Number 10, September 2010
briefing paper
The MDG Summit:
Strengthening the U.S. Role in Accelerating Progress
by Diana Aubourg Millner
Todd Post
Key Points
While there have been some notable gains over the past decade in achieving
the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), progress on the MDGs as a
whole is a mixed bag, particularly in Africa, where many of the MDG targets will
not be met.
One of the most important requirements for progress on the MDGs is clear
leadership at the country level, including the integration of the goals into national
planning.
The next five years present an opportunity to build on proven strategies to get
results. To strengthen U.S. leadership in achieving the MDGs, the United States
must:
• Develop a five-year U.S. government acceleration strategy
• Scale up proven nutrition interventions
• Fully fund U.S. government global initiatives and
• Measure effectiveness across the board.
Diana Aubourg Millner is senior foreign assistance policy analyst for Bread for the World Institute.
Bread for the World Institute provides
policy analysis on hunger and strategies
to end it. The Institute educates its advocacy network, opinion leaders, policy
makers and the public about hunger in
the United States and abroad.
www.bread.org
Abstract
The U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) generated unprecedented levels of commitment
to dramatically cut poverty and disease, improve access to education
and health, and promote gender
equity and environmental sustainability.
Over the past decade, the MDGs
have become in many ways the
most accessible set of global benchmarks–embraced by governments,
civil society actors, grassroots and
youth-focused groups, and celebrities alike.
However, progress on the MDGs
as a whole is a mixed bag, particularly in Africa, where many of the
MDG targets will not be met. For
most of the past decade, global hunger has steadily increased, particularly in 2008-2009 as a food price
crisis emerged in tandem with the
global economic downturn.
One of the most important requirements for progress on the
MDGs is clear leadership at the
country level, including the integration of the goals into national planning. With a focused strategy, based
on measurable results, the United
States can redouble its efforts to accelerate progress on the MDGs.