The Earth Institute

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Founded	1995
Location	New York City, United States
Locations	2910 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
Affiliations	Columbia University
Website	www.earth.columbia.edu

The Earth Institute is a research institute at Columbia University that was established at in 1995. Its stated mission is to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with a focus on sustainable development. With an interdisciplinary approach, this includes research in climate change, geology, global health, economics, management, agriculture, ecosystems, urbanization, energy, hazards, and water. The Earth Institute's activities are guided by the idea that science and technological tools that already exist could be applied to greatly improve conditions for the world's poor, while preserving the natural systems that support life on Earth.

The Earth Institute supports pioneering projects in the biological, engineering, social, and health sciences, while actively encouraging interdisciplinary projects—often combining natural and social sciences—in pursuit of solutions to real world problems and a sustainable planet. In its work, the Earth Institute remains mindful of the staggering disparities between rich and poor nations, and the tremendous impact that global-scale problems—such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, climate change and extreme poverty—have on all nations.

Research Units

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory was established in 1949 and is a world-class research institution specializing in the Earth sciences. LDEO conducts research on all aspects of the planet both above and below ground, on land and sea, with topics that include earthquakes, volcanoes, global climate change, resources, and environmental hazards. The current interim director of Lamont is Maureen Raymo.

Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC⁴⁾

AC⁴ strives to foster sustainable peace through innovation and integration. The center works to enable and support integrative research and practice on sustainable peace, constructive conflict engagement, and sustainable development. AC⁴'s current director is Joshua Fisher who joined in 2014. The center is organized around four focus areas: Complexity, Peace and Sustainability; Environment, Peace, and Sustainability; Youth, Peace and Security; and Women, Peace and Security which is led by Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee as executive director.

Center for Climate and Life

The Center for Climate and Life is a multidisciplinary climate science research initiative based at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The Center advances research focused on how climate change affects access to basic resources such as food, water, shelter and energy. The Center's founder and director is Peter B. de Menocal, a paleoclimatologist and Columbia University Dean of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR)

Established in 1994, the Center for Climate Systems Research is a key Earth Institute center that has 25+ scientists and staff researching the Earth's climate. As Columbia's Gateway to NASA and Beyond, the center has a special relationship with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, as it is co-located with GISS in Columbia University's Armstrong Hall above Tom's Restaurant in New York City. Here, Columbia and NASA scientists jointly work together to gain a greater understanding of climate sensitivity and variability including the forcing and feedback mechanisms that influence climate, particularly with regard to how this can impact humanity and environmental stability. The director of CCSR is Dr. Michael J. Puma.

Columbia Water Center (CWC)

The Columbia Water Center was founded in 2008 and is looking into the assessment, understanding and resolution of the global crisis of water scarcity. The Center aims to design reliable, sustainable models of water management and development that can be implemented on local, regional and global levels. The Columbia Water Center conducts projects both domestically and internationally, with projects currently underway in India, Mali, Brazil, and China. The current director of CWC is Upmanu Lall.

Center for Rivers and Estuaries

The Center for River and Estuaries is focused on the better understanding of rivers and estuaries worldwide. This includes the distribution, transport, and flux of contaminants, sediments, nutrients, organic material, carbon, and aerosols. The center also studies the evolution and linkage of marshes and wetlands.

The Center is divided into three main areas of research: maintenance of the Hudson River and New York Harbor, finding solutions to use the water system without harming the ecosystems of the watershed, and maintaining the diverse estuary fisheries for commercial and recreational use.

Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability (EICES)

The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability (EICES), formerly known as the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC), has been actively involved in protecting biodiversity and ecosystems. The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability is dedicated to the development of a rich, robust and vibrant world within which we can secure a sustainable future. Through a diverse array of strategic partners in science, education and outreach, the center builds unique programs that promote human well-being through the preservation, restoration and management of biodiversity and the services our ecosystems provide.

The Earth Engineering Center (EEC)

The Earth Engineering Center was established in 1996 and serves as the principal engineering unit of the Earth Institute. The EEC aims to find solutions to achieve sustainable development of Earth's resources including water, energy, minerals, materials, and the environment at large. It includes over 20 members of the Engineering School faculty at Columbia and specialists from other Columbia schools as well as environmental organizations and other universities. The EEC is a part of the Henry Krumb School of Mines and linked to the earth and environmental engineering department. Its current director is Professor Nickolas Themelis.

Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy (LCSE)

The mission of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy (LCSE) is to advance science and develop innovative technologies that provide sustainable energy for all humanity while maintaining the stability of the Earth’s natural systems. Lenfest research areas include advanced fuel concepts, carbon sequestration, and small scale energy conversion systems (e.g., Fischer–Tropsch process). The current director is Ah-Hyung (Alissa) Park.

