In Action on the MDGs - Making NOISE for the MDGS and taking it up a notch

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The Make NOISE to End Poverty Worldwide in support of the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs is still growing. Supporting the MDGs is the primary reason for this blog. So if anybody else is out there doing the same its worth reporting. There are two basic approaches to reporting on the Millennium Development Goals - education and inspiration. Here are examples of both.

Kathy Bushkin Calvin, the CEO of the UN Foundation, wrote recently that,

You may not have realized it before, but your actions have moved us closer to solving some of the world's biggest problems. You are helping advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Next month, the UN will convene world leaders to review our progress on the MDGs. This important summit in New York needs your voice and support -- together, we're going to make significant progress toward ending poverty and hunger, improving the health of mothers and children, fighting preventable diseases, and bringing universal energy access to all. We are going to do all this by supporting the United Nations and working in partnership to focus attention and resources where they matter most. We know the UN is the institution with the international reach and capacity to accelerate our goals and improve lives.

Well, the truth is that she was writing about all of us taking part in this effort. Problem is that while millions are taking part online and especially in the streets, there still isn't enough awareness in the mainstream of the developed countries, particularly in the United States. I could be wrong about other parts of the world, but I suspect not. The challenge, as I see it is still a matter of education. The UN Foundation has put together a resource to help people learn about the Millennium Development Goals, ( I will put aside the question as to why they did not just use this blog for the time being ;-}) which if they want me to share to increase their impact, I am more than happy to do so.

The MDGs are not only a "to-do" list for the UN and world leaders, but as people with a global perspective, they are our to-do list as well.

Find out more about the MDGs and how you can help advance them on our new "MDGs in Action" page

Raymond C. Offenheiser of the Oxfam America Advocacy Fund is asking us to tell President Obama - Take it up a notch! Having a plan for addressing the Millennium Development Goals is a great first step – but it's not enough!
 We need to tell President Obama we need a real development strategy that addresses the root causes of poverty.

He is also focusing on the upcoming Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit at which world leaders will meet as part of the UN to discuss how to end hunger, send kids to school and keep women healthy the world over. Those things so many of us can take for granted.

But without a concrete strategy from the United States to go beyond the MDGs, we'll never reach them – leaving millions without a way out of poverty.

You and I know the stark reality for millions of people around the globe - every night, millions of people go to bed hungry. Every morning, people wake up without water to bathe or cook with. Every day, families have young children die from completely preventable diseases.

Issues like hunger, poverty, health – these are the things the Millennium Development Goals are meant to address. But today, we are vastly off the mark towards reaching these goals by 2015, the date set by world leaders to eradicate this kind of debilitating poverty.

And, without a real global development strategy from the United States – one that serves as a compass for efforts to end global poverty – we will come up short. President Obama must lead the world in providing a clear, comprehensive strategy, one that will maximize our ability to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

P.S. After you take action, you can get even more involved by checking out our Facebook Photo Petition to President Obama.Take action today, and we will automatically redirect you to our Facebook petition!

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KENYA: Poor Women Beset On All Sides By Violence and other stories on the MDGs

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I have not put up anything for sometime because of work and trying to work out some issues with the Stand Up Take Action folks. So in typical up against the deadline or way late blogger fashion, here is a reblogged posting of what has been happening in the world regarding the Millennium Development Goals.

