Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, and the Common Good

11. The MDGs, Partnering for Results

214 11 | The MDGs, Partnering for Results The UK Government Perspective Philip Parham This brief essay will give an overview from a government perspective on “partnering to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.” I plan to do three things: First, to set out our perspectives on the September 2010 un Millennium Development Goals Summit and how the united kingdom government approaches development. Second, to stress the vital role that the private sector plays in MDG achievement and to give you some examples of how the uk’s Department for International Development (DFID) works in tandem with business. And third, to outline the crucial role of civil society organizations in promoting the MDGs in developing countries, and how the united kingdom works with them. At that summit, over sixty world leaders came together at the united nations in new York to reaffirm their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and agree on an ambitious action agenda for achieving the goals by 2015. During the summit, the uk focused its efforts on securing a major push on the most off-track MDGs, particularly women’s and children’s health. un Secretary-General Ban ki-moon’s “every Woman, every The MDGs, Partnering for Results 215 child” event launched a global strategy aimed at saving the lives of more than 16 million women and children. At that event, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the uk’s contribution to this effort will lead to saving the lives of at least 50,000 women in pregnancy and childbirth and 250,000 newborns and will enable 10 million couples to access modern methods of family planning over the next five years. The event generated an unprecedented uS$40 billion in resources for maternal and child health and convened a wide range of partners behind the global strategy. Significant commitments to action came from a number of developed and developing countries, as well as the private sector, charities, nGos, and international organizations. The uk also helped put a focus on combating malaria by co-hosting a high-profile side event that both raised awareness and generated significant new commitments from the international community. Deputy Prime Minister clegg and International Development Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell announced our pledge of as much as £500 million per year by 2014 to help halve the number of deaths caused by malaria in at least ten African countries by 2015. As the uk’s Deputy Prime Minister set out in his address to the General Assembly at the summit, the united kingdom takes extremely seriously the commitments it has made to the developing world. That is why our government has maintained its commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on overseas development assistance by 2013. By achieving this in 2013 we were the first G8 country to reach this target. Increasing aid overseas is not an easy thing to do in a time of budget austerity, when uk taxpayers are feeling the pinch at home. But contributing financially to help developing countries achieve the MDGs is not merely altruism; it is also in developed countries’ enlightened self-interest. Growth in the developing world means new partners with which to trade and new sources of global growth. When the world is less secure, all countries are less secure within it. The MDGs are the key to lasting safety and future prosperity for people right across the globe. Given the economic challenges we face, there can be no stronger signal of the uk’s commitment to the outside world, and we hope this provides additional encouragement to other donor countries to achieve their targets. It is vital that all countries stand firm by their 216 Philip Parham commitments and make more efforts to help the poorest people in the world. economic times are tough—but no one is suffering more than those already living in poverty. We expect all countries to live up to the development commitments that they make. This applies not only to the financial commitments made by developed countries but also to the policy commitments made by developing countries. We hope the united nations will take the lead in following up on commitments made at the 2010 MDG Summit, both in the outcome Document that 192 member states signed, as well as the many policy and financial commitments made in the various summit side events. It is vital both for achieving the MDGs and for the...