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Midway to the Millennium Development Goals
“First, was the realisation that there is a huge gap between the rhetoric of working to make the world a just place and the reality of implementation, particularly from those that wield immense power. So while we acknowledge the progress made every day in the lives of ordinary people around the world as a result of action taken by ordinary citizens for the public good, we must also acknowledge that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’
7th July 2007
50 countries - 70 cities One call: Speak out about the Millennium Development Goals
Remind the world that the poor are most acutely affected by climate change
Get ready for Stand Up and Speak Out on October 17th
- A rally to demand government action on reducing child and maternal mortality in Azerbaijan.
- The handover of a report with demands for change to the National Assembly in Benin by crowds wearing white bands.
- An ecological concert by local performers using innovative energy-saving devices in one of Madrid’s central plazas.
These are among the ways people want to have their voices heard on July 7th
Midway point for achieving the UN MDGs
July 7th 2007 is the midway point for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is an historic opportunity for civil society to hold their political leaders to account and to challenge them to speed progress towards meeting and exceeding these goals.
The date has also been chosen by the campaigning group SOS to host a series of high-profile concerts in a number of capital cities around the world highlighting climate change.
For GCAP campaigners worldwide 07-07-07 therefore provides a crucial opportunity to hold decision-makers to account and to challenge them to do more.
In the week leading up to 07-07-07 and for some days after, GCAP campaigners in 40 countries are holding exciting and ambitious events to raise awareness amongst the public of current state of progress in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. They are also devising creative ways to ensure the public is more aware of how poverty and climate change are interrelated.
To see what events are happening in your country, Click here (full PDF document). For the Micah Challenge activities on 07-07-07: Note on the - Blow the halftime whistle! for the MDGs - The 2007 calendar for Blow the halftime whistle!
Africa Report
On 7 July 2007 (07/07/07), the halfway point for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), GCAP coalitions from over 20 African countries launched a massive call to their political leaders to protest against the lack of progress in reaching the goals and eradicating extreme poverty. Through a wide variety of activities, GCAP campaigners stood together to generate political pressure and demand action from African leaders for more resources to meet the goals and lift millions of Africans out of poverty.
GCAP Africa’s secretariat encouraged national coalitions to be creative and carry out activities with the strongest possible impact in their communities. These activities included launching MDG shadow reports, hosting public forums and organising rallies and other awareness-raising events. In many countries, GCAP coalitions joined efforts with local and international partners, in particular the United Nations Millennium Campaign, to re-energise local and international efforts for the MDGs.
GCAP Africa coalitions also involved the media in their mobilisation events, with press conferences, press statements, TV appearances and interviews on radio programmes. The GCAP Africa secretariat published a press release that was placed in national and international media. The release highlighted ‘mid-point’ events in Africa as well as GCAP’s concerns and recommendations to African policymakers on the MDGs. More - Download the PDF
Asia Report
October 2007 - People's Voices on MDGs - UNITED NATIONS MC ASIA
The United Nations Millennium Campaign, in partnership with a range of non-state actors including the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), has worked to increase public awareness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which outline key development priorities to be achieved by 2015.
The campaign and policy advocacy work strives to strengthen people’s
influence on elected officials and political leaders to enhance their
policy objectives in order to accelerate MDG progress in Asia.
Simultaneously, this process has also created more space for civil
society to play a greater
role in the government policy process.
As a result of our collaboration with various civil society partners throughout the Asia region, this report is a reference work that synthesises various citizens’ reports launched during the midpoint review of the MDGs in July 2007. It simply demonstrates the standpoint of civil society of four countries, where independent reports were produced: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. This report does not necessarily refl ect the views of the United Nations.
From South Asia, the civil society report on MDG progress in Bangladesh was prepared by the People’s Forum on MDGs, with consultation from the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies. In India, the reports were launched from 12 states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu. In India, the thematic report on scheduled castes was released by the National Conference of Dalit
Organisations (NACDOR), and the report on denotified and nomadic tribes was drafted by Lokdhara. The MDG report on the Muslim community in India was authored by Tehreek-e-Pasmanda Muslim Samaj (TPMS). These India reports were collected by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA) and are available at wadanatodo.net. See also the India Check List on the MDGs. From Southeast Asia, two reports focusing on financing the MDGs were prepared by Social Watch Philippines and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. In Indonesia, the report on MDG progress was developed by the civil society network GCAP Indonesia.
People’s Voices on MDGs 2007 was synthesised under the guidance of Minar Pimple, Deputy Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Ryce Chanchai was involved in the design and development of the report. Special mention should be given to Phu Huynh for providing extensive technical advice and general editorial support and to Katerina Limenopoulou for her helpful comments on the report structure. Close collaboration with civil society organisations in the region was essential. To this end, Urailuk Jetsongkul played an invaluable role in facilitating the dialogue between the United Nations Millennium Campaign and our civil society partners in the Asia region.
Following the recent release of The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007, this report aims to complement the offi cial statistics with stories and direct experiences from the marginalised and disadvantaged population. I hope this report will be helpful for citizens’ campaigns to achieve the MDGs in the Asia region.
Salil Shetty, Director, United Nations Millennium Campaign
See also: Millennium Development Goals Mid-term Review
These extracts from 40 OneWorld Country Guides offer a unique snapshot of progress midway to the target date of 2015. With some exceptions, the picture is not encouraging, confirming the conclusions of the UN Report published in July 2007. Recurring problems include the failure of conventional economic growth to relieve poverty, extreme regional disparities, indequate spending on health and education, and insufficient aid. A seismic shift in political will, both domestically and internationally, is necessary to realise the ideals of the Millennium Declaration.
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