The Millennium Development Goals in pictures
[i-equal opportunities for women]
Remember my post announcing the UNDP-Olympus-AFP Foundation Photo Contest, called Picture This? People could submit pictures symbolizing the work done on the different Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The project received over 3,000 submissions from around the world, and some of them are simply breathtaking. Including the touching picture aboved, submitted by Joydeep Mukherjee, titled "Equal Work".
While the purpose of the contest was to shed a positive light on the progress towards the MDGs, I am not sure this particular picture really does. Are we actually making progress on MDG#3 "Promote gender equality and empower women"? That is why I think this picture is so powerful. According to me, it puts it all in question, in a very simple but gripping way.
Oh, by the way, a bit of a lost opportunity for UNDP to make this contest a real advocacy event: Of the 3,000 pictures submitted, I can only find the winners, unless if I look really well for a link to all entries.
I can not embed neither the slideshow of the winners (even though it is a Flickr roll), nor any of the other pictures in the winners' series. There is no social media bookmarking (Twitter, Facebook) on the winner's pages.
I hope that next year, they will have the voting done on the amount of times each picture is twittered, for instance. Would combine crowdsourcing, advocacy and good use of social media.
Oh, and I would also like to see a Creative Commons copyright prominently displayed.
Oh, and I'd like better quality resizing of the pictures. The quality of the front page slideshow pictures is much better than the resized ones in each of the category pages.
(Why can't I just keep my mouth shut. What's wrong with me?)
Picture courtesy Joydeep Mukherjee
Picture this: visualizing the MDGs
[i-UNDP Picture this contest]
UNDP, the UN's Development Program is organizing "Picture This", a photo contest, in partnership with Olympus Corporation, The Agence France-Presse (AFP) Foundation, and the UN’s Department of Information. "Picture This" wants to highlight the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the work that is already being done to achieve them.
Any amateur or professional photographer can submit up to three pictures with captions until July 16 via Picture This website. Your pictures need to focus on one of the MDGs.
About 400 pictures have been submitted to date. Take your time to browse through them. Some are truly great, even though sometimes the caption and title does not say much.
Like the picture featured above, called "Alone/day after disaster" by Branimir. No caption, no further details.. But that does not take away the power of it. Delicate almost like a painting, romantic as a sunrise over a lake can be, but probably hiding an awful reality, as the title suggests...
UN wants cartoonist for Somalia
[i-cartoonist wanted]
The UN Development Programme is looking for a cartoonist in Somalia. No kidding. The Terms of Reference specify the details..
The background:
Somalia faces significant challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (...)
To address this issue, and bearing in mind the low literacy levels in Somalia, UNDP Somalia, through the Human Development and Economics Unit, is seeking a consultant to produce cartoon designs for an MDG comic as well as two cartoon characters (male and female).
The objective of this comic would be to educate local Somalis throughout the country (the civil society in rural and urban areas, and nomads); private sector; educational institutions, and local administrations) on what exactly the MDGs are.
It also specifies what exactly they want:
1. Two cartoon characters (one male and one female).
2. Cartoon to be included in a UNDP Somalia comic depicting correct, neutral and culturally sensitive messages on MDGs that illustrates what MDGs are, how each one may be attained, and who is responsible for attaining them.
(It should be..) Humorous where possible.
It is not just for anyone. You must have, amongst others, the following competencies:
- Have more than 7 years’ experience in design, illustrations and desktop publishing.
- Possess at least 5 years’ experience of working in the context of Somalia, with proof of dissemination of products.
So.. what are you all waiting for? Apply!
Maybe the next step is a cartoonist to educate the Somalia pirates that taking oil tankers is a "no-no"?
Cartoon courtesy Cartoonstock. Read the full post...
The 2008 World Balance Sheet is out: the MDG progress report
child in pakistan[i-child in pakistan]
The UN Development Program published their 2008 progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The MDGs are part of the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet an eight-point road map or MDGs with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people by 2015.
How well did we do in 2008? A snapshot (Source: UNDP's progress report)
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
The goal of cutting in half the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1 a day by 2015 remains within reach. However, this achievement will be due largely to extraordinary economic success in most of Asia.
In contrast, little progress was made in reducing extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. In Western Asia, poverty rates were relatively low but increasing.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
In sub-Saharan Africa the net enrolment ratio has only recently reached 71 per cent. Around 38 million children of primary school age in this region are still out of school. In Southern Asia, the enrolment ratio has climbed to 90 per cent, yet more than 18 million children of primary school age are not enrolled.
Goal 3: Promote gender equality & empower women
As part of its success in raising the total primary enrolment rate, Southern Asia has made the most progress in gender parity since 2000.
In Western and Central Africa, where high repetition and low retention rates are common, girls in particular fail to enrol in and stay in school. Drought, food shortages, armed conflict, poverty, lack of birth registration, child labour, and HIV and AIDS contribute to low school enrolment and high dropout rates for both boys and girls in those subregions, but prove to be especially devastating for girls.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
In 2006, for the first time since mortality data have been gathered, annual deaths among children under five dipped below 10 million. Nevertheless, the death of millions of children from preventable causes each year is unacceptable. A child born in a developing country is over 13 times more likely to die within the first five years of life than a child born in an industrialized country.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about half the deaths of children under five in the developing world. Between 1990 and 2006, about 27 countries – the large majority in sub-Saharan Africa – made no progress in reducing childhood deaths. In Eastern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, child mortality rates are approximately four times higher than in developed regions.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high across much of the developing world. In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s risk of dying from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 22, compared to 1 in 7,300 in the developed regions.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
Every day, nearly 7,500 people become infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS, mostly due to a lack of HIV prevention and treatment services. However, largely because newly infected people survive longer, the number of people living with HIV rose from an estimated 29.5 million in 2001 to 33 million in 2007. The vast majority of those living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Carbon dioxide emissions reached 28 billion metric tons in 2005 and continued upward, resulting in increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Emissions per unit of economic output fell by more than 20 per cent in the developed regions, while they increased by 35 per cent in South-Eastern Asia and by 25 per cent in Northern Africa.
