Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Global Monitoring Report 2011 " Improving the odds of Achieving the MDGs


How many countries are on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015? How many countries are off target, and how far are they from the goals? And what factors are essential for improving the odds that off-target countries can reach the goals?

This year’s Global Monitoring Report: Improving the Odds of Achieving the MDGs, examines these questions. It takes a closer look at the diversity of country progress, presents the challenges that remain, and assesses the role of growth, policy reforms, trade, and donor policies in meeting the MDGs.

Two-thirds of developing countries are on target or close to being on target for all the MDGs. Among developing countries that are falling short, half are close to getting on track. For those countries that are on track, or close to it, solid economic growth and good policies and institutions have been the key factors in their success. With improved policies and faster growth, many countries that are close to becoming on track could still achieve the targets in 2015 or soon after.

Yet challenges abound. Even the middle-income countries on track to achieve the MDGs are home to indigenous and socially excluded groups that are still very poor and often well behind in reaching the goals. Moreover, progress could stall without stronger global growth, expanded access to export markets for developing countries, and adequate assistance from donors.

This year’s report also presents findings and lessons from impact evaluations in health and education to better understand results on the ground. Such evaluations often show that the quantity of services devoted to health and education has increased—but not the quality. This may be one reason that progress toward those MDGs measured by outcomes (as in health) is slower than it is for those MDGs measured by access (as in education). Enhancing the efficiency, incentives, and accountability in service delivery is essential to improving outcomes.
Global Monitoring Report 2011 is prepared jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It reviews progress toward the MDGs and sets out priorities for policy responses, both for developing countries and for the international community

 

Improving the Odds of Achieving the MDGs

Global Monitoring Report 2011
GMR 2011 Cover

Two-thirds of developing countries are on track or close to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the World Bank and IMF’s latest update on progress toward the 2015 targets.
Developing countries will likely achieve the MDGs for gender parity in primary and secondary education and for access to safe drinking water, and will be very close on hunger and on primary education completion. Progress is too slow, however, on health-related outcomes such as child and maternal mortality and access to sanitation—the world will likely miss these MDGs by 2015.
On the whole, the fight against poverty is progressing well. Based on current economic projections, the world remains on track to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty. The number of people living on less than $1.25 a day is projected to be 883 million in 2015, compared with 1.4 billion in 2005 and 1.8 billion in 1990. Much of this progress reflects rapid growth in China and India, while many African countries are lagging behind: 17 countries are far from halving extreme poverty, even as the aggregate goals will be reached.
Highlights

 

Improving the Odds of Achieving the MDGs


















Monday, 10 October 2011

Working Out of Poverty

Working Out of Poverty

‘Clean energy revolution’ crucial to ensure growth in poorer countries – Ban

‘Clean energy revolution’ crucial to ensure growth in poorer countries – Ban

“Three billion people rely on charcoal or wood for cooking and heating. They are energy-poor. And energy poverty translates into grinding, dehumanizing poverty,” he told participants at an energy conference in Oslo, Norway.
“We need energy not only to be universal, [we] need it to be clean – to be sustainable as well. We cannot continue to burn our way to prosperity. The only way to minimize the risks of dangerous climate change is by ensuring that energy is sustainable.”
The Secretary-General stressed that sustainable energy is critical for all aspects of human progress and said a departure from existing practices is needed to achieve the goal of universal energy access by 2030.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

Secretary-General, in WMHD 2011 Message, Urges Scaled-up Investment in Feasible, Cost-effective Measures for Preventing, Treating Mental Disorders

5 October 2011
Secretary-General
SG/SM/13860
OBV/1036

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

 Secretary-General, in World Mental Health Day Message, Urges Scaled-up Investment in Feasible, Cost-effective Measures for Preventing, Treating Mental Disorders



Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to mark World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October:

There is no health without mental health.  Mental disorders are major contributors to illness and premature death, and are responsible for 13 percent of the global disease burden.  With the global economic downturn — and associated austerity measures — the risks for mental ill-health are rising around the globe.

