Development Cooperation Handbook/Issues/National and International commitments to MDGs

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Issue 1

National and International commitments to MDGs

Smiling Camera.pngEpisode 1
OTVbelweder-front.jpgplaylist on YouTube


The UN Millennium Declaration[edit]

Introduction to the MDGs

In September 2000, the United Nations Assembly unanimously adopted the UN Millennium Declaration.

It was an 8-goal agenda that all 192 Member States agreed to adopt. We, the humanity of the third Millennium, have achieved that technological, economic and political progress from where we can no longer justify hunger and the exclusion of millions from basic health and education.

In 2000, the international community acknowledged that it has a duty to recognise the fundamental rights of those who are being excluded from the benefits of progress. At the United Nations assembly, all countries committed themselves to a work agenda that would tackle the most evident factors of poverty and injustice. They set 8 goals, they set 21 targets, they set timelines, they allocated funds. And in order to verify if they were being honest with their commitments, they set a number of indicators upon which they asked to be judged. And for the first time in world history, a concrete work agenda for the rights of the voiceless was universally agreed.

Beyond 2015[edit]

The year 2015 was set as the deadline for achieving the 8 MDGs.

The MDGs did provide a framework for the UN system and for synergizing the various international cooperation activities in a coherent worldwide effort. The MDG targets have become an integral part of the   World Development Indicators for development. Each year, an annual report is prepared that assesses the progress made by member states in fulfilling the pledges they made. (see ⇒ The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012)

Although substantial progress has been made, we can say now that the MDGs will not be achieved by 2015. Now, we must look beyond 2015, to collect the lessons learned, to understand what worked well and continue on it. And to understand what did not work and why, so as not to repeat it.

Nations committing to the achievement of MDGs[edit]

Although the UN has a key role to play in addressing the challenges and in tracking the global progress towards these goals, it is national Governments that had the responsibility to achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets. Thousands of programmes and projects have been operational, involving a large amount of human and technical resources. However, the resources and efforts have proved to be inadequate; and the progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals has been uneven and slow. UN monitoring of MDGs ( reveals that many countries finally did not allocate the resources they had committed to and the international media did not pay much attention to the MDGs, so the public is little informed about them.

Low policy prioritization and inadequate communication[edit]

Delay in the work in progress for achieving MDGs is largely due to the lack of driving policy changes in these countries combined with the lack of consistent commitment by donor countries. In spite of official declarations to pursue the 8th MDG (i.e. Developing a Global Partnership for Development) by allocating at least 0.7% of GDP to development cooperation, the average contribution by donor nations is still only around 0.23%, i.e. equal to US$56 billion per year.

Low prioritization of commitment to the International Development Agenda is caused by low awareness among people in richer countries, on the real development issues and on the scope and impact of international cooperation.

International media did not pay much attention to the MDGs, so the general public is little informed about them.

The Vrinda project and the MDGs[edit]

This wikibook and the documentary are amongst the outputs of the Vrinda Project, a cooperative environment where development actors share experiences and support reciprocal learning. Although the project does not specifically address the MDGs, we decided to consider them as the pivot around which to narrate stories and analyze the cohesiveness and effectiveness of ongoing international development cooperation. In the videos resources linked to this manual, we collected stories of projects on the ground and collected testimonials about what developing and developed nations are doing in order to contribute to achieving the MDGs.



We collected the opinions of the development cooperation actors and divided in 10 main issues where we compared the aptitudes from different cultures and nations.

In this first issue we collected the answers we received to questions about the role and commitment of National Governments and International Organizations to the achievement of the MDGs.

The work is in progress and you are welcome to contribute sharing with us other relevant testimonials.

Shiva Kumar[edit]

The MDGs and the policy debates around them




Zulfi Haider[edit]

The MDGs - Z.Haider

As part of the role of the UN as a kind of global governance arena, this is a wonderful thing which has happened in consensus building between such a large number of countries.

But i have certain concerns with how the MDGs are being pushed. You say there must be universal right of education, so every country should have an X number of schools and teachers. Now you have countries which don't have sufficient internal revenue to do that. So what does the international community say: "We will take care of that through aid". But, would you like a country to be completely depended on aid to actually cater to something which is so fundamental? Aid has not always been benign; it has come with riders.

Now, the teacher's lobby is one of the biggest unions which exists in every country. And once you have teachers you cannot fire them easily, you have to sustain them. But, until there is an internal revenue mechanism which can support that, to except a country to say "yes, we will ensure this, even if it means taking aid" is Bad Idea! Rightly countries are now setting their own targets.

At the same time it is unforgivable that in today's age when globally the kind of resources and wealth that the world has generated; to accept hunger as a reality of life is unacceptable, there is no reason why one can go hungry today! And if it requires aid transfer then those aid riders should not come there.

Catherine Ray - Spokesperson for EuropeAid[edit]

EuropeAid - Development priorities and methodologies - C.Ray

EuropeAid Development priorities and methodologies - How programmes are designed and how projects are financed.

Why EU uses tax payer money to finance development in other countries? - C.Ray

We live in an integrated world. The development of our neighbors and partners is a determinant of our development.
Aid is an investment, not charity.

EU commitment to spend 0.7 % of its GDP in development cooperation - C.Ray

EuropeAid Development priorities and methodologies - How the programmes are designed and how the projects are financed

How EU is contributing to the global development agenda achievements and challenges - Ray

The European Union, composed of the Member States and the European Commission, is the world’s biggest aid donor. The Commission’s EuropeAid co-operation office manages EU external aid programmes and ensures that development assistance is delivered worldwide.

