Newsletter January 2016
First of all the best wishes for the new year. I hope it will be a very good year.
2016 is the year when we celebrate 30 years of existence. That will take place in one of the last weekends of October. We will keep you informed.
In previous circulars I have tried to give an answer to the question whether the first four Millennium Development Goals are achieved. In this letter I would try to give an answer concerning the other four goals.
Millennium Development Goal 5
In 2015, the maternal mortality should be reduced by three quarters.
The maternal mortality rate has been almost halved (a decrease of 47%), but is not on track to fulfilling its objective. The majority of these women live in developing countries and it remains important to invest in good education. Educated women know better how to protect themselves against diseases such as HIV / AIDS.
Millennium Development Goal 6
In 2015 the spread of diseases like malaria and AIDS stops.
More and more people get good information, good drugs against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. There seems to be a Dutch invention come on the market which can reduce malaria in a different way. Let's hope this discovery can be accessible to everyone. The number of HIV infections decrease worldwide. All this is not sufficient to say that this millennium goal is achieved.
MDG 7
In 2015, the number of people without access to proper sanitation and clean drinking water are reduced by half. The living conditions in the slums must be improved and governments should commit to protecting the environment.
The number of people with access to improved sanitation increased significantly (especially in Africa), but still 15% of the world's population lacks access to them (for developing countries is 50%). At present 90% of the world has access to clean drinking water. In both cases, one can say that we are on track, but still not enough to say that this goal has been achieved. The last climate summit has shown that the countries are prepared to protect the environment, but it is currently still far below par.
The living conditions in the slums may indeed be slightly improved, the number of people living in those areas has increased. For that reason you cannot say that this goal has been achieved.
MDG 8
In 2105 there are no more barriers to trade, the debt burden of developing countries lightened and they get more help from the rich countries.
There is a tendency that fair trade in the world is growing. However, the average amount of aid decreased from 0.32% of GDP to 0.29% in 2012. It was agreed a norm of 0.7%. Therefore you may wonder whether the given development aid ends up where it is intended.
We can conclude that there is still much work to be done.
In September 2015 the leaders of the world negotiated to lay down new targets. I'll come back to that.
Wishing all the best,
Kees Ooijevaar (secretary)
KvK: 371000429 Bank: NL16 RABO 03689.48.870 t.n.v. Auxilia
