Time for people living in poverty to have a voice on the MDGs

Two interesting blog posts drew my attention the last couple of days. Firstly from the Guardian's Poverty Matter blog is an article on the need for a new set of MDGs that apply to all countries. I couldn't agree more with the view that, "The MDGs development targets (MDGs 1-7) apply only to "developing countries", leaving the entirely false implication that "developed countries" no longer have anything to improve on. Next time we draw up some global targets, all countries should be treated the same, all with targets to meet at home, and all with a responsibility to offer help and solidarity abroad."


ATD Fourth World has long argued the same point and is in the process of drawing up a project that will give people living in the most extreme poverty in "developing countries" the chance to have their say on the impact the Goals have had on their lives to date. The project will also include people living in long-term poverty in Europe and North America their opportunity to have a say on what poverty eradication targets have meant to them (the EU for example set a target in 2000 to make a decisive impact on poverty). The project also aims to enable people living in poverty to point the way forward so that the successor to the MDGs post-2015 has more success in reaching those experiencing the severest poverty. 


Whilst working on this project proposal today, I came across a blog post that publicised a Village in Action Conference that seeks to build a platform for villages to be heard in order to,"Contribute not only our voices to the discussion, but to also showcase what we are already doing to advance our own communities."  The first Conference will take place in Uganda on 27 November. This initiative came about due to frustration that debate on the MDGs, particularly during the September summit, is devoid of the voice of those who stand lost to gain from them.


I look forward to reading what the people from this Ugandan village have to say about what they are doing to achieve the MDGs. Between now and 2015, we will need plenty more initiatives that do not see people in poverty as mere "beneficiaries" but actors of change whose knowledge cannot go untapped if we want to make that decisive impact on extreme poverty in all countries in the world. 

Gross national happiness

As world leaders come away from the UN in New York following this week's MDG summit and opening of the General Assembly, is anything likely to change for the people whose lives the MDGs are intended to improve? Let's be honest, given that the community of nations pledged 10 years ago to, "spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty," they were hardly likely to shrug their shoulders and back away from such promises. But are we any closer now to delivery on these promises?

What positives can we take away from the summit to reassure people across the world whose lives have gone unchanged, or become more difficult, since 2000? Aside the usual rhetoric of "must do better", there were some departures from the standard script. Presidents Sarkozy and Zapatero spoke passionately about the need to introduce a tax on international financial transactions to fund progress towards the MDGs. But with the continued lukewarm response from the US in particular, this is unlikely to see the light of day any time soon. The Swiss government's representative focussed on the need for a human rights approach to achieving the MDGs, a tool woefully absent from the framework to date. And there is finally some mention in the summit's outcome document of the need to respect, protect and promote human rights in order to reach the Goals. But no mention of how this will be fulfuilled.

My highlight though was the speech from the Prime Minister of Bhutan. He called on the voluntary adoption of a ninth MDG: happiness. Bhutan has long rejected mainstream development paradigms, opting to meaure its country's progress not by improvements in Gross National Product, but Growth National Happiness. Interestingly, the Bhutanese rightly point out that the MDG framework does nothing to tackle poverty and inequality in the developed world. Goals towards achieving happiness, they point out, would be equally relevant and valuable for the global north.

Below you can view the Bhutan Prime Minister's address. This concept is not to be dismissed out of hand. The wonders of economic growth, even before the crisis, have been unable to eradicate poverty and achieve full enjoyment of all human rights for all. Despite the laughter in the General Assembly from some quarters that accompanied Bhutan's idea, there is surely something to gain from taking a closer look at Gross National Happiness.