By Mary Robinson and - -
GENEVA, Dec 31 2003 (IPS)

My message to both the World Economic Form and the World Social Forum is the same: we won\’t achieve human security for all without taking global commitments to human rights and human development more seriously, writes Mary Robinson, executive director of The Ethical Globalisation Initiative, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this article, Robinson writes that we must first be more rigorous in holding governments accountable for the obligations they have made, most recently in the UN Millennium Declaration, adopted in September 2000. The Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development estimated that an additional USD 50 billion a year in global development spending would be needed to achieve the MDGs. Given the current budgets for military spending in nations around the world, that figure shouldn\’t daunt the international community. The MDGs should not be perceived as ends in themselves but as benchmarks of progress. They can be powerful tools for change because they are recognised by the UN and by the international financial institutions –the World Bank and IMF. Now we need to embed them solidly in the broader framework of human rights.

My message to both of these global meetings –which are known to take quite different viewpoints about the state of the world and how to improve it– is the same: we won’t achieve human security for all without taking global commitments to human rights and human development more seriously.

To do this, we must first be more rigorous in holding governments accountable for the obligations they have made, most recently in the United Nations Millennium Declaration adopted in September 2000. In that Declaration, world leaders agreed to respect and fully uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, strengthen the ability of all countries to act democratically and respect human rights, protect the rights of women and migrants, work collectively for a more inclusive political process, and ensure the freedom of the media and public access to information.

The Millennium Declaration also included a set of specific targets now known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. These eight goals include specific commitments to halve the number of people who are hungry or live in extreme poverty by 2015, provide primary education to every boy and girl by the same date, reduce maternal mortality by three quarters and death rates of children under 5 by two thirds, and achieve a number of specific objectives on gender equality and empowerment of women, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, housing, and environmental sustainability.

Many activists dismiss these commitments as empty rhetoric. They argue that to halve poverty is not an acceptable ambition. They contend that not one child should die from preventable disease; that no-one should go hungry. Morally, this is an absolutely fair challenge — yet it must be recognised that politically, though the goals are still achievable, reaching them by 2015 is an increasingly difficult challenge. Indeed, without major additional effort, the MDGs will not be met.

Over the past year, an interesting initiative has been assessing the extent to which different global actors –governments, international organisations, business and civil society– are showing the commitment that will be needed to make the progress required. The Global Governance Initiative will report its findings for the first time at this year’s World Economic Forum. It will say that, on all the most important commitments, including human rights, we are falling well short.

Arguments will continue about what must be done most urgently. Human rights activists stress that nation states have the first responsibility to foster economic and social development. Development experts emphasise that rich countries need to give more aid. The Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development estimated that an additional USD 50 billion a year in global development spending would be needed to achieve the MDGs. Given the current budgets for military spending in nations around the world, that figure shouldn’t daunt the international community.

Others rightly call for reform of international policy regimes that govern trade and finance, to ensure these enhance rather than impede the efforts of developing countries.

The report of the Global Governance Initiative makes clear that internationally agreed targets must be considered simultaneously and through coordinated strategies which identify the different responsibilities of all actors in society. For example, under the MDG commitments, governments are expected to submit “Country Reports” detailing the efforts they have made to achieve the targets. Citizens and civil society organisations should use this opportunity to work together and bring pressure on their governments, reminding them of their commitments and demanding full civil society participation in the design, drafting and monitoring of the Reports.

At the same time, donor institutions should be called on to fulfil the commitments they made in the Millennium Declaration and the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development.

The MDGs, particularly the numerical indicators, should not be perceived as ends in themselves but as benchmarks of progress. They can be powerful tools for change because they are recognised by the UN and by the international financial institutions –the World Bank and IMF. Now we need to embed them solidly in the broader framework of human rights.

So, yes, the MDGs don’t go far enough. If implemented, they will not end (but will halve) poverty and hunger; they will not eliminate (but could sharply reduce) death from preventable diseases. But is this a glass half full or half empty? In my view, if the MDGs are achieved by 2015, in the span of less than one generation, we will have taken a formidable step forward.

Success will require genuine international cooperation from many actors. The effort can build a new foundation for further progress towards the real dream of human dignity for all. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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