EuropeAid's main mission is to implement the Commission’s external aid instruments, both those funded by the Union’s budget and the European Development Fund. EuropeAid works in collaboration with its various partners: Civil society, international organisations and governments of EU Member States, building synergies and subsidairites, with the aim to make external aid more participated and effective.

EU development assistance is distributed through multi-annual programmes which are coordinated by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development (for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) and the Directorate General External Relations for the rest of the world.
When formulating and managing these programmes, the Commission consults the authorities in partner countries. This results in an agreed country and regional strategy paper, which includes a multi-annual national indicative programme.

M.S. Ahluwalia, - Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, India[edit]

Indian Public Programmes and MDGs - Ahluwalia
The role of Government in giving access to people to essential services - Ahluwalia

In our program we acknowledge the importance of MDGs (that is a UN terminology), but we are committed to our goals.
MDGs refer to commonly shared notions of what constitutes and improvement in human welfare. Our plans have specific programs which deal with deal with each of the Human Development Goals; if these programs are successfully implemented then the Government will end up meeting the MDGs.

Danièle Smadja - EU Ambassador to India.[edit]






You are with the WHAT and I'm with the how... and until you don't know what there is no way I can help you on HOW to do it.

Areas of Cooperation between India and EU - D.Smadja



Nirj Deva - Vice President Development Committee EU Parliament[edit]


We need to explain to the taxpayer, (because after all the donor is the taxpayer) that we are not only trying to be good people, charitable.
Actually this is not charity: it is in our interest, it is in our interest of every single citizen of Europe, and of European Nations, to help people in our neighborhood to be better off, less poor, less ill because we live in an interdependent world.
Our purpose is not to give a handout, but to give a hand up.
And that should be the rationale of our development policy.

Andris Piebalgs - EuropeAid Commissioner[edit]

Equitable access to the resources - A.Piebalgs
Europe Aid is trying to do its best with limited resources but real change will be possible only when we all citizens need to adopt a responsible life style.

Stefano De Santis[edit]


Conversation with Francesco Brancatella at the EU Parliament. Explaining the reasons why EU is sponsoring International Cooperation for Development.

Silvia Costa[edit]

Perche' la UE partecipa alla cooperazione internazionale allo sviluppo - S.Costa Flag of Italy.svg

La vocazione europea e la dignita' dei diritti della persona - S.Costa Flag of Italy.svg

Vrinda Dar, Secretary Society for Intercultural Dialogue[edit]

EuropeAid makes a significant contribution but communicates poorly - Vrinda Dar

I do know that the European Commission funds various programs across the world to help governments achieve their commitments to the MDG’s. I also think that the underlying spirit of subsidiarity and the kinds of projects that the EC funds are having positive impact and are empowering local governments to lead and own the process of making lasting changes in people's lives. However, I also think that the European Commission does little to inform its own citizens about the positive impacts being made by initiatives that it is funding around the world. Its citizens don't know about the objectives of its programs and the activities it is funding; the impact these programs are having on the life of the people who are benefiting; the assistance it is directly giving to government and non-government organisations.

I have observed that where the European Commission is closer to the ground reality, in terms of its own presence, its support to non-government organisations and local governments, the nature of its contribution and the impact of its funding are more visible. I have also seen that when the European Commission utilises its funds to empower partnerships between local European and non-European organisations, the destination and impact of its funds is more visible. When the cooperation is between EU and non-EU people, EU and non-EU governments, EU and non-EU organisations and is based on local needs and mutual benefits, the partnership has brought long lasting change to people's lives.

Another way to improve communication is to utilise communication tools that are closer to the cultures of the local people, be they EU or non-EU. I think right now the way European Commission communicates is bureaucratic and basic. It does not give importance to communicating with the opinion makers and development actors and stakeholders whom people trust and listen to, for e.g. educators, media professionals and local authorities: the interlocutors between the external agencies and the local people."


Where MDGs are failing - Julian Parr

Bernhard Hoeper Programme manager of Welthungerhilfe[edit]

We have to bring back the MDGs commitments at the centre of international policies - B.Hoeper
B.Hoeper - We have to bring back the MDGs commitments at the centre of international policies

C B Rao[edit]

Why should we spend our money to fund the development of other people? - Rao

Vincenzo Pira[edit]

Raggiungere gli obiettivi del Millennio - V.Pira Flag of Italy.svg
I punti critici della cooperazione internazionale per lo sviluppo - V.Pira Flag of Italy.svg

See also[edit]

Smiling Camera.png Episode 1Film-Camera.png playlist on YouTube

Ezra Cornell's first book.jpg Introduction to the Millennium Development Goals
Ezra Cornell's first book.jpgThe factors causing poverty and suffering
Ezra Cornell's first book.jpgWho provides aid
Script.png In the documentary story ⇒ The MDGs

Flag of the United Nations.svgGoal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Clannad After Story Episode Icon.pngThe Millennium Village Project
Clannad After Story Episode Icon.pngMothers Preparing Mothers
Clannad After Story Episode Icon.pngEmployment as a Right

On Wikipedia

600X WIKIPEDIA LOGO.svg Article on Wikipedia ⇒ Poverty
600X WIKIPEDIA LOGO.svg Millennium Development Goals
600X WIKIPEDIA LOGO.svg The United Nations
600X WIKIPEDIA LOGO.svg Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities

Erioll world.svg Article on Global issues ⇒ Causes of poverty

External links

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