You can now monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals using the MDG Monitor. We are just over seven years away from the 2015 target date, so in theory it should be easy to see whether things are on target. Unfortunately in practice it’s a bit harder to see how things are going because data is not available for many countries, and the data which is available is often several years out of date.
The first goal is to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. The second goal is to ensure that children everywhere will be able to complete primary school. The third is to eliminate gender disparity in all levels of education. The fourth is to reduce by two-thirds the under-five mortality rate. The fifth is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters. The sixth is to reverse the spread of AIDS, malaria and other major diseases. The seventh is to reverse environmental loss, halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, and achieve a significant improvement in the lives of 100 million slum dwellers. The eighth is a collection of targets relating to global partnerships for development.
In general, the goals are on target except in Africa, where very little improvement is occurring. Unfortunately, Africa remains the problem case in international development. This doesn’t mean we should abandon Africa; it means we need to be more careful to ensure than development efforts in Africa actually have the intended beneficial results.