Point: UN MDGS and U.S. aid to Africa: worthy causes

International Social Science Review, Spring-Summer, 2007 by Lucas C. Wright

In September 2000, the United Nations introduced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), establishing concrete targets for addressing eight of the developing world's most serious ills. The UN MDGs, to be achieved by 2015, include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, promoting gender equality, and ensuring environmental stability, among other ventures. In addressing the issue of realizing these goals, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared, "We will have time to reach the Millennium Development Goals--worldwide and in most, or even all, individual countries--but only if we break from business as usual." (1) "Business as usual" at the UN has often been the target of intense criticism, particularly among American conservatives who lambaste the "Blue Helmets" as an "investment in failure." (2) Because some associate the UN with failure, the MDGs are often dismissed as objectives impossible to achieve or even superfluous. This is a false assessment of the situation. There is certainly an abundance of negative data regarding the present state of affairs in sub-Saharan Africa, but progress towards the UN MDGs has already been achieved, and advances will continue to be made in the coming years. If one examines the UN's 2006 MDG Progress Report, achievement is evident. The percentage of people living on a dollar or less a day (the definition of extreme poverty) has fallen in sub-Saharan Africa, more children are attending primary school, and there are more assisted births. (3) While some view these improvements as marginal at best, they are improvements nonetheless.

Marginal gains, of course, are not the goals of the UN, but Annan's optimism regarding greater progress is not unfounded. If the developed world were truly committed to the UN MDGs, then sub-Saharan Africa would be well on its way to meeting those standards by 2015. This does not mean that all of the UN MDGs will have been fully accomplished within that time frame--that would truly be an extraordinary achievement; however, by establishing lofty goals the UN acts to counter complacency, an attitude of developed nations who in the past excused themselves from both committing resources and addressing solutions, arguing that Africa's problems are unsolvable. Significant progress will be made towards achieving the UN MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa because the resources will be available and the costs are reasonable, successful models for development already exist, and there is a new era of leadership and accountability taking hold on the continent.

Goals are Achievable; Funding is Available

One has only to look at a brief list of recent financial commitments to sub-Saharan Africa and the developing world in general to see that the resources to achieve progress towards the UN MDGs are available. These resources will come from both government and private sources and total hundreds of billions of dollars. In July 2005, the members of the G8 agreed to increase aid to developing nations by fifty billion dollars, much of that designated for Africa. (4) Japan plans to double its aid to Africa by 2008. (5) Developed nations will be able to meet these commitments despite competing domestic obligations because most aid plans absorb only minimal portions of their national budgets. (6) In addition to the ample funds that will be made available from governmental coffers, there will also be a great deal of financial and other types of support from private sources. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made available billions of dollars for humanitarian causes and recently gained billions more for such purposes, courtesy of a substantial donation from investor and philanthropist Warren Buffet. (7)

There is another unique aspect of the march towards achieving the UN MDGs. While celebrities contributing their money, images, and time to humanitarian causes is certainly nothing new, the current generation of celebrities may be the most committed and most powerful to date. People like U2 front man Bono, movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and software magnate Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have invested enormous amounts of money to combat poverty and other global problems. But, perhaps more importantly, they have consistently provided the organization and publicity necessary to sustain positive momentum in the fight against poverty, disease, and other ills that the UN MDGs target. (8) While some scoff at celebrities parading around in Africa highlighting the hardships that the region faces, there is no denying the publicity that such actions generate. One can hope that such publicity will pressure governments to maintain their levels of commitment to the UN MDGs. Otherwise, a failure of governments to meet their responsibilities in this case may point even more to the increasing irrelevance of national governments in a globalized world. To be sure, no one can guarantee that developed nations will meet their UN MDG commitments. In the end, the resources exist, but it is the "will" of developed nations that will define the success or failure of meeting these goals.