Develop a Global Partnership for Development

1. What is Development?

Development has got various meanings. To define it plain and simple is a difficult task. The definition varies from place to place, person to person and context to context. The scope of development could even vary from global development as well as personal development. Hence it is difficult to draw a line and say this is development but somewhere we have to begin by looking at how lives of people can be improved and how they are enabled or made capable to come out of deprivations they suffer from. In the Indian context, Union as well as State governments are formulating pro - poor policies which intend to drive poor people out of poverty and to work towards their capacity building, so that they do not just remain as beneficiaries, but can sustain their lives and livelihoods of certain standard on their own, so that all basic rights and facilities are available to them. In the recently passed National Food Security Bill, which intends to provide food security to poor although a direct, affirmative approach. But the Indian culture is such that it just may foster a culture of dependency which our politicians are practicing since a long time. We hope that the impact of such policies are positive on lives of poor and needy. But then again it will just be a dimension of development. Development of IT and telecom infrastructure, health infrastructure, Educational infrastructure etc. the list is very long to spell each and every thing. So bringing about holistic development is very difficult, but it can be done through various approaches and involving people as stakeholders in the planning process.

2. Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals and targets came from United Nations Millennium Declaration signed by 189 countries, including 147 heads of state, in September 2000. A total of 8 goals were set up with 18 targets and each targets progress are to be measured by 45 technical indicators. All 189 members agreed to work towards achieving the eight development goals specified in Millennium development goals by year 2015. The eight goals focused on basically covered topics like primary education, health, poverty, gender equality, combat HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnerships. The goals and targets are interrelated and should be seen as a whole and it was thought that the achievement of these goals will bring about development in the country. The need was felt to centralize the efforts in planning and devise goals and indicators of development so that local governments can make policies accordingly and development may take place. They represent a partnership between developed and developing countries. The goals were the roadmap for the implementation of millennium declaration, based on the values and principles agreed upon by member states.

MDGs - A Critical perspective

The basic purpose of the MDG's is to give a direction to the governments across the globe to concentrate efforts on key goals for development. There is criticism to the MDG's that they do not factor in local political, economic, social conditions before deciding on the goals. For example if a country is not economically and politically sound then to expect them not to rely on foreign aid all the time will not be possible at all and if the aid is reaching the intended person is also a big question mark. Amid all this expecting a country like south Sudan to improve health conditions, primary education when country in a political and civil mess is a kind of joke. Yes, the efforts of UN must be commended for at least giving a direction and goals to focus on. Yet the monitoring and evaluation process is not full proof. For example, according to MDG#1 halve the proportion of people living below $1.25 by 2015. To be honest if UN claims that in countries like India and China the poverty is indeed halved, then it will be a false claim. The parameter initially was $1 per day but if we consider annual inflation of 5% then the actual amount they should focus on $2 rather than $1.25 per day. In addition to this there is no hidden fact that developing countries are engine of growth in today's world. So $1 combined with high growth rates of 6-9% will color picture even more blurred. This is just an instance which I thought of, I think there will be many like this. But even if the nature of MDG's are too quantitative and data driven, then also we can governments should focus on need of the people rather than just running after number to show in UN summits. Direction provided is okay but what is on ground it will be a lot different than what policy makers envisage in offices. What is the actual condition in Central African countries and south Asia is a lot different than what it is actually thought of in New York. Also considering global economic downturn the critical aid for poor countries and developing countries is falling. It is evident from below graph that recently the bilateral projects funding has reduced and overall funding for humanitarian projects has stagnated a bit over a period of 4 years.

3. MDG 8 - Develop a Global Partnership for Development

MDG 8 targets of meeting the special needs of LDCs and, through its trade-capacity building activities. In this way, it helps partner countries to take advantage of the global trading system. It calls on development partners to work together to ensure trade is fair, heavily indebted countries receive relief, funds are available to tackle poverty, essential drugs are available and affordable, and poor countries benefit from new information and communication technologies. For poor countries to reach all Goals, it is imperative that the developed countries contribute as well with more cooperation in general, either through Official Development Assistance (ODA) or international agreements, besides debt relief and fair trade rules. MDG 8 consists of 6 targets and each target has its own indicator to measure its progress.

SI. No. Targets About Indicators

1 Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system. (Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction - both nationally and internationally) 1) Despite the pledges by G20 members to resist protectionist measures initiated as a result of the global financial crisis, only a small percentage of trade restrictions introduced since the end of 2008 have been eliminated. The protectionist measures taken so far have affected almost 3 per cent of global trade.

1) Developing countries gain greater access to the markets of developed countries

2)