Sustainability: The Millennium Development Goals: sub-Saharan Africa.

In this blog entry I will like to share some progress that the millennium development goals have had in the sub-Saharan Africa. The millennium development goals are 8 objectives for social development, which   were established 12 years ago, by the 192 countries that conform the United Nation Organization.

The members agreed that these 8 goals should be accomplished by the year 2015 in all the regions around the world. The regions are: Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia, Southern Asia (excluding India), Caribbean, Caucasus & Central Asia, South Eastern Asia, Eastern Asia, Latin America, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Developing Regions. A brief analysis of the progress of each goal for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, based on the United Nation (UN) 2011 Report, will follow:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger One of the main targets of this objective is to “achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people” With an economic crisis, poverty has diminished in the past years; however, there is still a long path to walk.

According to the Millennium Development Goals Report, there has been a progress in the process of achieving this goal, the poverty rate went from 46% to 27%, for the sub-Saharan region, the rate is expected to fall bellow 36% Unfortunately, despite of the progress, according to the experts, the region will not reach the hunger reduction target by the 2015.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education. Although the first objective was not so good for the sub-Saharan region, in this objective 2 we can see the opposite thing. According to the sustainability report Sub Saharan region has the best record of the progress achieved in primary school education. Being poor, female or living in a conflict zone increases the possibility that a child will be out of school

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. For me, one of the most important targets of these objectives is to “eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education”. So far, Sub- Saharan and Southern Asia region had the biggest progress promoting gender equality, for the sub –Saharan region it can be harder, because of the fact that non-agricultural employment represents a minor source of employment.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality. The Sub- Saharan region is one of the only three regions that at least has seen reduces in child mortality of at least 50%. Despite of this progress, this region is still one with the highest levels of child mortality. Diaharrea, malaria and pneumonia are responsible for more than half of the deaths of children under 5 years. The education of the mother is one of the most important issues for assuring the first five years in a child’s life.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health. Sub- Saharan region has had a lot of progress in other objectives, however, maternal health is really low. Most of the mother’s dead occurs in this region, mainly because skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth is limited.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, contraceptive use among adolescents is substantially lower than that of all women of reproductive age, though they have similar levels of unmet need (25 per cent)” (The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2011).

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The target of this goal is to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. The sub- Saharan region has decreased its population with HIV/AIDS, however it is still the highest region with this issue. More than a 68% of the people live with AIDS. “Recent data from population-based surveys in selected sub-Saharan African countries show that the proportion of young people who know that using condoms can reduce the chances of getting HIV ranges from about 50 per cent to almost 90 per cent in some countries.” The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2011

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability. The main target is to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs, and reverse the loss of environmental resources. In 2010, the highest prevalence of slum conditions was found in sub- Saharan Africa. However “Sub-Saharan Africa nearly doubled the number of people using an improved drinking water source—from 252 million in 1990 to 492 million in 2008. Coverage in that region increased from 49 per cent in 1990 to 60 percent in 2008”  (The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2011).

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development. The target is to address the special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states. That year, bilateral aid to the continent as a whole was $29.3 billion, of which $26.5 billion was for sub-Saharan Africa.

Reference:

UN. (2011). “The Millennium Development Goals Report”. Accessed on January 16, 2012: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/11_MDG%20Report_EN.pdf

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