Things You Want To Know About MDG

What is MDG?

MDG stands for Millennium Development Goals – a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, diseases, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. It consists of 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators, covering the period 1990 to 2015

When and how did MDG start?

In September 2000, member states of the United Nations (UN) gathered at the Millennium Summit to affirm commitments towards reducing poverty and the worst forms of human deprivation. The Summit adopted the UN Millennium Declaration which embodies specific targets and milestones in eliminating extreme poverty worldwide. A total of 189 countries, including the Philippines committed themselves to making the right to development a reality for everyone.

How can the UN member states achieve the MDGs?

For most nations to achieve the MDGs, they must get not only additional financial resources from both domestic and external sources, but should also formulate policies and set up an institutional environment that will ensure that the resources are used efficiently and effectively

 Specifically, what are the MDGs?

The UN aims that by 2015,

• the proportion of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger will be halved;
• all children will be in primary school;
• girls will have the same educational opportunities as boys;
• the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water will be halved;
• the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria will be stopped;
• a child’s risk of dying before the age of five will be reduced by two-thirds;
• a mother’s risk of dying while pregnant will be reduced by three quarters;
• the world’s ecosystem and biodiversity will be better protected from destruction;
• at least 100 million slum dwellers will get better housing, health care, and new opportunities for education;
• people in developing countries will have greater access to essential drugs;
• the benefits of new technologies, especially information technologies, will flow to more countries and more people; and
• wealthy countries will support developing countries with debt relief, more financial aid, and greater market access.

How can the attainment of the MDGs be measured?

The attainment of the MDGs can be measured through a set of indicators defined by the UN that will be able to assess progress over the period 1990 to 2015.

What efforts has the Philippines done to support the MDGs?

The Philippines, as one of the signatories in the United Nations Millennium Declaration has come up with the first Philippines Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals which not only defines where the country is relative to the MDGs, but also outlines the challenges that have to be overcome in order to attain these goals. The report was prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) through the collaborative efforts of the Multi-sectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments (MC-IHDC) and the Social Development Committee (SDC).

To provide the data for monitoring of the country’s progress towards the attainment of the MDGs, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), as part of its participation in the Workshop on Development Indicators held in Manila, Philippines in October 2001 and 2002 organized by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) through the "United Nations Project on Strengthening Regional Capacities for Statistical Development in Southeast Asia," has compiled the indicators and the corresponding data series covering the period, 1990 to 2002, and these can be found at the PSA website, http://www.psa.gov.ph/mdg

As part of the commitment of the NSCB to monitor the MDGs, the NSCB in cooperation with various stakeholders of poverty statistics is organizing the 2004 International Conference on Official Poverty Statistics: Methodology and Comparability to be held in Manila, Philippines on October 4-6, 2004. The discussion and formulation of an integrated plan for the regular compilation by the national statistical agencies of official poverty statistics for the monitoring of the MDG to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015 is one of the highlights of the Conference.