MDG 5 - Improve maternal health - CIDA

Targets

• Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
• Achieve universal access to reproductive health

MDGs 4 and 5― A Leading Role in Reducing Child Mortality and Improving Maternal Health
(PDF 147 KB, 3 pages) - Improve Maternal Health & Child Mortality

Overview

MDG 5, to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015, has experienced the least progress. While a number of middle-income countries have made rapid progress in reducing maternal deaths, maternal mortality and morbidity still remains unacceptably high in the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia.

Every year, more than 500,000 women die because of complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the six weeks after delivery. Most of these deaths (99 percent) occur in developing countries and most often could have been prevented.

Disparity and inequity in access to health services underlies this global trend. Half of all maternal deaths (265,000) occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and another third (187,000), in Southern Asia. Together, these two regions account for 85 percent of all maternal deaths. Large disparities also exist between women living in rural and urban areas, although the gap did narrow between 1990 and 2008.

The leading causes of maternal mortality in developing regions are haemorrhage and hypertension, which together account for half of all deaths in expectant or new mothers. The proportion of women in developing countries who received skilled assistance during delivery rose from 53 percent in 1990 to 63 percent in 2008. Progress was made in all regions but was especially dramatic in Northern Africa and South-Eastern Asia, with increases of 74 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

MDG 5 - Improve maternal health - CIDA

MDG 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases - CIDA

Targets

• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

MDG 6―Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
(PDF 175 KB, 2 pages)

Overview

Health throughout the world has improved significantly over the past few decades, but this benefit has not been widely shared: the greatest burden of disease continues to be borne by the poor. Globally, the number of people newly infected with HIV peaked in 1996 and has since declined to 2.7 million in 2008. However, the number of people living with HIV worldwide continues to grow, largely because people infected with the virus are surviving longer. Due to inequality, violence, and discrimination, women account for half the people living with HIV worldwide and nearly 60 percent of those infected in sub-Saharan Africa.

Half the world's population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 243 million cases led to nearly 863,000 deaths in 2008. Of these, 767,000 (89 percent) occurred in Africa. Global production of insecticide-treated mosquito nets has increased fivefold since 2004―rising from 30 million to 150 million in 2009. Nearly 200 million nets were delivered to African countries by manufacturers during 2007-2009 and are available for use; nearly 350 million are needed to achieve complete coverage there. Funds disbursed to malaria-endemic countries rose from less than $0.1 billion in 2003 to $1.5 billion in 2009.

The universal burden of tuberculosis (TB) is falling slowly. Incidence fell to 139 cases per 100,000 individuals in 2008, after peaking in 2004 at 143 cases per 100,000. There were an estimated 9.4 million new cases of TB in 2008, up from 9.3 million cases in 2007 and 8.3 million in 2000. Of the total number of cases, an estimated 15 percent are among those who are HIV-positive.
MDG 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases - CIDA

MDG 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability - CIDA

Targets

• Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
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• Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
• Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
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• By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

MDG 7―Ensure Environmental Sustainability- (PDF 170 KB, 2 pages)

Overview

The impact of environmental degradation and climate change threatens the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals. The poor in developing countries are especially vulnerable and the least able to adapt to the effects of environmental degradation. There have been only modest improvements and many setbacks in meeting the targets of this goal. Progress on this MDG is extremely varied in terms of both geographic region, as well as individual targets. Global deforestation-mainly the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land―is slowing but continues at a high rate in many countries.

While the target to halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water may be met by 2015, more than 2.5 billion individuals still lack sustainable access to basic sanitation. The world is ahead of schedule in meeting the 2015 drinking water target, yet 884 million individuals worldwide still rely on unimproved water sources. Of these, 84 percent (746 million) live in rural areas. In 2008, an estimated 2.6 billion individuals around the world lacked access to an improved sanitation facility. If the trend continues, that number will grow to 2.7 billion by 2015.