The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD)

The Center for Sustainable Development is a research unit of The Earth Institute of Columbia University charged with managing social science activities. The mission of CGSD is to apply social science approaches to international development problems. The center collaborates with the faculty of the social science departments of Columbia University and is primarily focused on interdisciplinary research and policy application. The center is operated on the principle that solutions must cross many disciplines because the problems do as well, including the environment, public health, disaster preparedness, and economic planning.

The Center for the Study of Science and Religion (CSSR)

The Center for the Study of Science and Religion is a collaborative forum designed to examine the issues "lying at the boundary of scientific and religious ways of comprehending the world." CSSR works across disciplines and schools in an effort to have social scientists incorporate religion and rituals in the modeling and prediction of human behavior, particularly in the areas of social planning, research and policy. The director is Robert Pollack

The Center on Capitalism and Society

The Center on Capitalism and Society seeks to determine the means by which a country can successfully achieve economic success through its ability to generate and develop sound commercial ideas. The Center's work is based upon a theory of capitalism where entrepreneurs and financiers are the key actors and the discovery of viable ideas is the essential activity. The director is Professor of Economics and Nobel-Laureate Edmund Phelps.

The Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD)

The Center for Sustainable Urban Development was established in 2004 by the Volvo Research and Education Foundations and seeks the creation of sustainable cities, both physically and socially. The center's first project was to develop land use and transport planning in developing countries that promote sustainable growth. The director is Elliott Sclar.

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)

The Center for International Earth Science Information Network was established in 1989 as an independent NGO to research the interaction between man and the environment. In 1998, CIESIN became part of the Columbia University Earth Institute. Offices are located at the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. CIESIN provides a large amount of data and information about the Earth to meet the needs of both scientists and decision makers by means of education, consultation, and training. The Center is focused on applying modern information technology towards many research problems to meet this goal. Specifically CIESIN was one of the first groups that developed and provided interactive Informatics tools using the internet. The current Office of Directors include director Robert S. Chen, Deputy Directory Marc Levy, and Communications Coordinator Elisabeth Sydor.

International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)

The International Research Institute for Climate and Society was established in 1996 and became part of the Earth Institute in 2005. The IRI's mission is to enhance society's capability to understand, anticipate and manage the impacts of climate in order to improve human welfare and the environment, especially in developing countries.  The IRI conducts this mission through strategic and applied research, education, capacity building, and by providing forecasts and information products, with an emphasis on practical and verifiable utility and partnership. Its director is Lisa Goddard.

The Center for Hazards and Risk Research (CHRR)

The Center for Hazards and Risk Research is focused on hazard assessment and risk management by advancing predictive capability and integrating core sciences to that effort. Physical and social scientists work to reduce impacts on society from hazards, both natural and man-made. Its director is Art Lerner-Lam.

National Center for Disaster Preparedness

The National Center for Disaster Preparedness's mission is to understand and improve the nation's ability to prepare for, respond and recover from disasters with a special interest in vulnerable populations. The Center is an academic center which focuses on the areas of research, policy, and practice. The Center's 20 affiliated faculty represent a broad range of expertise in multiple disciplines including, public health, medicine, engineering, nursing, and The Earth Institute. The Center is led by Irwin Redlener.

Programs of the Earth Institute

Earth Institute Initiative on Communication and Sustainability

The Earth Institute Initiative on Communication and Sustainability works to boost the capacity of scientists, journalists, educators, students and citizens to communicate in ways that can speed progress toward a more sustainable relationship between our species, our planet and each other.

Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions

The aim of the program Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions is to help people understand global climate change — and how the factors that drive climate are changing. They are working to continue to “connect the dots” from advancing basic climate science to promoting public awareness to advocating policy actions. The research areas that the team intends to focus on are as follows:

1. Data on Ongoing Climate Variability and Change
2. Global Climate Forcings and Planetary Energy Balance
3. Earth’s Climate History and Climate Sensitivity
4. Climate Dynamics
5. Energy Choices and CO2 Emissions

Program on Child Well-Being and Resilience

The Program on Child Well-Being and Resilience will serve as an academic center for Columbia University faculty and researchers, across various academic departments and schools, to support greater understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities involving children and youth.

Program on Sustainability Policy and Management

The Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management researches public policy, management and financial tools that can enable organizations to incorporate the physical dimensions of sustainability into routine organizational decision making.

Joint Units of the Earth Institute

The following unites were established jointly by the Earth Institute and another entity

Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED)

The Center for Research on Environmental Decisions was established under the National Science Foundation's Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DMUU) program. CRED serves to research decision making under climate uncertainty and environmental risk. The Center's objectives include promoting scientific information and communication for a collective response to climate change and variability. CRED is also affiliated with the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP). Its directors are David Krantz, Elke Weber, Benjamin Orlove, and Kenneth Broad.

