The MDGs at 10 years old
Alexander D. Baumgarten, director of government relations for the Episcopal Church, has written an essay for the web pages of Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, which calls our attention back to the fact that the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved primarily through acts of personal charity, but through vigorous advocacy.
One of the heroes of the Anglican Communion, Father Gideon Byamugisha, an HIV-positive priest in the Church of Uganda, asks us to imagine a world in 25 years that did not summon the moral and political will to eradicate extreme poverty and deadly disease. He speaks of those who will be “survivors” twenty-five years from now.Read it all.“The greatest and most obvious gaps that survivors will wonder about, and be angry about” he says, “are the missed opportunities, the lack of political will and the lack of total commitment by those of us in leadership positions to use all that we knew and all that we had to fight [poverty and disease.] They will surely ask ‘What went wrong?’ ‘What prevented us from transforming the knowledge and the resources we had, into focused will and targeted action?’ ‘Who were the world leaders at that time?’”
A few observations.
1. Maternal death in childbirth have been falling steadily since 1990 in most developing countries. But advocates don't want us to know that,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/health/14births.html?ref=health
2. Substantial progress was being made against HIV.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201004300744.html
Measurable progress has also been made in the reduction of global poverty.
Baumgarten writes, " let’s resolve—with only five years left until the endpoint of the MDGs—to renew the passion in our advocacy."
What I wonder is, does our passion undercut our goals if we don't address whether or not substantial progress has been made. Tell us why you think the findings are false, if that's what you believe. Or tell us, yes progress has been made, but we're saying it's not nearly enough. Or tell us, yes progress has been made, but the developed world has been quite stingy none the less -- and the crises like the housing bubble or the Greek debt crises -- are crises made of selfishness and shortsightedness, but they systemically harm all of us especially those in the developing world.
Finally, it's difficult to take seriously appeals for collective responsibility when there's individual responsibility as well that is swept under the rug:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/world/africa/10aids.html?ref=science
"And, most devastating of all, old-fashioned prevention has flopped. Too few people, particularly in Africa, are using the “ABC” approach pioneered here in Uganda: abstain, be faithful, use condoms."
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May 11, 2010 3:44 PM