonize their domestic laws with international obligations.� Specifically, States must take concerted action against international terrorism, putting into practice their commitment to prevent and combat terrorist acts.�
Other proactive measures include widening the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and promoting the rapid entry into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.� Addressing the need to take action when the rule of law fails -- for example by deploying peacekeeping operations and peace-building missions -- the Secretary-General stresses replacing the culture of reaction to conflict by one of prevention.� This, the road map argues, will require the completion of ongoing United Nations peacekeeping reforms and support for peace-building efforts on the ground.
A further area for progress and reform is the "targeting" of sanctions in order to make them more effective and to reduce their impact on civilians.� Of overriding importance is the need to pursue disarmament in all areas, from weapons of mass destruction to the illicit small-arms trade.
The second section of the road map is entitled "Development and poverty eradication: the Millennium Development Goals", while an annexed section pinpoints, in concrete and specific terms, the indicators that will measure the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).� It is crucial, the report says, that the MDGs become national goals and serve to increase the coherence and consistency of national policies and programmes.�
The major focus of this section is on eliminating poverty and on meeting the Millennium Summit target of halving the proportion of people subsisting on one dollar a day or less by the year 2015.� Any effort to achieve sustainable development, says the Secretary-General, must include the search for solutions to hunger, malnutrition and disease.� Noting that the international community should "continue to cooperate on many fronts" to achieve these goals, the road map stresses the need to combat HIV/AIDS through such campaigns as the Global AIDS and Health Fund.� It stresses the importance of education -- and particularly of girls' empowerment through education -- in poverty eradication.� Ongoing programmes in support of education, such as “school meals” and “take-home rations”, "can have an impact on all the challenges we face:� lack of access to education, health problems and poverty", the Secretary-General says.� The section also emphasizes that people-centred initiatives must be supplemented with sound national policies.� It reiterates the need for wealthier nations to fulfil their commitments on trade access and debt sustainability, as well as on official development assistance -- currently in steady decline.� "Indeed", Mr. Annan says, "none of the Millennium Development Goals can be reached unless significant additional resources are made available.� Many of these resources will have to be found within the countries where they are spent, but a special obligation falls on the more fortunate countries to ensure that the less fortunate have a genuine opportunity to improve their lot".
The road map also recommends a programme for addressing the special vulnerabilities of landlocked and small island developing countries.� In addition, the road map also notes that the newly established United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force will take steps to begin bridging the digital divide.
"Protecting our common environment" describes the devastating impact on the earth of climate change, and the consequent need for vigilant conservation and stewardship.� Among essential actions in this area, the road map recommends completing ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.� It recommends enhancing cooperation on forest-related issues, implementing the Conventions on biodiversity and desertification, pursuing initiatives towards environmentally sound water management and reducing the impact of natural disasters.� A further recommendation centres on respect for the principles of human dignity as research on the human genome proceeds; benefits from its advances should be made available to all.
"Human rights, democracy and good governance" reaffirms the need to work collectively for more inclusive political processes, with genuine political participation.� Recommended strategies include fostering national human rights institutions and supporting a "rights-based" approach to economic and social development.� They also include continuation of electoral assistance to help consolidate new and restored democracies, as well as further ratification and implementation of the conventions on eliminating discrimination against women, and protection of the rights of migrants and their families.� Another major target is helping ensure the independence of the media.
The sixth section, "Protecting the vulnerable", focuses on groups (particularly women and children) forced into situations of abuse because of complex humanitarian emergencies.� It identifies practical measures to protect civilians, including by prosecuting violations of international humanitarian law, gaining access to vulnerable populations and separating civilians and armed elements in situations of forced displacement.� Among "essential next steps" it includes fostering a culture of protection through the use of international humanitarian law, protecting refugees and internally displaced persons and disseminating international standards such as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.� It advocates support for efforts to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, with special stress on halting the use of children as soldiers.
"Meeting the special needs of Africa" addresses the challenges posed to the continent by extreme poverty, devastating debt burdens, disease, conflict and "wavering international interest".� Noting that Africa's share in trade, investment and technological advances has diminished further over the past decade, the road map emphasizes that African leadership has galvanized local and international support for a range of forward-looking initiatives.� These include the New African Initiative adopted earlier this year by African heads of State, a blueprint for radical new approaches to economic issues on the continent.� Other initiatives include strengthening democratic governance and further developing peacekeeping capacity, in cooperation with regional organizations.� Also recommended are continued efforts to promote sustainable development by increasing official development assistance, by enhancing private capital flows and by building capacities for trade.� A final target is enhanced response to the Abuja Summit Declaration in order to combat HIV/AIDS.
The final section of the road map, "Strengthening the United Nations", argues that "renewing the capacity of the Organization to provide a space for genuine dialogue and a catalyst for effective action calls for improved coordination among its principal organs and enhanced partnerships with other multilateral organizations and civil society".� Specifically, there is a need to reaffirm the central position of the General Assembly, achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council and strengthen the role of the Economic and Social Council.
Key reforms in this area, says the Secretary-General, will involve ensuring the safety of United Nations and associated personnel.� He also notes the
ANNEX
1. As part of the preparation of the present report, consultations were held among members of the United Nations Secretariat and representatives of IMF, OECD and the World Bank in order to harmonize reporting on the development goals in the Millennium Declaration and the international development goals. The group discussed the respective targets and selected relevant indicators with a view to developing a comprehensive set of indicators for the millennium development goals. The main reference document was section III of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, “Development and poverty eradication”.