Laboratory of Populations

The Laboratory of Populations is a joint venture between Rockefeller University and Columbia that researches populations and their changes, including the spread of disease and social structures. Sciences used to that effort include demography, epidemiology, and statistical modeling to best measure the various changes in populations that are always in flux. Its director is Joel Cohen.

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law develops legal techniques to fight climate change, trains law students and lawyers in their use, and provides the public with up-to-date resources on key topics in climate law and regulation. It works closely with the scientists at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and with governmental, nongovernmental and academic organizations. Our activities are spearheaded by Michael Gerrard, Director of the Sabin Center and Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, and Michael Burger, Executive Director of the Sabin Center.

Urban Design Lab

The Urban Design Lab is an interdisciplinary research unit of Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York City. Established in 2005, it advances design-based solutions to issues in sustainable development and global urbanization. Richard Plunz, founder of the UDL, currently directs the program.

Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)

The Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment is a joint center of the Earth Institute and Columbia Law School. CCSI conducts research, performs policy and advisory work, facilitates multi-stakeholder dialogues and teaches about issues related to sustainable investment. In particular, these issues include the sustainability of investments in extractive industries, land and agriculture, their relationship with investment policy and law, and cross-cutting topics such as the relationship between sustainable investment and climate change. CCSI is led by Lisa Sachs.

Affiliates and Consortia

The Earth Institute is a member of or closely affiliated with the below entities.

The Black Rock Forest Consortium

The Black Rock Forest Consortium is a collection of universities, schools, and institutions that operate the 3,750-acre (15.2 km²) Black Rock Forest in the Hudson Highlands. The forest acts as a field station for research, education, and conservation. Its director is William Schuster.

The Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center (CEEC) (at SEAS)

The Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center (CEEC) is using a multiscale approach to discover groundbreaking technology and accelerate commercialization. CEEC joins together faculty and researchers from across the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences who study electrochemical energy with interests ranging from electrons to devices to systems. Industry partnerships enable the realization of breakthroughs in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Its co-directors are Alan West and Daniel Steingart.

Center for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP) (at SIPA)

CEEP undertakes original research into the causes of environmental change, the consequences of this change for humanity, and the policies that can prevent and – where possible – reverse harmful environmental change to ensure sustainable development. CEEP’s goal is to share this knowledge with policymakers, fellow researchers, students, and concerned citizens worldwide. A defining feature of the Center's research is the integration of analytic approaches from economics with the natural sciences and engineering. Its co-directors are Douglas Almond and Wolfram Schlenker.

Center for Earth Ethics (at Union Theological Seminary)

The Center for Earth Ethics envisions a world where value is measured according to the sustained well-being of all people and our planet. The Center works to cultivate the public consciousness needed to make changes in policy and culture that will establish a new value system that is based on this vision of the world. This mission is advanced through four core programs that complement and connect to each other in all our public programs, academics and movement-building: Eco-ministry; Environmental Justice and Civic Engagement; Original Caretakers; Sustainability and Global Affairs. Its director is Karenna Gore.

Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD) (in Arts and Sciences)

The Center for the Study of Social Difference is an interdisciplinary research center supporting collaborative projects that address gender, race, sexuality, and other forms of inequality to foster ethical and progressive social change. Bringing Arts and Sciences faculty into conversation with faculty from Columbia’s professional schools and Global Centers, along with scholars, artists, writers, and policymakers in the United States and abroad, CSSD deepens Columbia’s partnerships at home and abroad. The Center's work has two overarching research themes: Women Creating Change and Imagining Justice. Its co-directors are Paige West and Catherine LaSota.

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)

The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies was established in 1961 as the Goddard Space Flight Center Institute for Space Studies. It is a component laboratory of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Division. Research at GISS emphasizes a broad study of global climate change. Goals include basic research in space sciences in support of Goddard programs. Its director is Gavin Schmidt.

Millennium Development Goals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These were based on the OECD DAC International Development Goals agreed by Development Ministers in the “Shaping the 21st Century Strategy”. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) succeeded the MDGs in 2016.

All 191 United Nations member states, and at least 22 international organizations, committed to help achieve the following Millennium Development Goals by 2015:

1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. To achieve universal primary education
3. To promote gender equality and empower women
4. To reduce child mortality
5. To improve maternal health
6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. To ensure environmental sustainability
8. To develop a global partnership for development

The Millennium Development Goals are a UN initiative.

Each goal had specific targets, and dates for achieving those targets. The 8 goals were measured by 21 targets. To accelerate progress, the G8 finance ministers agreed in June 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cancel $40 to $55 billion in debt owed by members of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) to allow them to redirect resources to programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.

