Developing
country governments should adopt development strategies bold enough to meet the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for 2015. We term them MDG-based
poverty reduction strategies. To meet the 2015 deadline, we recommend that all
countries have these strategies in place by 2006. Where Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs) already exist, those should be aligned with the MDGs.
The
MDG-based poverty reduction strategies should anchor the scaling up of public
investments, capacity building, domestic resource mobilization, and official
development assistance. They should also provide a framework for strengthening
governance, promoting human rights, engaging civil society, and promoting the
private sector. The MDG-based poverty reduction strategies should:
| Be
based on an assessment of investments and policies needed to reach the Goals
by 2015. |
| Spell
out the detailed national investments, policies, and budgets for the coming
three to five years. |
| Focus
on rural productivity, urban productivity, health, education, gender
equality, water and sanitation, environmental sustainability, and science,
technology, and innovation. |
| Focus
on women?s and girls? health (including reproductive health) and education
outcomes, access to economic and political opportunities, right to control
assets, and freedom from violence. |
| Promote
mechanisms for transparent and decentralized governance. |
| Include
operational strategies for scale-up, such as training and retaining skilled
workers. |
| Involve
civil society organizations in decisionmaking and service delivery, and
provide resources for monitoring and evaluation. |
| Outline
a private sector promotion strategy and an income generation strategy for
poor people. |
| Be
tailored, as appropriate, to the special needs of landlocked, small island
developing, least developed, and fragile states. |
| Mobilize
increased domestic resources by up to four percentage points of GNP by 2015.
|
| Calculate
the need for official development assistance. |
| Describe
an ?exit strategy? to end aid dependency, appropriate to the country?s
situation. |
Note:
Recommendations for sector-specific policies and investments are summarized in
this report and described at length in the individual reports of the UN
Millennium Project task forces.
Developing
country governments should craft and implement the MDG-based poverty reduction
strategies in transparent and inclusive processes, working closely with civil
society organizations, the domestic private sector, and international partners.
| Civil
society organizations should contribute actively to designing policies,
delivering services, and monitoring progress. |
| Private
sector firms and organizations should contribute actively to policy design,
transparency initiatives and, where appropriate, public-private
partnerships. |
International
donors should identify at least a dozen MDG "fast-track" countries for
a rapid scale-up of official development assistance (ODA) in 2005, recognizing
that many countries are already in a position for a massive scale-up on the
basis of their good governance and absorptive capacity.
Developed
and developing countries should jointly launch, in 2005, a group of Quick Win
actions to save and improve millions of lives and to promote economic growth.
They should also launch a massive effort to build expertise at the community
level.
The
Quick Wins include but are not limited to:
| Free
mass distribution of malaria bed-nets and effective antimalaria medicines
for all children in regions of malaria transmission by the end of 2007. |
| Ending
user fees for primary schools and essential health services, compensated by
increased donor aid as necessary, no later than the end of 2006. |
| Successful
completion of the 3 by 5 campaign to bring 3 million AIDS patients in
developing countries onto antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005. |
| Expansion
of school meals programs to cover all children in hunger hotspots using
locally produced foods by no later than the end of 2006. |
| A
massive replenishment of soil nutrients for smallholder farmers on lands
with nutrient-depleted soils, through free or subsidized distribution of
chemical fertilizers and agroforestry, by no later than the end of 2006. |
The
massive training program of community-based workers should aim to ensure, by
2015, that each local community has:
| Expertise
in health, education, agriculture, nutrition, infrastructure, water supply
and sanitation, and environmental management. |
| Expertise
in public sector management. |
| Appropriate
training to promote gender equality and participation. |
Developing
country governments should align national strategies with such regional
initiatives as the New Partnership for Africa?s Development and the Caribbean
Community (and Common Market), and regional groups should receive increased
direct donor support for regional projects. Regional development groups should:
| Be
supported to identify, plan, and implement high-priority cross-border
infrastructure projects (roads, railways, watershed management). |
| Receive
direct donor support to implement cross-border projects. |
| Be
encouraged to introduce and implement peer-review mechanisms to promote best
practices and good governance. |
High-income
countries should increase official development assistance (ODA) from .0.25
percent of donor GNP in 2003 to around 0.44 percent in 2006 and 0.54 percent in
2015 to support the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in low-income
countries, with improved ODA quality (including aid that is harmonized,
predictable, and largely in the form of grants-based budget support). Each donor
should reach 0.7 percent no later than 2015 to support the Goals and other
development assistance priorities. Debt relief should be more extensive and
generous.
| ODA
should be based on actual needs to meet the Millennium Development Goals and
on countries? readiness to use the ODA effectively. |
| Criteria
for evaluating the sustainability of a country?s debt burden must be
consistent with the achievement of the Goals. |
| Aid
should be oriented to support the MDG-based poverty reduction strategy,
rather than to support donor-driven projects. |
| Donors
should measure and report the share of their ODA that supports the actual
scale-up of MDG-related investments. |
| Middle-income
countries should also seek opportunities to become providers of ODA and give
technical support to low-income countries. |
High-income
countries should open their markets to developing country exports through the
Doha trade round and help Least Developed Countries raise export competitiveness
through investments in critical trade-related infrastructure, including
electricity, roads, and ports. The Doha Development Agenda should be fulfilled
and the Doha Round completed no later than 2006.
International
donors should mobilize support for global scientific research and development to
address special needs of the poor in areas of health, agriculture, natural
resource and environmental management, energy, and climate. We estimate the
total needs to rise to approximately $7 billion a year by 2015.
The
UN Secretary-General and the UN Development Group should strengthen the
coordination of UN agencies, funds, and programs to support the MDGs, at
headquarters and country level. The UN Country Teams should be strengthened and
should work closely with the international financial institutions to support the
Goals.
| The
UN Country Teams should be properly trained, staffed, and funded to support
program countries to achieve the Goals. |
| The UN Country Team and the international financial institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, regional development banks) should work closely at country level to improve the quality of technical advice. |