Deforestation continues relatively unabated, and biodiversity continues to decline. Emissions contributing to climate change continue to increase, and there is increased migration to urban areas, threatening the modest progress made in reducing the number of urban slums. Nevertheless, over the past 10 years the share of the urban population living in slums in the developing world has declined significantly: from 39 percent in 2000 to 33 percent in 2010.

MDG 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability - CIDA

MDG 8 - Develop a global partnership for development - CIDA

Targets

• Address the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states
• Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
• Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt
• In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

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• MDG 8―Develop a Global Partnership for Development - Overview

The United Nations Millennium Declaration represents a global agreement: developing countries will do more to ensure their own development, and developed countries will support them through aid, debt relief, and better opportunities for trade. Virtually nothing in the sphere of international development happens without effective partnerships. The challenge of reducing poverty around the world is simply too big for any single government or organization to tackle alone.

MDG 8 - Develop a global partnership for development - CIDA

The 2011 Commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP)

International day for the eradication of poverty 2011

The 2011 Commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) will be held on Monday, 17 October at United Nations Headquarters in New York, focusing on the theme
 

"From Poverty to Sustainability: People at the Centre of Inclusive Development".

 

With global attention focused on the upcoming Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), it is critical to draw attention to the importance of poverty eradication for building sustainable futures for all. People living in poverty face increasingly difficult challenges as climate change, environmental degradation and rising food prices threaten their livelihoods and survival. The path to sustainable development must ensure that people living in poverty are included in decision-making processes, and that concrete action is taken to respond to their needs and demands.

The 2011 IDEP presents an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of people living in poverty and to have their voices heard. It is an occasion to recognize that poor people are at the forefront of the fight against poverty and are critical partners for achieving sustainable development. The objective of the IDEP 2011 is to illustrate the important and tangible ways in which people living in poverty can simultaneously protect the sustainability of their environment and break the cycle of poverty, and how these efforts can be supported and scaled up.

In addition to the Commemoration in New York, celebrations of the Day are being organized worldwide. Through resolution A/RES/47/196 adopted on 22 December 1992, the General Assembly invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution. 

The Theme in French is: 
"De la pauvreté à la viabilité: les personnes au sein d'un développement sans exclusion."

• Brochure
• Poster
• Postcard 
• Invitation English |  French | Spanish
• Programme

Related organizations and information:

• International Movement ATD Fourth World
• Overcoming Extreme Poverty
• Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
• Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
  

Secretary-General's Message on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2011

 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2011

 

For decades the United Nations has worked to free people from poverty.

We have made great progress — but today those gains are in doubt. 

Too many people are living in fear:

Fear of losing their jobs;

Fear of not being able to feed their families;

Fear of being trapped forever in poverty, deprived of the human right to live with health and dignity and hope for the future.

We can meet the challenges we face — the economic crisis, climate change, rising costs of food and energy, the effects of natural disasters.

We can overcome them by putting people at the centre of our work.

Too often in the debates that will shape our future, I see three groups missing.  The poor … the young … and the planet.

As we work to avoid a global financial meltdown, we must also work to avoid a global development meltdown.

In the name of fiscal austerity, we cannot cut back on common-sense investments in people.  

Malaria can be stopped.  AIDS can be reversed.  Millions of mothers can be saved from dying in child birth.  Green investments can generate jobs and growth.

This is not theory.  It is happening.
Now is not the time to slide backwards.
Now is the time to push harder to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Now is the time to prepare to make the most of next year’s crucial Rio + 20 conference on sustainable development.
Together, let us listen to people – and stand up for their hopes and aspirations.

That is how we will build a world free of poverty. 

Ban Ki-moon

• First UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
• Second UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty

 

Previous Messages

• 2010 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2009 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2008 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2007 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2006 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2005 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

• 2004 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2003 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2002 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2001 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• 2000 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

How does international price volability effect domestic economies and food security ?

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2011

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High and volatile food prices make poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity. Kostas Stamoulis, Director, Agricultural Development Economics Division, FAO, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, talks about the impact of price swings and what can be done.