Interventions evaluated include (1) improvements required to meet the millennium development goals (MDG) for water supply (by halving by 2015 the proportion of those without access to safe drinking water), (2) meet the water MDG plus halving by 2015 the proportion of those without access to adequate sanitation, (3) increasing access to improved water and sanitation for everyone, (4) providing disinfection at point-of-use over and above increasing access to improved water supply and sanitation (5) providing regulated piped water supply in house and sewage connection with partial sewerage for everyone (Hutton, G. Evaluation of the Cost and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level, 2004 WHO-Geneva)

Critics of the MDGs complained of a lack of analysis and justification behind the chosen objectives, and the difficulty or lack of measurements for some goals and uneven progress, among others. Although developed countries' aid for achieving the MDGs rose during the challenge period, more than half went for debt relief and much of the remainder going towards natural disaster relief and military aid, rather than further development.

As of 2013, progress towards the goals was uneven. Some countries achieved many goals, while others were not on track to realize any. A UN conference in September 2010 reviewed progress to date and adopted a global plan to achieve the eight goals by their target date. New commitments targeted women's and children's health, and new initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease.

Among the non-governmental organizations assisting were the United Nations Millennium Campaign, the Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., the Global Poverty Project, the Micah Challenge, The Youth in Action EU Programme, "Cartoons in Action" video project and the 8 Visions of Hope global art project.

Background

Millennium Summit

Preparations for the 2000 Millennium Summit launched with the report of the Secretary-General entitled, "We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the Twenty-First Century". Additional input was prepared by the Millennium Forum, which brought together representatives of over 1,000 non-governmental and civil society organizations from more than 100 countries. The Forum met in May to conclude a two-year consultation process covering issues such as poverty eradication, environmental protection, human rights and protection of the vulnerable.

MDGs derive from earlier development targets, where world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The approval of the Millennium Declaration was the main outcome of the Millennium Summit.

The MDGs originated from the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Declaration asserted that every individual has dignity; and hence, the right to freedom, equality, a basic standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence and encourages tolerance and solidarity. The MDGs set concrete targets and indicators for poverty reduction in order to achieve the rights set forth in the Declaration.

Precursors

The Brahimi Report provided the basis of the goals in the area of peace and security.

The Millennium Summit Declaration was, however, only part of the origins of the MDGs. More ideas came from Adam Figueroa, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A series of UN‑led conferences in the 1990s focused on issues such as children, nutrition, human rights and women. The OECD criticized major donors for reducing their levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA). UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan signed a report titled, We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century. The OECD had formed its International Development Goals (IDGs) and the two efforts were combined for the World Bank's 2001 meeting to form the MDGs.

Human capital, infrastructure and human rights

The MDGs emphasized three areas: human capital, infrastructure and human rights (social, economic and political), with the intent of increasing living standards. Human capital objectives include nutrition, healthcare (including child mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and reproductive health) and education. Infrastructure objectives include access to safe drinking water, energy and modern information/communication technology; increased farm outputs using sustainable practices; transportation; and environment. Human rights objectives include empowering women, reducing violence, increasing political voice, ensuring equal access to public services and increasing security of property rights. The goals were intended to increase an individual's human capabilities and "advance the means to a productive life". The MDGs emphasize that each nation's policies should be tailored to that country's needs; therefore most policy suggestions are general.

Partnership

MDGs emphasize the role of developed countries in aiding developing countries, as outlined in Goal Eight, which sets objectives and targets for developed countries to achieve a "global partnership for development" by supporting fair trade, debt relief, increasing aid, access to affordable essential medicines and encouraging technology transfer. Thus developing nations ostensibly became partners with developed nations in the struggle to reduce world poverty.(GOAL 8 TO DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT)

Goals

A poster at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, New York, United States, showing the Millennium Development Goals.

The MDGs were developed out of several commitments set forth in the Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000. There are eight goals with 21 targets, and a series of measurable health indicators and economic indicators for each target.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Target 1A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day
  • Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
  • Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
• Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People
  • GDP Growth per Employed Person
  • Employment Rate
  • Proportion of employed population below $1.25 per day (PPP values)
  • Proportion of family-based workers in employed population
• Target 1C: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
  • Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age
  • Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of Primary education/primary schooling, girls and boys
  • Enrollment in primary education
  • Completion of primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
  • Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
  • Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
  • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates

• Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
  • Under-five mortality rate
  • Infant (under 1) mortality rate
  • Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

The Maternal Mortality Ratio is the KPI used by the UN to measure Maternal health

• Target 5A: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
  • Maternal mortality ratio
  • Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
• Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
  • Contraceptive prevalence rate
  • Adolescent birth rate
  • Antenatal care coverage
  • Unmet need for family planning

