UN Millennium Campaign in India
“We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want.” – The Millennium Declaration promise to change the world
A historic promise to end poverty was made by leaders of 189 states at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, when they signed the Millennium Declaration. With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as an eight point roadmap, marked by measurable targets and clear deadlines, building an equitable, prosperous and just world by 2015, seems achievable.
For the first time ever, such a determined and holistic effort has been taken jointly by the international community to address poverty and human injustice around a set of common indicators. At a time when our planet and people are at great risk, keeping our commitment to the vision of the Millennium Declaration has become a priority. It will require strong political will from national leaders, backed by active participation by citizens to demand and obtain good governance, corruption free delivery of services and equitable economic growth.
The UN Millennium Campaign
The UN Millennium Campaign is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations established in 2002 to support citizen’s efforts to hold their governments accountable for the achievement of the MDGs. The Campaign works towards making citizens aware of their governments’ commitments and motivating them to actively participate in democratic institutions and political processes. This is done through initiating an open social dialogue that enables participation in planning development programmes and by allowing different segments of society to identify and prioritise areas for collaboration. In collaboration with partners across civil society, media, faith-based organisations, local authorities, youth and private sector, the campaign focuses on advocacy actions to build political will in governments and help formulate a policy framework that accelerates and fosters the achievement of MDGs.
A joint effort to fulfil promises
Such a large scale and synchronised galvanisation of the international community towards common goals is what sets apart the MDGs. Rich and the poor countries will have to work in tandem to fulfil their own set of promises. While developing countries, under the framework of MDGs 1-7, must pledge to govern better and invest in healthcare, education facilities and better employment for their people, the developed countries must fulfill MDG 8 by promoting aid effectiveness, reforming trade policies and implementing debt cancellation.
India and the MDGs
Inclusive Growth: The paradox and challenge
Despite unprecedented economic growth since India opened its doors to liberalisation, millions of people still lack the basic requirements to ensure a decent living in terms of nutrition, access to education and basic health, and also to other public services such as water supply and sewerage. The benefits of growth continue to evade many disadvantaged groups, especially the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the minorities. Regional imbalances have emerged across and even within states.
In India the campaign focuses on MDGs 1-7, and in developing partnerships with and strengthening capacities of six key constituencies to achieve the goals by 2015: civil society organisations, parliamentarians, local authorities, youth, media and the private sector in the priority states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. . These are the priority states where the United Nations works in India in collaboration with the Indian government under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), to promote collective action at different levels of government in support of sustainable human development and the elimination of poverty and inequalities. The Millennium Campaign also seeks to strengthen synergy between the advocacy efforts of the UN organisations working in India on these key development issues through the UNDAF.
For more information regarding the UN Millennium Campaign’s work in the Asia and Pacific, log on to www.asiapacific.endpoverty2015.org
For information regarding our civil society engagement, log on to http://www.wadanatodo.net
Campaigning to End Poverty Now!
For the fourth year in a row, the global anti-poverty campaign, Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now! broke a Guinness World Record in 2009 when 173 million citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that their governments eradicate extreme poverty and achieve theMDGs. It was the largest mobilisation of human beings in recorded history. In India 23 million people showed solidarity and participated in the campaign last year; this is up by 14 million from 2008.
Highlights of the Campaign in 2009
MDG Chase Mobile Game
Watch Kiran Bedi, Rahul Bose, Aamir Khan and A.R. Rahman, and discuss the campaign.
Highlights of 2008's Stand Up campaign in India
