Robbie Greenshields |
On September 25, 193 world leaders from the United Nations agreed to 17 global development goals that should be achieved by the year 2030. The goals, which include the eradication of poverty and conservation of wildlife on land and sea, might seem farfetched and unachievable to some, but if you look at the way the United Nations has effectively dealt with similar issues in the past, it becomes far easier to believe that all of these targets are actually achievable. In the year 2000, at the Millennium Summit, a similar meeting was held in which all the member states of the UN agreed to 8 Millennium Goals to reach by 2015. To predict the probability of fulfilling the new objectives, it could be useful to examine the UN’s track record of dealing with their previous aims. They are the following;
- Between 1990 and 2015, halve the amount of people in the world living in poverty.
Halving the amount of people in poverty in just 25 years seems like a tremendous undertaking, but this ambitious goal was a roaring success for the United Nations. In 1990, about 1.9 billion people earned less than $1.25 per day (this is the universal poverty threshold). By 2015 this figure has been reduced to approximately 800,000,000 – a decrease of around 58%. If such a drastic improvement can be made between 1990 and 2015, surely it is conceivable that with the decline only getting steeper, by 2030 the problem will be at least on the verge of being solved completely?
- By 2015 ensure that children everywhere are able to complete a full course of primary schooling
It seems as though the UN will fall short of achieving this aim, but not by much. Since the Millennium Goals were set the percentage of young people with access to primary education has increased from 83% to 91% – a notable and commendable increase, but not quite enough to meet the harsh standards of the Millennium Goal. Still, the UN can be praised for their efforts in reducing the problem, and with this percentage steadily increasing it seems inevitable that by within the next 30 years every child will have access to education, especially with the work of activists such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai bringing more attention to the cause.
- Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
This is another area where great progress has been made but there is still a lot more work to be done. For example, the proportion of women in universities, parliaments and workforces has risen dramatically over the past 15 years. Additionally the ratio of girls to boys being educated in South Asia in 1990 was 75:100, compared to 103:100 nowadays. It is clear that women are being granted more opportunities in both the developed and developing world – but there is still a clear gender gap that must be narrowed down further to achieve true equality. The fact that only 20% of women hold positions of power in the world illustrates this point. Perhaps special emphasis should be placed on these disparities to close down the gap before 2030 and eventually establish genuine equality.
- Between 1990 and 2015 reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five years old.
This is another goal that most likely will not quite be achieved by the deadline, but once again we have come painfully close to reaching the target and the number of children who die before reaching five has fallen by more than half since 1990. This can be chalked up to a number of reasons including the rise in vaccinations (measles vaccinations alone have prevented an estimated 15 million child deaths) and global outreach programmes such as chlorine tablets to provide clean drinking water. The UN chose a very demanding goal of 66% which proved to be slightly too difficult for them in a short time period but they can’t be faulted for lack of trying.
- Between 1990 and 2015, reduce maternal mortality by 75%
Very few advancements were made in tackling maternal mortality until about 2005, when people began investing in the issue. As more people starting donating to the cause, there was marked decrease in the rate of mothers dying after childbirth. However, the downhill trend was too late and by 2015 the number of maternal deaths worldwide has dropped from about 375,000 to 250,000 – a decrease of only a third.
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
The aim here was to halt or reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, and this was an enormous triumph. Similarly to the fight against maternal mortality, as more people invest in HIV prevention the number of deaths as a result of the disease is falling at a steady rate. Malaria is also on the decline, with global deaths from this disease decreasing by about 20% in the last 15 years. In the developing world, other diseases have been eradicated. For example, Somalia was declared free of polio in August 2014 and Nigeria has not had a reported case since July that year. It is undeniable that huge steps have been taken to defeat AIDS, Malaria and a variety of other illnesses that have caused global crises in the past.
- Ensure environmental sustainability
This is one Millennium Goal that is not even close to being satisfied. 2005 and 2010 are tied for being the hottest years ever recorded globally, and the global surface warming trend is an increase of about 0.1 degrees Celsius per decade. The increase of temperature on the surface accounts for just 3% of global warming overall – 90% of global warming affects the temperature of the oceans, which may lead to floods and the extinction of species such as polar bears in the near future. All in all, this is a noticeable failure of the United Nations, and there are no signs of improvement on this front.
- Develop a Global Partnership for Development
The last of the 8 Millennium Goals is also the most difficult to measure. There is no set definition of a ‘global partnership’ and what one person considers to be a global partnership may not meet the criteria for someone else. However in my own opinion the attempts to fulfil this goal have had mixed results. For instance, the ‘Feed the Future’ initiative led by the United States has included partnership with many African nations such as Benin, Malawi, Nigeria and Senegal. On the other hand, the world is still far from united, with new conflicts arising all the time in places such as Ukraine and the Levant, not to mention constant threats to world peace from North Korea. In order to develop a ‘global partnership’ we must first put aside all our wars and rivalries to combat a much greater, more pressing concern.
To summarise, the Millennium Goals were implausible to begin with but the United Nations have approached the problems they faced with unflinching determination and have been able to make huge strides forward in eradicating global issues. Our modern age is a much brighter, safer, more optimistic time to be a person. A child born in 2015 is half as likely to die before reaching five years, 8% more likely to receive a primary education and, if they are a girl, may have the same opportunities as their male counterpart in school, further education and the workplace. Although many of the targets were not met and the problem of global warming has only worsened, it would be wrong to suggest that the new objectives are out of our reach.