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

• Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
  • HIV prevalence among population aged 15–24 years
  • Condom use at last high-risk sex
  • Proportion of population aged 15–24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS
• Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
  • Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to anti-retroviral drugs
• Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
  • Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
  • Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets
  • Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs
  • Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
  • Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course)

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources
• Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
  • Proportion of land area covered by forest
  • CO₂ emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
  • Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
  • Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
  • Proportion of total water resources used
  • Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
  • Proportion of species threatened with extinction
• Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
  • Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
  • Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation
• Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers
  • Proportion of urban population living in slums

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

• Target 8A: 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 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
  • Includes: tariff and quota-free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA (Official Development Assistance) for countries committed to poverty reduction
• Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing 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 8D: 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 are monitored separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.
  • Official development assistance (ODA):
    • Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors' GNI
    • Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
    • Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied
    • ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs
    • ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs
  • Market access:
    • Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty
    • Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries
    • Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP
    • Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
  • Debt sustainability:
    • Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and number that have reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative)
    • Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
    • Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
• Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries
  • Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
• Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
  • Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
  • Personal computers in use per 100 population
  • Internet users per 100 Population

Criticism

General

General criticisms include a perceived lack of analytical power and justification behind the chosen objectives.

The MDGs lack strong objectives and indicators for within-country equality, despite significant disparities in many developing nations.

Iterations of proven local successes should be scaled up to address the larger need through human energy and existing resources using methodologies such as participatory rural appraisal, asset-based community development, or SEED-SCALE.

MDG 8 uniquely focuses on donor achievements, rather than development successes. The Commitment to Development Index, published annually by the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., is considered the best numerical indicator for MDG 8. It is a more comprehensive measure of donor progress than official development assistance, as it takes into account policies on a number of indicators that affect developing countries such as trade, migration and investment.

The MDGs were attacked for insufficient emphasis on environmental sustainability. Thus, they do not capture all elements needed to achieve the ideals set out in the Millennium Declaration.

Agriculture was not specifically mentioned in the MDGs even though most of the world's poor are farmers.

Alleged lack of legitimacy

The entire MDG process has been accused of lacking legitimacy as a result of failure to include, often, the voices of the very participants that the MDGs seek to assist. The International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty, in its post 2015 thematic consultation document on MDG 69 states "The major limitation of the MDGs by 2015 was the lack of political will to implement due to the lack of ownership of the MDGs by the most affected constituencies".

Human rights

The MDGs may under-emphasize local participation and empowerment (other than women's empowerment). FIAN International, a human rights organization focusing on the right to adequate food, contributed to the Post 2015 process by pointing out a lack of: "primacy of human rights; qualifying policy coherence; and of human rights based monitoring and accountability. Without such accountability, no substantial change in national and international policies can be expected."

Human capital

MDG 2 focuses on primary education and emphasizes enrollment and completion. In some countries, primary enrollment increased at the expense of achievement levels. In some cases, the emphasis on primary education has negatively affected secondary and post-secondary education.

A publication from 2005 argued that goals related to maternal mortality, malaria and tuberculosis are impossible to measure and that current UN estimates lack scientific validity or are missing. Household surveys are the primary measure for the health MDGs but may be poor and duplicative measurements that consume limited resources. Furthermore, countries with the highest levels of these conditions typically have the least reliable data collection. The study also argued that without accurate measures, it is impossible to determine the amount of progress, leaving MDGs as little more than a rhetorical call to arms.

MDG proponents such as McArthur and Sachs countered that setting goals is still valid despite measurement difficulties, as they provide a political and operational framework to efforts. With an increase in the quantity and quality of healthcare systems in developing countries, more data could be collected. They asserted that non-health related MDGs were often well measured, and that not all MDGs were made moot by lack of data.

The attention to well being other than income helps bring funding to achieving MDGs. Further MDGs prioritize interventions, establish obtainable objectives with useful measurements of progress despite measurement issues and increased the developed world's involvement in worldwide poverty reduction. MDGs include gender and reproductive rights, environmental sustainability, and spread of technology. Prioritizing interventions helps developing countries with limited resources make decisions about allocating their resources. MDGs also strengthen the commitment of developed countries and encourage aid and information sharing. The global commitment to the goals likely increases the likelihood of their success. They note that MDGs are the most broadly supported poverty reduction targets in world history.

Achieving the MDGs does not depend on economic growth alone. In the case of MDG 4, developing countries such as Bangladesh have shown that it is possible to reduce child mortality with only modest growth with inexpensive yet effective interventions, such as measles immunization. Still, government expenditure in many countries is not enough to meet the agreed spending targets. Research on health systems suggests that a "one size fits all" model will not sufficiently respond to the individual healthcare profiles of developing countries; however, the study found a common set of constraints in scaling up international health, including the lack of absorptive capacity, weak health systems, human resource limitations, and high costs. The study argued that the emphasis on coverage obscures the measures required for expanding health care. These measures include political, organizational, and functional dimensions of scaling up, and the need to nurture local organizations.

