Beyond Bono: Millenium Development Goals

So, Have You Heard of the Millennium Development Goals?

For those of us old enough to remember the famine in Ethiopia, and the Band Aid and Live Aid efforts that followed, the pain of watching the cycle of extreme poverty continue, the knowledge that women die in childbirth at unprecedented rates because of cultural traditions of Female Genital Mutilation that have no reason to continue, and the frustration of watching HIV/AIDS and other illnesses decimate populations have left many of us with a desire to see this kind of extreme poverty come to an end, in Africa and around the world. The eight Millennium Development Goals range from halving extreme poverty (something Bono has referred to, with his usual candor, as “stupid poverty”), to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, to providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015, form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and leading development institutions. They have galvanized never before seen efforts to meet the needs of the poorest of the poor. What are the MDGs ?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental stability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.

Fulfilling these eight MDGs would result in lifting more than 500 million people out of extreme poverty, with 300 million people no longer suffering from hunger. The lives of over 30 million children under the age of five would be saved. In her investiture sermon in 2006, the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, made a direct reference to the MDGs, calling for scripture to be fulfilled in this generation, in the courage to challenge our legislators to make poverty history, to fund AIDS work in Africa, and the distribution of anti-malarial mosquito nets, and primary schools where all children are welcomed.

But the hope of the MDGs is not limited to the UN; nor are the ideals of the MDGs the sole property of the community of faith. The MDGs have sparked the imagination of a quite varied group of folks, from pop superstars (Bono) to movie idols (George Clooney, Penelope Cruz) to everyday people, and these have come together to ensure that our government keeps its promises to the worldís most vulnerable people. And that is how the MDGs helped create a virtual community known as The One. You may have heard of The One. Its catchphrase (”One is the campaign to make poverty history.”) caught on quickly, as did the white wristbands with The One logo.

We are at a crossroads in human history. We have the ability to end extreme poverty in our lifetime. It wonít work seamlessly. But we are, for the first time, shining a light on how extreme, and extremely unnecessary, the suffering caused by this poverty is. Our government, and every other major government in the world, has agreed to the MDGs, and, according to the UN, we are making progress toward the 2015 deadline. It is up to us, as citizens, to make sure that the US continues to keep its promises to those who have suffered for so long under the violence and oppression of extreme poverty.

It is time to go back and undo the damage that poverty has done to the least among us. It is time to be the one who gives back. How much? How? Be led by your heart, be led by your spirit. But be the one. 2015. It is almost here.

-ysolde