More countries closer toward MDG targets
Two-thirds of developing countries are on track or close to meeting
key targets for tackling extreme poverty and hunger, the World Bank and
IMF said recently.
This year's Global Monitoring Report 2011: Improving the Odds of
Achieving the MDGs delves into country performance and reveals a
diverse, and often hopeful, picture.
For example, among developing countries that are falling short on the
Millennium Development Goals, half are close to becoming on-track. With
improved policies and faster growth, these countries can still achieve
the targets in 2015 or soon after. "Reaching the MDGs is a significant
achievement for developing countries. But there still is much to do in
reducing poverty and improving health outcomes even in the successful
countries," said Hans Timmer, director of development prospects at the
World Bank.
"Donors should build on this success and help countries make the next
step through investments in effective service delivery."
On the whole, the fight against poverty is progressing well. Based on
current economic projections, the world remains on track to reduce by
half the number of people living in extreme poverty. The number of
people living on less than $1.25 a day is projected to be 883 million in
2015, compared with 1.4 billion in 2005 and 1.8 billion in 1990. Much of
this progress reflects rapid growth in China and India, while many
African countries are lagging behind: 17 countries are far from halving
extreme poverty, even as the aggregate goals will be reached. Developing
countries will also likely achieve the MDGs for gender parity in primary
and secondary education and for access to safe drinking water, and will
be very close on hunger and on primary education completion. But
progress is slow and targets may be missed on others. Among developing
countries, 45 per cent are far from meeting the target on access to
sanitation; 39 per cent and 38 per cent are far from the maternal and
child mortality targets, respectively.
"Good macroeconomic policies remain crucial to progress toward the
MDGs," said Hugh Bredenkamp, deputy director of the IMF's Strategy,
Policy, and Review Department. "The challenge in low income countries is
to sustain and accelerate growth through better policies that will
create jobs and greater opportunities for the private sector. Advanced
economies need to do their part to secure the global recovery, by
repairing and reforming their financial systems and tackling their
fiscal imbalances." In some countries, it will be important to focus on
support for the world's socially excluded groups, including indigenous
people as well as ethnic and linguistic minorities. Most MDG indicators
among these groups are far worse than in the general population,
especially in terms of income poverty.
To better understand results on the ground, the report presents
findings and lessons from impact evaluations in health and education.
Such evaluations often show development assistance for health and
education has risen to unprecedented levels in volume, but has not
generated the expected improvements in outcomes. Delfin Go, lead
economist at the World Bank and lead author, said.
"Certain health and education outcomes are disappointing, in part
because spending has focused largely on increasing the quantity of
services, while not paying enough attention to quality. A key lesson is
that strengthening institutions and improving incentives, for example,
by enhancing the role of performance in setting the pay of health
workers, are vital to better outcomes." Brad McDonald, deputy division
chief and IMF coordinator for the report, emphasized that economic
growth continues to be a major factor in reaching the MDGs.
"Although the recent crisis set back progress, many low-income
countries that had strong macroeconomic policies were able to soften the
impact of the crisis with active tax and spending policies," he said.
Regaining momentum toward achieving the MDGs will require international
cooperation on three fronts. First, low income countries in particular
will need a strong and stable global economic environment in which to
continue growing. Second, actions are needed to help low income
countries achieve and sustain more rapid economic growth and restore
their policy buffers.
Third, fragile states lag the furthest behind in reaching the MDGs
and require additional support, to help in building institutions and
moving toward a virtuous circle of development, peace, and security.
Growing assistance from emerging donors, many in the developing
world, is welcome but will not compensate fully for a significant fall
in aid from traditional donors, especially if they pursue different
development priorities and practices. This changing aid landscape could
also have implications for the transparency of official flows and the
policies and programs that aid supports.
In the wake of the recent global financial crisis, trade has started
to recover, but sustaining it will require steps to strengthen the
international system, guard against protectionist tendencies, and push
for a conclusion of the Doha Round of international trade negotiations.
In addition, the report calls for measures to support access to trade
finance and trade facilitation to connect vulnerable low income
countries, landlocked economies and lagging regions to regional and
international markets. World Bank Report, Washington |