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DEVELOPMENT: Millions More Children Attending School

Wolfgang Kerler

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 2008 (IPS) - Despite the world not being on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there has been real progress – even in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Poverty has been reduced, school enrolment has broadened, and there has been some success in the fight against child mortality and malaria.

“Enrolment in primary education has increased since 1991,” Cynthia Guttman, communications officer for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), told IPS. “But what is most important to note is that it has increased much faster since 1999.”

In regions farthest away from attaining the goals, progress has happened most impressively. “In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the number of children entering primary school for the first time increased by 36 percent since 1999,” she said. “Globally, there are more children in school than ever before.”

The reduction of child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 – part of the fourth MDG – will not be achievable without deeply intensified efforts. But “the good news is that the annual infant mortality rate continues to decline,” Brian Hansford, UNICEF child survival communication officer, told IPS.

In 2007, 3.5 million fewer children under five died than in 1990. “The bad news is that the annual death of some 9.2 million children under five is still a tragedy,” he stressed.

“There are enough successes to prove that most of the goals are reachable in all countries,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he presented the MDGs Report 2008. The report reveals though, that most of the goals will not be achieved if prevailing trends persist. “In most cases, we already know what needs to be done, and how. Now we need an aggressive push to get the world on track,” Ban said.

In September 2000, 189 U.N. member states agreed to fight poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. They set up eight MDGs that should be achieved within 15 years. The first seven goals mainly address the situation inside developing countries, the last goal signals that the rich countries, too, have to make their contribution and should build up a partnership for development with poor countries.

The member states set the target to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the worldwide proportion of people living in extreme poverty – below the poverty line of 1.25 dollars a day. According to the MDG report, the target is likely to be met. The number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion in 2005. The proportion of people below the poverty line fell from 41.7 percent to 25.7 percent over the same period.

Success is largely due to rapid economic growth in China, where the number of people living in extreme poverty decreased by 475 million between 1990 and 2005. In the meantime, the number of extreme poor increased by 100 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2006, many countries were close to achieving the goal of universal primary education – the net primary enrolment ratio exceeded 90 percent in most parts of the world. The overall ratio of developing regions climbed from 80 percent in 1991 to 88 percent 15 years later. Seventy-five million children are still out of school.

The empowerment of women and gender equality – both MDGs – are closely connected to education because education “gives women the tools, skills, knowledge and confidence to improve their livelihoods,” Guttman said.

Primary school access for girls in relation to boys is used as an indicator for gender equality. Most recent data shows that girls’ primary enrolment increased more than boys’ in all developing regions and that by 2006, two out of three countries have achieved gender parity at the primary level.

According to Guttman, “clear policy choices” made this progress possible: “Countries where primary school enrolments rose sharply generally increased their education spending.” In some cases school fees were abolished, girls’ participation boosted through special measures like community sensitisation campaigns, and poor households were given financial aid conditional on school attendance and health check-ups.

At the current pace, 28 out of the 86 countries that have not reached universal primary education will achieve it by 2015. One hundred eighteen out of 188 countries with data will meet the goal of gender parity in primary education.

Recently released UNICEF estimates show that under-five mortality has declined from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 68 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007, which equates to a 27 percent decrease – not enough to reach the MDG.

Yet there are some success stories: Countries like Bangladesh, Bolivia, Laos and Nepal have reduced their child mortality by 50 percent since 1990 and are on track to achieve the goal. Even in sub-Saharan Africa – home to the highest level of child mortality – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Niger have managed to reduce their child mortality significantly.

The reduction of child mortality is linked with two other MDGs – the improvement of maternal health and the fight against diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and others – where results are mixed. The numbers of people newly infected with HIV and of people who die from AIDS declined very slightly in recent years, as have maternal death rates. However, measures to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and malaria are expected to show results in the future.

Additionally 1.6 billion people have gained access to clean drinking water since 1990. The world is on track to meeting the target of 89 percent of the populations of developing countries having access to improved sources of drinking water. In contrast, the number of improved sanitation facilities – especially in sub-Saharan Africa – barely increased over the same period of time.

Overall, the successes will not be enough to reach all MDGs by 2015 if current trends continue.

The U.N. secretary-general has called for a special high-level event on Sep. 25 to boost global action to achieve the MDGs. Nearly 100 heads of state and government are expected to participate, as well as leaders from the private sector, foundations and civil society organisations.

Salil Shetty, director of the U.N.’s Millennium Campaign, said that progress is possible “if national leaders in developing countries are serious about achieving the goals.”

Some of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia – are likely to achieve many of the goals along with larger developing countries like Brazil.

As most rich donor countries are not meeting their commitments to increase development assistance, and as the global food crisis and economic slowdown could threaten what has already been achieved, “a renewed political commitment at the highest level is important,” Shetty said.