The dramatic surge in food prices has plunged millions of poor people and many net food importing poor countries into a food crisis. Consequently, it has also put at risk their chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Whilst the focus has been on the impact on the MDG1 of reducing poverty and hunger, given the close inter-connectedness between all the 8 MDGs, the impact on these sections of the poor on health, education and livelihoods more broadly, cannot be underestimated.
As the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries gathered in Hokkaido, Japan, today for their summit meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call for urgent action to tackle three key challenges the world is currently grappling with.
Efforts to address the food crisis, climate change and the slow progress towards reaching the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015 “so far have been too divided, too sporadic, and too little,” Mr. Ban told a joint news conference with World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
GCAP Korea representative, Hykungung Kim was one of a group of international NGOs to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda in Tokyo on Wednesday June 18th. She also tied a white and, the symbol of the campaign, around the wrist of the Prime Minister who stood for a photograph beside the campaign symbol, a Tanabata bamboo tree.
Representing the massive GCAP anti-poverty alliance, Hykungung explained to the Prime Minister how last year we mobilized over 1.2 million Voices Against Poverty which were presented to Chancellor Merkel just prior to the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm.
Disaster Proofing the Millennium Development Goals
This brochure discusses the importance of improvements in disaster preparednesses in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A new World Bank-IMF report warns that most countries will fall short on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight globally agreed development goals with a due date of 2015.
Though much of the world is set to cut extreme poverty in half by then, prospects are gravest for the goals of reducing child and maternal mortality. Serious shortfalls also likely in primary school completion, nutrition, and sanitation goals.
According to the draft Health Service Development Plan (HSDP) joint UNDP and Ministry of Heath report of 2005, the per capita health service expenditure of Ethiopia is rated at 5.9 US dollars, the least among a list of other developing countries such as Kenya (31 USD), Uganda(18 USD), and Tanzania(8 USD). The report also indicated that in order to meet MDGs Ethiopia needs to increase the health service expenditure to 34 USD.
1 in 6 have safe water
42 per cent of households have no toilets, and one in six people have no access to safe water.
Water: single largest cause of illness
Lack of safe water and sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness.
Over 60 per cent of Africans lack access to a proper toilet, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ahead of World Water Day – observed on 22 March – whose 2008 theme is “Sanitation Matters.”
The Day aims to raise awareness to the plight of 2.6 billion people worldwide who live without toilets in their homes and are therefore vulnerable to numerous health risks.