Fundamental issues such as gender, the divide between the humanitarian and development agendas and economic growth will determine whether or not the MDGs are achieved, according to researchers at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

The International Health Partnership (IHP+) aimed to accelerate MDG progress by applying international principles for effective aid and development in the health sector. In developing countries, significant funding for health came from external sources requiring governments to coordinate with international development partners. As partner numbers increased variations in funding streams and bureaucratic demands followed. By encouraging support for a single national health strategy, a single monitoring and evaluation framework, and mutual accountability, IHP+ attempted to build confidence between government, civil society, development partners and other health stakeholders.

Equity

Further developments in rethinking strategies and approaches to achieving the MDGs include research by the Overseas Development Institute into the role of equity. Researchers at the ODI argued that progress could be accelerated due to recent breakthroughs in the role equity plays in creating a virtuous circle where rising equity ensures the poor participate in their country's development and creates reductions in poverty and financial stability. Yet equity should not be understood purely as economic, but also as political. Examples abound, including Brazil's cash transfers, Uganda's eliminations of user fees and the subsequent huge increase in visits from the very poorest or else Mauritius's dual-track approach to liberalization (inclusive growth and inclusive development) aiding it on its road into the World Trade Organization. Researchers at the ODI thus propose equity be measured in league tables in order to provide a clearer insight into how MDGs can be achieved more quickly; the ODI is working with partners to put forward league tables at the 2010 MDG review meeting.

The effects of increasing drug use were noted by the International Journal of Drug Policy as a deterrent to the goal of the MDGs.

Women's issues

The Hollywood actress Geena Davis in a speech at the MDG Countdown event at the Ford Foundation in New York, addressing gender roles and issues in film such as her organisation's work in combating inequality in Hollywood (24 September 2013)

Increased focus on gender issues could accelerate MDG progress, e.g. empowering women through access to paid work could help reduce child mortality. In South Asian countries babies often suffered from low birth weight and high mortality due to limited access to healthcare and maternal malnutrition. Paid work could increase women's access to health care and better nutrition, reducing child mortality. Increasing female education and workforce participation increased these effects. Improved economic opportunities for women also decreased participation in the sex market, which decreased the spread of AIDS, MDG 6A. Another way in which women can be empowered is through access to paid work. Kabeer states that this access increases women's agency in their households, it does so in the economic and political spheres as well. A study of women in rural Mexico found that those of them engaged in industrial work were able to negotiate and obtain a greater degree of respect in their households. Additionally, another study from Tanzania found that increased access to paid work led to a long-term reduction in domestic violence. Lastly, Women's employment and access to financial resources increased their political participation. Data from Bangladesh indicates that longer membership in microfinance organizations have many positive effects including higher levels of political participation and improved access to government programs.

Although the resources, technology and knowledge exist to decrease poverty through improving gender equality, the political will is often missing. If donor and developing countries focused on seven "priority areas", great progress could be made towards the MDG. These seven priority areas include: increasing girls' completion of secondary school, guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights, improving infrastructure to ease women's and girl's time burdens, guaranteeing women's property rights, reducing gender inequalities in employment, increasing seats held by women in government, and combating violence against women.

It is thought that the current MDGs targets do not place enough emphasis on tracking gender inequalities in poverty reduction and employment as there are only gender goals relating to health, education, and political representation. To encourage women's empowerment and progress towards the MDGs, increased emphasis should be placed on gender mainstreaming development policies and collecting data based on gender.

Progress

Graph of global population living on under 1, 1.25 and 2 equivalent of 2005 US dollars a day (red) and as a proportion of world population (blue) from 1981 to 2008 based on data from The World Bank

Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven across countries. Brazil achieved many of the goals, while others, such as Benin, are not on track to realize any. The major successful countries include China (whose poverty population declined from 452 million to 278 million) and India. The World Bank estimated that MDG 1A (halving the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day) was achieved in 2008 mainly due to the results from these two countries and East Asia.

In the early 1990s Nepal was one of the world's poorest countries and remains South Asia's poorest country. Doubling health spending and concentrating on its poorest areas halved maternal mortality between 1998 and 2006. Its Multidimensional Poverty Index has seen the largest decreases of any tracked country. Bangladesh has made some of the greatest improvements in infant and maternal mortality ever seen, despite modest income growth.

Between 1990 and 2010 the population living on less than $1.25 a day in developing countries halved to 21%, or 1.2 billion people, achieving MDG1A before the target date, although the biggest decline was in China, which took no notice of the goal. However, the child mortality and maternal mortality are down by less than half. Sanitation and education targets will also be missed.

