2015.
The year of the Green Sheep, battles between ‘the Grand Budapest Hotel’ , ‘The Theory of Everything’ and ‘Gone Girl’, comeback of color plume and extreme increased usage of smartphones, also marks the end of a long-running United Nations development program (started in 2000) the Millenium Development Goals. Signed on a summit the same year and signed by 189 members, they concentrated on combating 8 key contemporary problems:
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
– cutting the number of hunger-striken people by half
achieving universal primal education
– ensuring that all children will be able to finish the primary school worldwide
promoting of gender equality and women empowerment
– eliminating the inequalities in access to education between boys and girls
reducing child mortality
– diminishing the child mortality ratio by two-thirds when compared to 1990
improving maternal health
– diminishing labor female mortality by 75% when compared to 1990
combating HIV and AIDS and malaria
– stopping new AIDS and malaria incidences by 2015 completely
ensuring environmental sustainability
– cutting the number of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by half
– improving the living conditions of 100 million people living in the slums
developing a global partnership for development
By 2010, the number of people living in extreme poverty has been halved by a half since 1990 but not all of the 8 goals are being met accordingly. Still, despite figures dropping downwards significantly, the MDG goal of reducing child mortality will probably not be met. Despite the proportion of deliveries in developing countries attended by health personnel rose from 56 to 68 percent since 1990, in 2012, 40 million births in developing regions were not attended by a skilled health personnel. Moreover, more that 6 million children have died because of AIDS-related causes in 2012 only. Concerning the sustainability goal, global emission of carbon dioxide had increased by almost 50% since 1990 but over 2.3 billion people have gained access to drinking water since 1990.
As we can see, despite the thorough workload of the United Nations, there is still a lot of room for improvement. You can help yourself, for instance by visiting http://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/what-you-can-do-help-achieve-millennium-development-goals-mdgs and getting acquainted with SOS Children’s Villages. It’s possible to sponsor a child or a village, donate or become a volunteer.
zuza.
