International Efforts to Eliminate Poverty
We believe that poverty is an aberration in a world of abundance. The good news is that if poverty is a human creation, then by applying our collective creativity and compassion to the task, humanity can organize its institutions to eliminate it.
It is important that concerned people let their elected officials know that they care about the participation of their governments in reducing poverty in the world. Insist that your government sincerely cooperate with other nations to make this world a better place for all.
39 Million Stand for a World without Poverty in 24 Hour Global Rally - rallies in 110 countries make this the biggest mass rally in history. See article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/19/4684/
The Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs.) In 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history came together at the United Nations held the Millenium Summit to make the commitment to form a new global partnership to reduce the extreme poverty plaguing millions of people around the world. The result of that historic meeting was the UN Millennium Declaration, a series of targets with a deadline of 2015 known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, that aim to alleviate the misery that the poorest poeople among us suffer. These goals are listed below.
By adopting the Millennium Declaration, each country is to monitor and report to the UN, its progress toward achieving these goals for its peoples. Nations also agreed to cooperate to address the problem of indebtedness of least developed countries. The 189 United Nations Member States have pledged to accomplish the goals by 2015.
The interests and perspectives of indigenous peoples were not taken into account in the framing of the MDGs. The recent adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples now gives them a means of defending the rights of their communities and nations from development that might work against their interests.
Progress toward realizing the MDGs has fallen far short. It is important that our elected officials hear from us as we encourage them to give priority to the tasks invovled in eliminating the scourge of extreme poverty so that we can enjoy a secure and healthy world. Reducing world poverty should be seen as being in the interest of every nation and person. If that seems somehow friviolous to more immediate national concerns, we invite you to give some time to reflecting on the idea so that it can speak to you about its merits.
Governments have their momentary interests in mind as they negotiate international agreements. But these motivations can be quite different from the aspirations of the people who are themselves living in the difficult situations the MDGs attempt to resolve. This disparity can result in action plans (or "in-action" plans) that fail to make a useful difference. This problem was acknowledged formally In 1992 at UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janero. This was the first time that it was recognized that Civil Society should have a voice as "stakeholders" in...the world.
From that summit the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)was created. Meeting annually at the New York Headquarters of the United Nations, civil society representatives are able to dialog with governments toward bringing their perspectives to bear on the framing of plans to meet the MDGs and other issues of concern. The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action has participated in two sessions of the CSD.
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1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality 5. Improve maternal health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop a global partnership for development For more information on the MDGs, see:
www.un.org/millenniumgoals |
