WORKSHOP C- THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Of all the developing regions, South America and Africa saw the largest net losses of forest areas between 2000 and 2010. Global emissions of carbon dioxide had increased by more than 46 per cent since 1990. In the 25 years since the adoption of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, there had been a reduction of over 98 per cent in the consumption of ozone- depleting substances. At Rio20+, world leaders approved an agreement entitled “The Future We Want”, and more than $513 billion was pledged towards sustainable development initiatives.
Despite pledges by G20 members to resist protectionist measures initiated as a result of the global financial crisis, only a small percentage of trade restrictions introduced since the end of 2008 had been eliminated. The protectionist measures taken so far had affected almost 3 per cent of global trade.
Recommendations from the Workshop:
in government. For example, in every developing region, women tended to hold less secure jobs than men, with fewer social benefits. Poverty remained a major barrier to secondary education, especially among older girls, and women were largely relegated to more vulnerable forms of employment. Violence against women continued to undermine efforts to attain all goals.
Despite population growth, the number of deaths in children under five worldwide declined from 12.4 million in 1990 to 6.9 million in 2011, meaning that some 14,000 children per day were dying. Since 2000, measles vaccines had averted over 10m deaths.
Despite determined global progress in reducing child deaths, an increasing proportion of child deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, where
one in nine children died before the age of five, and in Southern Asia, where it was one in sixteen. As the overall rate of under-five deaths declined, the proportion that occurred during the first month after birth had increased. Children born into poverty were almost twice more likely to die before the age of five than those from wealthier families.
Children of educated mothers – even mothers with only primary schooling – were more likely to survive than children of mothers with no education.
Maternal mortality had nearly halved since 1990. An estimated 287,000 maternal deaths occurred in 2010 worldwide, a decline of 47 per cent since 1990. All regions had made progress but accelerated interventions were required in order to meet the target. In eastern Asia,
northern Africa and southern Asia, maternal mortality had declined by around two-thirds. Nearly 50 million babies worldwide were delivered without skilled care. The maternal mortality ratio in developing regions was still 15 times higher than in developed regions, and the rural- urban gap in skilled care during childbirth had narrowed.
New HIV infections continued to decline in most regions. More people than ever were living with HIV due to fewer AIDS-related deaths and the continued number of new infections, with 2.5 million people newly infected each year. Comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission remained low among young people, along with condom use. More orphaned children were in school due to expanded efforts to mitigate the impact of AIDS.
Recommendation One: “People everywhere need to be conscious of their responsibilities and should press governments and international developmental partners to augment, not deduct, resources dedicated to the MDG effort.” Recommendation Two: “Parliamentarians must ensure all interventions are framed in the context of national development strategies that define appropriate actions to ensure the long-term sustainability of results.” Recommendation Three: “That the challenges in meeting the MDGs by 2015 show why Parliamentarians must play a central role in ensuring a robust post-2015 development environment.” Recommendation Four: “There is a need for the Research and Development budget to be prioritized towards a comprehensive human development strategy.”
All recommendations from the Workshop were endorsed.
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