2010/8/19

DEVELOPMENT-AUSTRALIA: It's Not Just About More, But Better, Aid Neena Bhandari SYDNEY, Aug 19 - Australia's foreign aid budget is likely to double by 2015, but civil society groups say this is far from enough if it is to keep to its "fair share" of commitments to poorer countries. MORE >> AFRICA: Woman Researcher Tackles Aflatoxin Poisoning Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI , Aug 18 - Despite a bumper harvest of maize just a few months ago, many residents in the eastern part of Kenya are facing hunger and starvation. While granaries in the region may be full, the grain cannot be sold, let alone be eaten. MORE >> Q&A: "We Must Move from a Masculine to a Feminine Economy" Mario Osava interviews Brazilian feminist ROSE MARIE MURARO RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 - It is necessary to move from a "masculine" economy based on competition and a win-lose mentality to a "feminine" win-win economy based on the concept of collaboration, says writer Rose Marie Muraro, one of the pioneers of Brazil's feminist movement. MORE >> SWAZILAND: Finding Ways to Care for HIV Orphans Mantoe Phakathi KANGCAMPHALALA, Swaziland , Aug 17 - In the poor, drought-stricken community of Kangcamphalala, AIDS orphan Nomvula Dladla* is in tears. The 17-year-old has been told that her aunt, the only surviving relative she could live with, passed away a few hours ago of an HIV-related illness. And if she had been living anywhere else in the country, it would have made Dladla destitute. MORE >> Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis Ousseini Issa* NIAMEY, Aug 17 - In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds. MORE >> KENYA: Poor Women Beset On All Sides By Violence Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI, Aug 17 - "My daughter had repeatedly tried to describe to me what her step-father would do to her when I was not home," says Wanza*, a 28-year-old mother resident of Nairobi's Mathare slum. "On this particular night I pretended to be asleep and watched as he left our bed and went for my eight-year-old daughter." MORE >> RWANDA: Improving the Lives of Small-Scale Farmers Aimable Twahirwa KIGALI, Aug 16 - Joelle Nsamira Kajuga, a female agricultural researcher has a ready answer to describe which modified crop will produce a higher yield, which will be resistant to bacteria, and which will ensure food security and generate a higher turnover for poor small-scale farmers in different regions in Rwanda. MORE >> MALAWI: Local Management the Tonic for Water Woes Charles Mpaka BLANTYRE, Aug 16 - Hop over a seep of filthy sludge behind a bathroom screened with ragged sacks, turn past the toilet with battered cardboard walls, crab between mud-brick shanties roofed with rusty metal... There: emerge into a small, neat yard where a dozen women and girls are filling plastic buckets from five water taps sticking out of concrete wall. MORE >> U.N. Targets "Lost Generation" Jennifer Leong UNITED NATIONS, Aug 16 - Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs. MORE >> SOUTHERN AFRICA: Land Reform Underfinanced and Failing Fidelis Zvomuya RAFFINGORA, Zimbabwe, Aug 14 - Mavis Muchena sits on the veranda of her mud hut, a middle-aged single mother of four with a face worn beyond her years and hands creased from working the soil. She should represent the future of a renewed farming boom in Zimbabwe, but instead she represents its failure. MORE >> GUATEMALA: Multi-Pronged Effort to Boost Food Security Still Falling Short Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 13 - "I used to work on the south coast, cutting sugar cane, and I would go all the way to Belize to pick oranges during the harvest. I went through a lot so we could get by," Héctor Pan, a Q'eqchi Indian in Guatemala who has now abandoned farming to become a river rafting guide, told IPS. MORE >> SOUTH SUDAN: Children Too Hungry to Return to Civilian Life Zack Baddorf SOUTH SUDAN, Aug 13 - When Timothy was forced into the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) at age 11, the first thing they did was beat him. Then they took him to a military base where his tasks were to carry other soldiers' bags, wash their clothes, collect firewood for them, and cook their food. MORE >> IPS is partnering with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) to increase coverage of poverty issues and distribution of poverty related news articles worldwide. The core of this partnership is a three year (2010-2012) EU funded project that focuses on the situation in the Least Developed Countries. This page includes independent IPS news coverage financed by the EU in a project to cover the MDG situation in Least Developed Countries. The contents of this news coverage, including any funded by the European Union, are the sole responsibility of IPS and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. ADVERTISEMENT

Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here. Copyright © 2010 IPS - Inter Press Service -- All rights reserved.

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President Obama sets Right direction for United States Role in Achieving the MDGs

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Four days ago, David Lane, ONE President and CEO, informed me and more than 40,000 other ONE members that we had been successful in petitioning President Obama to deliver on his powerful pledge to present a plan for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the upcoming September's United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York City. (Excuse for not doing this sooner is that again work got to hectic)

President Obama followed through on his pledge by releasing a new plan spelling out how the United States will work to achieve the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign. 1. End Hunger 2. Universal Education 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health 5. Maternal Health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases 7. Environmental Sustainability 8. Global Partnership by 2015.

The plan, (you can read more about it here) stresses the importance of good governance, promoting economic growth and measurable results.

We should also feel proud to know that our work made a difference, and that the US is taking a real lead on the MDGs. But we can't forget that there's still a lot of hard work to do. We must make sure that the US acts on its new plan to tackle both the MDGs and broader development issues. We must urge other countries to commit to do their part at the September UN Summit. We must continue to let our leaders know that we support these goals and the hope, health, security and opportunity they offer to the world's poorest people.

The actual report is here:

Celebrate, Innovate, and Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond

I like the fact that it says "Toward2015 and Beyond" and leading with the word "Celebrate" is intriguing. First thing is to sit down and read it.

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Help Women Thrive Worldwide and Help the World Thrive

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The petition for the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) sponsored on Change.org by Help Women Thrive World Wide, and supported by a number of other organizations featured in this blog, was signed sometime ago and I had already asked my Senators to support it. Here is a response from Senator Boxer who helped introduce the bill on the Senate side. Senator Boxer and the International Violence Against Women Act (S.2982).

Now further movement has been with the announcement in July that Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), described as a moderate, has decided to sponsor H.R.4594 - International Violence Against Women Act of 2010.