While no area can escape the adverse impact of climate change, the Arctic, small islands, mega deltas in Asia and Africa, and the African region overall seem to be especially vulnerable because of their high exposure to the effects of climate change, their populations' limited capacity to adapt to the consequences, or both.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
At current exchange rates, official development assistance (ODA) continued to drop from an all time high of $107.1 billion in 2005, to $104.4 billion in 2006 and $103.7 billion in 2007. This is mainly the result of a decline in debt relief grants. Adjusting for changes in prices and exchange rates, aid disbursements fell by 8.4 per cent in 2007 compared to 2006.
Check the full 2008 MDG progress report
Picture courtesy Rein Skullerud (WFP) Read the full post...
News: World record number of people stood up against poverty.
Standup![i-Standup!]
A worldrecord breaking 117 million people in 131 countries stood up last weekend as part of a United Nations-led campaign demanding world leaders to keep their promises to halve extreme poverty and achieve the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015.
Over 8,000 events were held around the globe, from Afghanistan and Burundi to Thailand and Uganda, as part of the “Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty” campaign held from 17 to 19 October.
The exact number of registered participants was 116,993,629 people. That’s almost 2% of the total world population! The break down:
* Africa: 24,496,151
* Middle East region: 17,847,870
* Asia: 73,151,847
* Europe: 951,788
* Latin America: 211,250
* North America: 123,920 (1)
* Oceania: 210,803 (1)
This event broke the Guinness World Record for the largest social mobilization on a single issue ever. (Full)
More posts on The Road about activism and poverty.
(1) Note: These figures were originally not included, but updated later.
Picture courtesy UN
News: After the global financial crisis comes the global humanitarian crisis?
Financial crisis causing a humanitarian crisis?[i-Financial crisis causing a humanitarian crisis?]
public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.”
Cicero, 55 BC
What is the plural of "crisis"?
It seems like 2008 is becoming the year of global crisis. First we were faced with the worldwide food crisis, swiftly followed by, what now seems to be, a collapse of major financial institutions.
But it might not stop here. As FAO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, calculated the cost to deal with the current food crisis at US$30 billion per year, donors stepped up their financial support.
But that was before the current financial crisis. At this moment, the governments worldwide concentrate their financial resources in keeping their banks and financial institutions afloat:
- The Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments put in US$9 billion to keep Dexia afloat. (Full)
- Previously Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg put up US$16.1 billion to save the Fortis bank. (Full)
- Britain is working on a US$87.7 billion bank recapitalization concentrating on Barclays, HSBC and the Bank of Scotland (Full)
- Spain announced a US$40.9 billion fund to buy up bank assets and maintain liquidity (Full)
- Sweden is given Iceland's biggest bank, Kaupthing, an emergency loan worth up US$702 million) to help keep it afloat. (Full)
- Germany has thrown a US$50 billion lifeline to struggling lender Hypo Real Estate. (Full)
- Italy is about to set up a rescue fund close to US$30 billion for the banking industry. (Full)
- Canada gave a US$25 billion "backstop" for there banks. (Full)
- Russia pledged to boost liquidity by more than US$100bn (Full), on top of a US$5.4 billion loan to Iceland (Full)
- And of course we all know about the $700 billion monster US bailout (Full)
Any money left for international aid?
The end balance? During the food crisis, donor countries already stepped up their extra-budgetary funds to come to the rescue of aid organisations "on the occasion of the raising food prices", but now are faced with the massive cash drain bailing out their own financial institutions.
At the same time, poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which are already dealing with a surge in food and energy prices, are now finding it harder to sell goods abroad and encourage investment in their own economies. (Full)
The question now is: how much money will be left for international aid?
This week, amidst the financial turmoil, world leaders met to review the progress of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are intended to reduce extreme global poverty and, improve health and education.
It was stressed that development aid needed to increase by $18 billion each year towards fulfilling the goals. At the end of the event, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that an additional US$16 billion had been pledged by governments to meet the targets of the MDGs. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his address to the UN, went on to say that the financial crisis should not be an excuse to cut aid. (Full)
The "Humanitarian Doomsday scenario" - the first signs
Many of us, in the aid organisations, are not that optimistic as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:
Journalist Andrew Stroehlein, the Director of Media and Information for the International Crisis Group, states it bluntly: "I might as well just pack up and go on holiday for a few months. With the global financial crisis continuing, no one wants to hear about violent conflict and mass atrocities around the world". (Full)
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, just wrapped up its annual refugee conference and it is concerned its needs may not be met because of the global financial crisis. (Full)
"The financial turmoil rippling across the globe will set back efforts to fight climate change, drying up capital that could help poorer countries upgrade to clean energy technology", said Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the U.N. climate secretariat, adding: "You can't pick an empty pocket". (Full)
Will the global financial crisis also cause a global humanitarian crisis? Time will tell, but it looks like it. As history showed, the poorest of the world always pick the shortest straw.
Update Oct 15: Aid agencies say world's poorest will be biggest victims of world's financial crisis
More posts on The Road about the food crisis, poverty, development, the UN and the economy.
Original picture courtesy Susan Manuel (WFP) Read the full post...