Multilateral debt reduction

G‑8 Finance Ministers met in London in June 2005 in preparation for the Gleneagles Summit in July and agreed to provide enough funds to the World Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cancel the remaining HIPC multilateral debt ($40 to $55 billion). Recipients would theoretically re-channel debt payments to health and education.

The Gleaneagles plan became the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). Countries became eligible once their lending agency confirmed that the countries had continued to maintain the reforms they had implemented.

While the World Bank and AfDB limited MDRI to countries that complete the HIPC program, the IMF's eligibility criteria were slightly less restrictive so as to comply with the IMF's unique "uniform treatment" requirement. Instead of limiting eligibility to HIPC countries, any country with per capita income of $380 or less qualified for debt cancellation. The IMF adopted the $380 threshold because it closely approximated the HIPC threshold.

Sub-Saharan Africa

One success was to strengthen rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa. By the mid‑1990s, rice imports reached nearly $1 billion annually. Farmers had not found suitable rice varieties that produce high yields. New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a high-yielding and well adapted strain, was developed and introduced in areas including Congo Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda. Some 18 varieties of this strain became available, enabling African farmers to produce enough rice to feed their families and have extra to sell.

The region also showed progress towards MDG 2. School fees that included Parent-Teacher Association and community contributions, textbook fees, compulsory uniforms and other charges took up nearly a quarter of a poor family's income and led countries including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda to eliminate such fees, increasing enrollment. For instance, in Ghana, public school enrollment in the most deprived districts rose from 4.2 million to 5.4 million between 2004 and 2005. In Kenya, primary school enrollment added 1.2 million in 2003 and by 2004, the number had climbed to 7.2 million.

Following the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in 2000, Jeffrey Sachs of The Earth Institute at Columbia University was among the leading academic scholars and practitioners on the MDGs. He chaired the WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (2000–01), which played a pivotal role in scaling up the financing of health care and disease control in the low-income countries to support MDGs 4, 5, and 6. He worked with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000–2001 to design and launch The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He also worked with senior officials of the George W. Bush administration to develop the PEPFAR program to fight HIV/AIDS, and the PMI to fight malaria. On behalf of Annan, from 2002 to 2006 he chaired the UN Millennium Project, which was tasked with developing a concrete action plan to achieve the MDGs. The UN General Assembly adopted the key recommendations of the UN Millennium Project at a special session in September 2005. The recommendations for rural Africa are currently being implemented and documented in the Millennium Villages, and in several national scale-up efforts such as in Nigeria.

The Millennium Villages Project, which Sachs directs, operates in more than a dozen African countries and covers more than 500,000 people. The MVP has engendered considerable controversy associated as critics have questioned both the design of the project and claims made for its success. In 2012 The Economist reviewed the project and concluded "the evidence does not yet support the claim that the millennium villages project is making a decisive impact." Critics have pointed to the failure to include suitable controls that would allow an accurate determination of whether the Projects methods were responsible for any observed gains in economic development. A 2012 Lancet paper claiming a 3-fold increase in the rate of decline in childhood mortality was criticized for flawed methodology, and the authors later admitted that the claim was "unwarranted and misleading".

Although developed countries' financial aid rose during the Millennium Challenge, more than half went towards debt relief. Much of the remainder aid money went towards disaster relief and military aid. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2006), the 50 least developed countries received about one third of all aid that flows from developed countries.

Funding commitment

Over the past 35 years, UN members have repeatedly "commit[ted] 0.7% of rich-countries' gross national income (GNI) to Official Development Assistance". The commitment was first made in 1970 by the UN General Assembly.

The text of the commitment was:

Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net amount of 0.7 percent of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the decade.

European Union

In 2005 the European Union reaffirmed its commitment to the 0.7% aid targets, noting that "four out of the five countries, which exceed the UN target for ODA of 0.7%, of GNI are member states of the European Union". Further, the UN "believe[s] that donors should commit to reaching the long-standing target of 0.7 percent of GNI by 2015".

United States

However, the United States as well as other nations disputed the Monterrey Consensus that urged "developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7% of gross national product (GNP) as ODA to developing countries".

The US consistently opposed setting specific foreign-aid targets since the UN General Assembly first endorsed the 0.7% goal in 1970.

OECD

Many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, did not donate 0.7% of their GNI. Some nations' contributions fell far short of 0.7%.

The Australian government committed to providing 0.5% of GNI in International Development Assistance by 2015–2016.

Review Summit 2010

A major conference was held at UN headquarters in New York on 20–22 September 2010 to review progress. The conference concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to accelerate progress towards the eight anti-poverty goals. Major new commitments on women's and children's health, poverty, hunger and disease ensued.