2. The list of millennium development goals does not undercut in any way agreements on other goals and targets reached at the global conferences of the 1990s. The eight goals represent a partnership between the developed countries and the developing countries determined, as the Millennium Declaration states, “to create an environment — at the national and global levels alike — which is conducive to development and the elimination of poverty” (see General Assembly resolution 55/2, para. 12).
3. In order to help focus national and international priority-setting, goals and targets should be limited in number, be stable over time and communicate clearly to a broad audience. Clear and stable numerical targets can help to trigger action and promote new alliances for development. Recognizing that quantitative monitoring of progress is easier for some targets than for others and that good quality data for some of the indicators are simply not (yet) available for many countries, we underscore the need to assist in building national capacity while engaging in further discussion (as in the process mandated by the Economic and Social Council) with national statistical experts. For the purpose of monitoring progress, the normal baseline year for the targets will be 1990, which is the baseline that has been used by the global conferences of the 1990s.
4. The United Nations will report on progress towards the millennium development goals at the global and country levels, coordinated by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat and UNDP, respectively. Reporting will be based on two principles: (a) close consultation and collaboration with all relevant institutions, including the United Nations Development Group (including WHO and UNCTAD), other United Nations departments, funds, programmes and specialized agencies, the World Bank, IMF and OECD, and regional groupings and experts; and (b) the use of nationally owned poverty reduction strategies, as reported in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), United Nations Common Country Assessments (CCAs) and National Human Development Reports (NHDRs), that emphasize a consultative process among the development partners. The main purpose of such collaboration and consultation will be to ensure a common assessment and understanding of the status of the millennium development goals at both the global and national levels. The United Nations Secretariat will invite all relevant institutions to participate in and contribute to global and country-level reporting with a view to issuing an annual United Nations report that has the wide support of the international community and that can be used by other institutions in their regular reporting on the goals.
5. The proposed formulation of the eight goals, 18 targets and more than 40 indicators are listed below. Other selected indicators for development, which are not related to specific targets, include population, total fertility rate, life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate and gross national income per capita. Where relevant, indicators should be calculated for subnational levels�-- i.e., by urban and rural area, by region, by socio-economic group, and by age and gender.
Millennium Development Goals
Goals and targets
Indicators
Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
� Target 1.Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a�day
1.� Proportion of population below $1 per day
2.� Poverty gap ratio (incidence x depth of poverty)
3.� Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
� Target 2.Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
4.� Prevalence of underweight children (under five years of age)
5.� Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education
� Target 3.Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
6.� Net enrolment ratio in primary education
7.� Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5
8.� Literacy rate of 15-24-year olds
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women
� Target 4.Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015
9.� Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
10.Ratio of literate females to males of 15-to-24-year-olds
11.Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
12.Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
� Target 5.Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
13.Under-five mortality rate
14.Infant mortality rate
15.Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles
Goal 5. Improve maternal health
� Target 6.Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
16.Maternal mortality ratio
17.Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
� Target 7.Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
18.HIV prevalence among 15-to-24-year-old pregnant women
19.Contraceptive prevalence rate
20.Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
� Target 8.Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
21.Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
22.Proportion of population in malaria risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures
23.Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
24.Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under directly observed treatment short course
Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainabilitya
� Target 9.Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
25.Proportion of land area covered by forest
26.Land area protected to maintain biological diversity
27.GDP per unit of energy use (as proxy for energy efficiency)
28.Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita)
(Plus two figures of global atmospheric pollution: ozone depletion and the accumulation of global warming gases)
� Target 10. Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
29.Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source
� Target 11. By 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
30.Proportion of people with access to improved sanitation
31.Proportion of people with access to secure tenure
(Urban/rural disaggregation of several of the above indicators may be relevant for monitoring improvement in the lives of slum dwellers)
Goal 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Developmenta
� Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
��������� (Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction — both nationally and internationally)
� Target 13. Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries
��������� (Includes: tariff and quota free access for least developed countries’ exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPCs and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction)
� Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing States
��������� (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly)
� Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
[Some of the indicators listed below will be monitored separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked countries and small island developing States]
Official development assistance
32.Net ODA as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’ gross national income (targets of 0.7 per cent% in total and 0.15 per cent for LDCs)
33.Proportion of ODA to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
34.Proportion of ODA that is untied
35.Proportion of ODA for environment in small island developing States
36.Proportion of ODA for transport sector in landlocked countries
Market access
37.Proportion of exports (by value and excluding arms) admitted free of duties and quotas
38.Average tariffs and quotas on agricultural products and textiles and clothing
39.Domestic and export agricultural subsidies in OECD countries
40.Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
Debt sustainability
41.Proportion of official bilateral HIPC debt cancelled
42.Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
43.Proportion of ODA provided as debt relief
44.Number of countries reaching HIPC decision and completion points
� Target 16. In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth
45.Unemployment rate of 15-to-24-year-olds
� Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
46.Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
� Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
47.Telephone lines per 1,000 people
48.Personal computers per 1,000 people
[Other indicators to be decided]
��������������� a�������� The selection of indicators for goals 7 and 8 is subject to further refinement.