This has direct application to Millennium Development Goal No. 3. Gender Equity. You can't speak of equity or empowerment in a world where you are not safe. It also applies to all of the Millennium Development Goals because women will pay such a large part in bringing them about in thousands of villages across the globe.

It is all the more important because it is times of disaster that bring out best in some people but the worst in others. As a post earlier this year stated Women make a difference in Haiti and will make a difference in the new millennium. The threat of violence becomes all the worse during such calamities. The International Rescue Committee has called for support for this reason.

... months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many women and girls are still living in makeshift crowded camps in Port-au-Prince. In these teeming and often poorly lit settlements, women face the threat of physical and sexual assault and grapple with dangers posed by active criminal gangs.

Ensure that the United States does not turn a blind eye to violence against women in places like Haiti. Urge your Senator to support the International Violence Against Women Act.

There are however some warnings out there as to how we implement these programs. One of the challenges of implementing the Millennium Development Goals is avoiding having those who pay impose their cultural views. This is a slippery slope either way. Here is an article describing the problems seen with this bill from India. I do not see the author as being anti-woman, as are some who have quoted him. International Violence against Women Act Faces Stiff Opposition From Unexpected Quarter. This is similar to concerns raised in the article Bruce Nussbaum: The New Imperialism. I still support the idea of focusing aid on women and recognizing that worldwide women are without rights and disproportionately burdened by poverty. We also need to look at the organizations such as Amnesty International and USAID and make sure a motivation to do good does not become an excuse to ignore the right of self-determination of others.

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Fwd: Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists

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These are stories regarding the Millennium Development Goals featured in the IPS Inter Press Service found further down below these posts under Global News Sources.

I am simply making them available. Anybody who wants to can sign up to have them sent directly.

2010/8/6
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Removing Barriers to Trade Charles Mpaka* BLANTYRE, Aug 4 - Cecilia Gondwe waits in the shade of a tree at the Mwanza Border Post between Malawi and Mozambique. Somewhere inside, a clearing agent is completing elaborate paperwork on her behalf. MORE >> ZAMBIA: Election Violence Could Mean Fewer Women Participants Kelvin Kachingwe LUSAKA , Aug 4 - There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence. MORE >> DR CONGO: Sticks And Straw Out of Our Schools Badylon K. Bakiman KIKWIT, DR Congo, Aug 3 - Led by the local church, residents of Gungu administrative zone, in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have used their own resources to transform the conditions in which their children study. MORE >> HIV-positive Kenyans Need Tribunal to Address Rights Violations David Njagi NAIROBI, Aug 3 - Nancy Njeri's life changed when she contracted HIV through a gang rape. Not only did the infection traumatise her, she was ostracised by close friends and neighbours whom she had known for almost a decade. She was fired from her job and when she attempted to sell vegetables, people boycotted her stand because of her status. MORE >> SOUTHERN AFRICA: Boost Cross-Border Trade for Food Security Lewis Mwanangombe* LUSAKA, Aug 3 - Small-scale traders on either side of the Mwami Border Post between Zambia and Malawi are key to meeting local demands that larger importers do not. MORE >> Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI, Aug 2 - In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes. MORE >> Q&A: Clean Energy and Cultural Survival in Nicaragua Julio Godoy interviews ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT, of blueEnergy France* - PARIS, Aug 1 (Tierramérica) - For the past six years, French and U.S. engineers have been installing solar panels and wind turbines in the southeastern Nicaraguan town of Bluefields, promoting clean energy and development among the region's Rama indigenous peoples. MORE >> BURKINA FASO: Race to Achieve Goals on Sanitation Brahima Ouédraogo OUAGADOUGOU, Jul 31 - The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015. MORE >> MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates Claire Ngozo LILONGWE, Jul 30 - You will find Beauty Kasonda on her campaign trail at funerals, weddings, church functions or just about any local gathering in her community. Kasonda does not have the sort of funding her male counterparts have for campaigning in the country's November 2010 elections but she is not letting that stop her. MORE >> POLITICS-GUINEA: Women Amongst Also-Rans in Presidential Elections Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Jul 30 - Celou Dalein Diallo gained a significant advantage over Alpha Condé, his main rival for the Guinean presidency, when a third candidate said he would back Diallo in a second round of voting in August. But what has become of women candidates for high political office in this West African country? MORE >> IPS is partnering with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) to increase coverage of poverty issues and distribution of poverty related news articles worldwide. The core of this partnership is a three year (2010-2012) EU funded project that focuses on the situation in the Least Developed Countries. This page includes independent IPS news coverage financed by the EU in a project to cover the MDG situation in Least Developed Countries. The contents of this news coverage, including any funded by the European Union, are the sole responsibility of IPS and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here. Copyright © 2010 IPS - Inter Press Service -- All rights reserved.

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