MDG3

According to MDG Monitor, the target under MDG 3 "To eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and in all levels of education by 2015" was met.

However MDG monitor points out that while parity has been achieved across the developing world, there are regional and national differences favouring girls in some cases and boys in others. In secondary education in "Western Asia, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa, girls are still at a disadvantage, while the opposite is true in Latin America and the Caribbean – boys are at a disadvantage." Similarly in tertiary education there are disparities "at the expense of men in Northern Africa, Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean" while conversely they are "at the expense of women in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa."

Improvements

Improving living conditions in developing countries may encourage healthy workers not to move to other places that offer a better lifestyle for their countries.

Cuba, itself a developing country, played a significant role in providing medical personnel to other developing nations; it has trained more than 14,500 medical students from 30 different countries at its Latin American School of Medicine in Havana since 1999. Moreover, some 36,000 Cuban physicians worked in 72 countries, from Europe to Southeast Asia, including 31 African countries, and 29 countries in the Americas. Countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua benefit from Cuban assistance.

Post 2015 development agenda

Although there have been major advancements and improvements achieving some of the MDGs even before the deadline of 2015, the progress has been uneven between the countries. In 2012 the UN Secretary-General established the "UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda", bringing together more than 60 UN agencies and international organizations to focus and work on sustainable development.

At the MDG Summit, UN Member States discussed the Post-2015 Development Agenda and initiated a process of consultations. Civil society organizations also engaged in the post-2015 process, along with academia and other research institutions, including think tanks.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been proposed as targets relating to future international development once the MDGs expire at the end of 2015.

On 31 July 2012, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed 26 public and private leaders to advise him on the post-MDG agenda.

In 2014, the UN's Commission on the Status of Women agreed on a document that called for the acceleration of progress towards achieving the millennium development goals, and confirmed the need for a stand-alone goal on gender equality and women's empowerment in post-2015 goals, and for gender equality to underpin all of the post-2015 goals.

The UN's Commission on the Status of Women electing to have created a goal dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women further demonstrated how the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals did not make much progress on gender equality. The goal of achieving gender equity is still a prominent issue and factor to in global development due to its ties to the rest of the SDGs.

Related activities/organisations

The United Nations Millennium Campaign is a UNDP campaign to increase support for the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Campaign targets intergovernmental, government, civil society organizations and media at global and regional levels.

The Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc. (or simply the "Millennium Promise") is a U.S.-based non-profit organization founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Sachs and Ray Chambers. Millennium Promise coordinates the Millennium Villages Project in partnership with Columbia's Earth Institute and UNDP; it aims to demonstrate MDG feasibility through an integrated, community-led approach. As of 2012 the Millennium Villages Project operated in 14 sites across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global Poverty Project is an international education and advocacy organisation that encourages MC support in English-speaking countries.

The Micah Challenge is an international campaign that encourages Christians to support the Millennium Development Goals. Their aim is to "encourage our leaders to halve global poverty by 2015".

The Youth in Action EU Programme "Cartoons in Action" project created animated videos about MDGs, and videos about MDG targets using Arcade C64 videogames.

The World We Want 2015 is a platform and joint venture between the United Nations and Civil Society Organizations that supports citizen participation in defining a new global development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals.

Education

The Teach MDGs, and Accessing Development Education European projects, coordinated by Future Worlds Center aim to increase MDG awareness and public support by engaging teacher training institutes, teachers and pupils in developing local teaching resources that promote the MDGs with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

Global Education Magazine is an initiative launched by the teaching team that formulated the proposal most voted in the group "Sustainable Development for the Eradication of Poverty in Rio+20". It is supported by UNESCO and UNHCR and aims to create a common place to disseminate transcultural, transpolitical, transnational and transhumanist knowledge.

UN Goals

UN Goals is a global project dedicated to spreading knowledge of MDG through various internet and offline awareness campaigns.

Libraries and the Millennium Development Goals

Librarians and others in the information professions are in a unique position to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It is often the dissemination of key information, e.g., about health, that changes daily life and can affect an entire community.

Millennium Development Goals are not only for the developing world. Maret (2011) specifically addresses how U.S. public libraries can help the United States meet the goals. The work of U.S. librarians has evolved in a manner that incorporates human rights values and precepts without having generally used the language that characterizes the philosophical and ethical goals of human rights and human development. Librarians are able to further the Millennium Development Goals and contribute by providing information and services to all people in varying formats and languages.

Albright and Kwooya (2007) report that cultural and financial barriers in Sub-Saharan Africa impede LIS education programs. As a result, MDG goals for poverty, healthcare, and education fall short. High rates of HIV/AIDS, and escalating child and maternal mortality are the direct result of poverty and substandard medical care. Limited instruction in information access and exchange contributes to this ongoing dilemma.