by Debie Waggoner September 8, 2010
(The MDGs are listed at the end of this summary.)
Moderators: Jose Miguel Insulza: OAS Secretary General and Irene Klinger, OAS Director of the Dept. of International Affairs
Presenters: (Primary) Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Assisted by Heraldo Muňoz of the UN Development Programme and Dr. Juan Manuel Sotelo of Partnerships of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Additional remarks by Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
SUMMARY of Presentation:
First of all, the presentation of the progress that LAC and the Caribbean have made on the MDGs was brief considering the amount of information that was gathered and analyzed. There is an inch-thick report that goes into much greater detail. Be aware that this information was collected from over 18 different agencies. The overall feeling from the presenters is that LAC has made solid progress, with the caveat, of course, that the data which was gathered is primarily from the years 2000-2008 (what the OAS refers to as the “Bonanza Period” due to the 4-5% growth experienced in much of the LAC), so it may not reflect any of the effects of the global financial crisis. This is important to note, since a lot may have changed in the past two years depending on how badly a particular country’s economy tanked. Not to be negative, but keep all of these statistics in mind when we hear stories from those who are currently living in LAC and have a very different reality from two years ago. That said, here is the run-down of what the OAS felt was important in this report.
Poverty Reduction: considered the most important overarching goal to combat the 8 MDGs.
The MDG goal is a 50% reduction in poverty by 2015. In the period referred to above, LAC saw an 11% decrease in poverty due to growth, employment, and the shift in demographics (i.e. people are having fewer children). Jamaica was credited with the greatest decrease in poverty and the Caribbean was, overall, doing better than the rest of LAC. Brazil, Chile and Peru have already reached their poverty reduction goals.
The Gini Index (which measures economic inequality-the lower the number, the more economic equality exists, for more info: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html) showed that economic equality increased in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Hunger: Malnutrition and Chronic Malnutrition
Progress has been made in battling malnutrition; however, the market forces have not helped due to the financial crisis. There is a surplus of food in LAC, but the prices are often too high for families to buy quality, nutritional foods.
Education: the OAS proposes a 5 year, $59 million plan to get LAC countries up to speed in the education sector. Whether or not this will happen, is a big question. Records for primary schools are good, but the quality of the education is concerning. According to Ms. Bárcena, many students in secondary education drop out and the number one reason is that they are bored. They think they are smarter than the teachers and can learn more from the internet than from their educators. She did not address what types of qualifications teachers are expected to have (do they need a college degree in most of the LAC?) or what is being suggested as a solution.
Gender Equality: The massive amounts of unemployed youth are a major concern in the OAS. Young women have a 52% unemployment rate in LAC. Many youths are not working and not studying (called ninis-doing nothing). Overall youth unemployment is 20-30% in some countries and many have no social protections (unemployment benefits, healthcare, food-stamps, etc.)
Ms. Bárcena mentioned 3 pillars to achieve autonomy for women: 1. Education (women are making great strides towards improving their education in some of the LAC) 2. Salary Equality-most women make 20% less than men doing the same job. 3. Reproductive/Physical Autonomy: there is a need to improve information on birth control, maternal health, combating adolescent pregnancies, and freeing women from the cultural image that women should stay at home and raise babies rather than seeking means to support themselves financially.
Child Mortality: not specifically addressed, but infant mortality was mentioned. LAC has seen a 52 percent drop in infant mortality. The goal is a 2/3 drop, so they are well on their way to achieving this one.
Maternal Health-addressed with Gender Equality
HIV/AIDS: OAS only noted that there had been “many improvements” in this area, particularly in the availability of anti-retroviral drugs and education on protected sex.
Environmental Sustainability: OAS did not seem to have any solid data on this and admitted that data had been hard to collect. However, they did come up with a few stats such as the fact that in 2000, LAC was responsible for more than 80,000 tons of ozone-harming pollution per annum and by 2008 that had been reduced to 7,000 tons. Deforestation is, not surprisingly, a major concern since LAC is being deforested at twice the rate of any other region of the world. Drinking water and sanitation have vastly improved in most of the LAC, with the significant exception of the rural areas which remain very badly off. Also of major concern is that 110 million people live in slums or shanty-towns; this is 36% of the LAC population. No headway has been made in reducing the number of people living in slums-which is interesting considering the high priority placed on poverty reduction.
Global Partnership for Development:
Obviously, many LAC have benefited from foreign aid; but the greatest source of development has been the $138 Billion in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and the $60 billion that floods into the region from remittances. Many LAC have been designated “Middle Income” countries and are no longer receiving as much foreign aid and no longer receive special status as trading partners. The report states that for now, trade is not enough; the FDI does the most to help economic growth. Interestingly, the report mentions that Bolivia has the greatest amount of reserves in the region-which really surprised me.
Conclusion: Looking better, but a lot more needs to be done.
Two things were heavily emphasized at the conclusion of the presentation, and throughout it as well.
Inequality-this word was mentioned numerous times and seems to be the obsession of the OAS. There are very high concentrations of wealth that the OAS would like to see more evenly distributed. No one went into details about how they envisioned greater equality, other than the second heavily emphasized point:
Institutionalizing public policies-the vague answer to reducing inequality was for LAC governments to create infrastructure that included institutions responsible for maintaining sound and consistent public polices, rather than leaving this to governments that change every few years. Increased transparency is a must and the OAS believes people across the region are demanding it. The political will has to be mustered to make these improvements, but of course, in reality, that means fighting corruption and raising taxes.
Final Note: Haiti was not included in this report-it is in extreme debt, is recovering from a horrible disaster, and is not expected to meet any of the MDGs.
What are the Millennium Development Goals?
*From http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the most broadly supported, comprehensive and specific development goals the world has ever agreed upon. These eight time-bound goals provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. They include goals and targets on income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.
Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the MDGs are both global and local, tailored by each country to suit specific development needs. They provide a framework for the entire international community to work together towards a common end ?making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere. If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy. The eight MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.
· Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
· Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
· Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
· Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
· Goal 5: Improve maternal health
· Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
· Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
· Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
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