United Nations (UN) Global
Summits and Conferences held throughout the 1990s addressed global
social, economic, and environmental issues facing both developing
and developed countries in the world today. The related Conventions
and Declarations were synthesized in the Millennium Summit of September
2000, where 147 heads of State and Government and 191 nations adopted
a Millennium Declaration. Since then, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) has worked with the World Bank, International Monetary
Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and
other UN Departments, funds and programmes to formulate a concise
set of goals, numerical targets, and quantifiable indicators. This
set of goals is known as the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), which include eight overall goals
and related targets and indicators, selected to ensure a common
assessment and understanding of the status of MDGs at global, regional,
and national levels. Most of the numerical targets are to be achieved
over the 25-year period from 1990 to 2015. The MDGs do not in any
way undercut agreements on other targets reached at the world summits
and global conferences of the 1990s, and in fact are successful
in incorporating most of the goals from these international events.
The Millennium
Development Goals include:
1. Halving extreme
poverty and hunger
2. Achieving universal primary education
3. Promoting gender equality
4. Reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds
5. Reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters
6. Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB
7. Ensuring environmental sustainability
8. Developing a global partnership for development, with
targets for aid, trade, and debt relief
Reporting on and monitoring
the progress of MDGs is an important process that helps to renew
political commitment on the principal development goals, focus national
development debates on specific priorities, and promote the inclusion
of MDGs within the national and regional development strategies.
It is essential to evaluate the progress of the country in fulfilling
its main obligations towards different global declarations and conventions
on a regular basis. Efforts to achieve the MDGs involve a national
ownership process with specific approaches selected and developed
according to the in-country situation as needed to guarantee successful
implementation.
Turkish Context
In Turkey a process for the
preparation of the Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGR) has
started in June 2003. In this report, all goals and targets have
been analysed for Turkey, emphasising their connection with other
targets. The definitions of the targets, their methods of calculation,
and sources of data have been stated; the current situation has
been described and the developments expected in the near future
have been projected based on available information and data; areas
where there are deficiencies have been explored; and expectations
for the future have been highlighted.
The forthcoming MDG Report
will play a central role in the advocacy and policy advice role
of UNDP as it works with UN and government partners to identify
and address disparities through disaggregated statistics as relevant
to on issues related to poverty, gender, environment and education.
Turkey is on its way to achieving
many of the goals stated in this MDGR. Turkey has shown a progress
in reducing the gender gap and infant/child mortality rates. In
reaching MDGs, such as Goal 2 (universal primary education), Goal
6 (combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis), Goal 7 (ensuring
environmental sustainability), and Goal 8 (developing partnership
for development). However, despite these positive initiatives, it
will be very difficult for Turkey to attain some of the MDGs by
2015, notably those related to health and education given the level
of disparities that exist in these sectors. To illustrate, Turkey
face significant challenges and structural barriers in the issues
of structural inequality particularly based on gender and geography.
As a result, there are problems in achieving some MDGs, such as
Goal 1 (eradication of poverty and hunger), Goal 3 (gender inequality),
Goal 4 (child mortality), and Goal 5 (maternal mortality). Consequently,
Turkey needs to redouble its human development efforts in certain
areas, including girls' education and health, to better achieve
the MDGs.
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