Poverty, unemployment, conflict and war all adversely affect mental health.  In addition, the chronic, disabling nature of mental disorders often places a debilitating financial burden on individuals and households.  Furthermore, individuals with mental health problems — and their families — endure stigma, discrimination and victimization, depriving them of their political and civil rights and constraining their ability to participate in the public life of their societies.

Resources allocated for mental health by Governments and civil society are habitually too little, both in human and financial terms.  Recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) clearly show that the proportion of health budgets devoted to mental health is inadequate.  Most low- and middle-income countries spend less than 2 per cent, and many countries have less than one mental health specialist per 1 million people.

The theme of this World Mental Health Day is “Investing in mental health”.  We cannot expect improvement in global mental health statistics unless we increase financial and other support for promoting mental health and providing adequate services to those who need them.  Deaths, disability and distress caused by mental disorders need to find their rightful place in the public health agenda.

Mental illnesses can be treated effectively.  We have the knowledge.  Feasible, affordable and cost-effective measures for preventing and treating mental disorders exist, and are being implemented, for example through WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP).  However, if we are to move decisively from evidence to action, we need strong leadership, enhanced partnerships and the commitment of new resources.  Let us pledge today to invest in mental health.  The returns will be substantial.

World Mental Health Day (October 10), is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy.

World Mental Health Day (October 10), is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. This day, each October thousands of supports come to celebrate this annual awareness program to bring attention to Mental Illness and its major effects on peoples' life worldwide. In some countries this day is part of the larger Mental Illness Awareness Week.



Download the printed version
Project Atlas:
Resources for Mental Health
and Neurological Disorders

Download the printed version

Project Atlas of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse is designed to collect, compile and disseminate data on mental health and neurology resources in the world. Resources include policies, programmes, financing, services, professionals, treatment and medicines, information systems and related organizations. These resources are necessary to provide services and care for people with mental, behavioural and neurological diseases/disorders.

The primary objective of the project is to raise public and professional awareness of the inadequacies of existing resources and services and the large inequities in their distribution at national and global level. The information is also useful in planning for enhancement of resources.

This website presents updated information from the project Atlas; at this time, subprojects on Mental Health and Neurology are included. The website allows users to find and display global, regional and country data, as well as to compare countries and WHO regions and prepare tables, charts and maps for downloading.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Mental Health: Evidence and Research
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
World Health Organization, Geneva.


Saturday, 8 October 2011

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations





The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations.

The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who took office on 1 January 2007. His first term will expire on 31 December 2011. He was re-elected, unopposed, to a second term on 21 June 2011.

Role

The Secretary-General was envisioned by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a "world moderator," but the office was defined in the UN Charter as the organization's "chief administrative officer" (Article 97). Nevertheless, this more restricted description has not prevented the office holders from speaking out and playing important roles on global issues, to various degrees.
The official residence of the Secretary-General is a five-story townhouse in the Sutton Place, Manhattan, in New York City, USA. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan in 1921, and donated to the United Nations in 1972.

Term and selection

Secretaries-General serve for five-year terms that can be renewed indefinitely, although none so far has held office for more than two terms. The United Nations Charter provides for the Secretary-General to be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. As a result, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

United Nations System

Key Topics in the 2009 World Energy Outlook

World Energy Outlook 2009

More info about this title
World Energy Outlook 2009, 696 pages, ISBN 978-92-64-06130-9, PDF €0 (2009)
 
FREE DOWNLOAD: World Energy Outlook 2009

Since WEO-2008, the economic downturn has led to a drop in energy use, CO2 emissions and energy investment. Is this an opportunity to arrest climate change or a threat that any economic upturn might be stifled at birth?

What package of commitments and measures should the climate negotiators at Copenhagen put together if they really want to stop global temperatures rising? How much would it cost? And how much might the developed world have to pay to finance action elsewhere?


How big is the gas resource base and what is the typical pattern of production from a gas field? What does the unconventional gas boom in the United States mean for the rest of the world? Are we headed for a global gas glut? What role will gas play in the future energy mix? And how might the way gas is priced change?


All these questions and many others are answered in
WEO-2009. The data are extensive, the projections more detailed than ever and the analyses compelling.
For more information: World Energy Outlook Website