Mozambique Straight from the Field

Hear about development in Mozambique straight from the field.

According to a country report of the African Peer Review Mechanism, Mozambique has made progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but there is still much ground left to be made up. Achievements crucial to the MDGs such as successful economic reform, advances in health, and improvement of education have all been recognized as a step in the right direction; however, the issues of political corruption, inequality, HIV/AIDS, and prevalent poverty remain challenges.

Much of the praise for Mozambique is due to the government’s “self-assessment” processes. A combined effort consisting of civil society, the private sector, and various political parties, the processes are intended to review and evaluate success and failures of governance in improving the state of the country.

Recognizing Mozambique’s progress in many areas and as the United Nations continued support of Mozambique, UNDP-USA has sent a civilian delegation to the country to witness projects first hand and report to the American public about their experience. Check out updates to our blog throughout the trip -- http://voicesfromthefield.blogspot.com/! And check in after our delegation returns for articles, op-eds, and other updates!

Sneaky Sands Threaten Livelihoods Around the World

With the majority of news broadcasts covering incidents of death, disease, and destruction, the major threat of desertification to the lives of millions around the world is often overlooked. However, on June 17—officially marked World Day to Combat Desertification—Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon made it his personal mission to emphasize the danger of encroaching deserts, especially to populations already marginalized by poverty. A process that is accelerating rapidly as a result of climate change, desertification is an issue that, like many others, will disproportionately affect the poor. According to Mr. Ban’s statement, by 2050, an estimated 200 million people, particularly those who lack the capacity to adapt, will become environmentally-induced migrants. The resultant extent of displacement in turn will set the stage for increased instability and conflict in those regions hardest hit.

As the average surface temperature of the planet continues to rise, increased periods of drought and famine will deepen poverty, and as a consequence, reverse any progress made toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Further land degradation is sure to incite a greater incidence of transnational and intrastate conflicts as displaced populations fight to secure their most basic needs. While these conflicts may occur under the pretense of cultural and religious differences, the underlying environmental factors must be addressed. Simply put, regardless of cause, climate change is real, and its portended effects can and will be devastating. Something most be done to reverse environmental degradation; if not, a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions may be inevitable.

Tech-Savvy Ghanaians!

Technology is not reserved only for the wealthy, industrialized nations. We can now use technology to aid developing countries in battling poverty as well as coping with rapid globalization. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN-Ghana), is setting up ten Information and Communication Technology (ITC) learning centers in each of the ten regions in Ghana. This MTN ITC Learning Centers Project is a US$670,000 project, with $70,000 funded by UNDP. ITC education will serve multiple purposes, from developing the economy and enhancing the quality of education, to encouraging entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities. In addition, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Daouda Toure, said the UNDP would continue to help Ghana in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and middle-income status by 2015.

Whoa, Maama!

Ninsiima Judith just gave birth to a healthy 9-lb boy. Ninsiima is one of several hundred women in Ruhiira, a village in Southwestern Uganda, to give birth in a health institution. She delivered her previous children at home with the assistance of traditional midwives because health institutions lacked the essentials.

This is now changing rapidly. Ruhiira has placed child and maternal mortality among its highest priorities and is decreasing death rates dramatically. Now, thanks to a health kit disseminated by UNDP and known as the “Maama” Kit, the number of medically-supervised deliveries in Ruhiira has increased to 75%, up from 8% in December 2007. That’s 263 births per months, up from 51.

The “Maama” Kits are designed to help women deliver in clean conditions. They include baby sheets; soap; pads; gloves; a surgical blade; a sterilized chord for tying the umbilical cord and rehydration packages. The pack reduces the risk of vaginal and eye infections, tetanus and diarrhea, all of which may occur in bad hygiene conditions.

UNFPA Lobby Day

Did you know that every minute another woman will die from complications associated with childbirth? Without access to health care and education about pregnancy and contraception, women living in developing nations have a greater risk of dying from giving birth. In Africa, where women are 184 times more likely to die from a pregnancy related complication than women living in the US, 1 woman out of 26 will die each year due to preventable complications. Every year, UNFPA which provides women with prenatal health care and health education, relies on the financial support of the US and other nations.

To help educate legislators about UNFPA, I attended Lobby Day on Friday March 6th in Washington, DC. By educating legislators about the need for congressional funding for UNFPA programs, $50 million dollars was allocated to UNFPA for 2009. As a result of this valuable funding, the UN will be able to implement women-empowering programs that focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, humanitarian relief following a crisis, family planning, and better access to maternal healthcare.

To find out more about UNFPA, click here

India's Caste System Falling Down? At least, Fiscally?

Finally the rights of the poor are being explored by the powerful. With urbanization increasing with growing GDP, the UNDP has issued the first ever India: Urban Poverty Report 2009 to address the issue. The report lays the foundation for a strategy against continuing rising poverty even with increasing GDP while showing poverty is independent of economic growth.


With 23.7 percent of the population living in urban slums, the poor must be at the center of analysis. Not only do the services for the poor need to be delivered to them now, they need to be delivered even when the influx of urbanization is at 50% projected for 2030 in the report. By achieving this, the MDG's (Millenium Development Goals), like cutting global poverty in half by 2015, are starting to come to life in a structural way.


WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE!!! CLICK

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Congratulates President-Elect Barack Obama

“This is, I believe an historic opportunity,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, extending his heartfelt congratulations to United States President-Elect Barack Obama. With the many challenges facing the United Nations including the Millennium Development Goals, nuclear proliferation, the food and energy crisis, climate change and global financial turmoil, the Secretary-General is encouraged by Obama’s repeated message of hope, multilateralism and diplomacy while campaigning. The two (very busy) men met last year while on a flight between Washington and New York, taking the time to talk about the pressing goals of the UN. The Secretary General reported that he was very optimistic about their relationship in the future, noting that Obama “was very engaging and he knew a lot about the United Nations.”

It was all about the Blue Flag!

Friday October 24th, the UN celebrated its birthday, marking 63 years to the date since its mandate began in 1945. Like the rest of the world, the UN has evolved quite rapidly over these years, containing 192 member states and thousands of programs. The occasion was celebrated in an array of events throughout the whole world, which included film screenings in DC, blood drives in Namibia, concerts in New York, and tree-planting in Darfur; The UN Yearbook was also launched and a ceremony was held in Moscow honoring 60 years of UN presence in Russia.

We might ask, what does UN Day really mean? Well, this day celebrates the UN’s success throughout time. It also promotes the values inscribed within the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as honoring the everyday struggle to make this a peaceful and just world.

Stand-Up and break the Guinness Records!

Last year in the week of Oct. 17th more than 43 million people around the world Stood Up against poverty and broke the Guinness World Record for the largest stand up in a week. Today the movement to end extreme poverty is attempting to break that record and inspire 1% of the population (a massive 67 million!) to Stand Up and demand our world leaders to keep the promises and goals they set in 2000 and take action against poverty.

Given the challenges facing the international community such as halting and containing the effects of climate change, the rise in food prices, and the global economic crisis we must not forget about the world’s poor and how they are disproportionately affected by these issues. Not acting is no longer an option. We are half way to the finish line, and while tremendous achievements have been made, we (and our leaders) still have a long way to go.

So STAND UP and grasp the immense power YOU have to change the course of the world! STAND UP and give 5 minutes of your thoughts to positive ways in which we can tackle this problem! STAND UP! And don’t sit on it!
Across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania, the global movement in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals continues to grow. Events ranging from concerts, dances, teach-ins, film screenings and prayer circles to raise awareness and urge people to take action. To find out how you can take part in the Stand Up Guinness Record- breaking attempt got to: www.standagainstpoverty.org

World Leaders Optimistic Malaria Will be Eradicated by 2015

On Thursday, September 25, world leaders announced the goal of ending deaths from malaria by 2015 is within reach. Malaria, the single greatest cause of death for the world’s children, causes more than one million deaths each year. A celebratory mood could be felt at the Malaria Summit as data released by the World Health Organization suggested malaria rates are falling. The decline is credited to scientific advancements, including the development of a possible vaccine, as well as increased prevention efforts. Historically, malaria has been a blight on the world’s health record, since it is a largely preventable disease. However, news that the instance of malaria has decreased creates excitement and momentum for this campaign. An unprecedented pledge by a number philanthropic organizations for $3 billion for malaria programs was also announced on Thursday, providing the funds that will hopefully eradicate this disease. "Everyone needs victories," said Timothy Wirth, president of the U.N. Foundation, “and this is a good one.”

Support Women's Heath and Rights

Americans for UNFPA is working (in the time after the appropriations markups and before the new President and Congress are sworn in) to get the next President on the record supporting global women’s health and rights. They’re taking out an ad in Roll Call in September, aimed at Obama and McCain, with a simple statement “Dear Senators Obama and McCain, promise to fully fund global women’s health by restoring the $235 million that has been blocked from UNFPA in the last seven years” and the signatures of supporters. The visibility of the names of global women’s health and rights supporters will demonstrate the value of global women to both presidential candidates.
Take a second to sign this ad, and your name will be listed with thousands of others in an ad directed at Obama and McCain.

Reaching for the Top

Have you ever dreamed of scaling Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world? This year, that dream became reality for a group of Nepali women. The first all-female, all-Nepali expedition team successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest in May 2008. Known as the First Inclusive Women Sagarmatha Expedition 2008 (FIWSE 2008), this group of women came together from a wide range of castes and ethnic backgrounds to promote tolerance and break down traditional gender barriers. Supported in part by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Program (WFP), their climb promoted the Millennium Development Goals by facilitating women’s empowerment and gender equality. The ten courageous women who reached the summit this spring hope that their actions will encourage young girls in Nepal to pursue an education, enter male-dominated professions, and strive for success regardless of their gender or caste.

Read UNDP’s press release about FIWSE

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2.6 Billion People: That's a lot

Today we urge you to read this posting on the New York Times blog which talks about the UN Water team's efforts to deal with the 2.6 BILLION people who don't have access to sanitation.

UNICEF Partners with Dubai Cares

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is partnering with Dubai Cares, a program recently launched Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai to support education. Together UNICEF and Dubai Cares hope to increase education programs around the work in an effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

There are 92 million children in the world who are not currently receiving primary education. The Millennium Development Goals express a goal to achieve universal primary education by 2015. The funding from Dubai Cares will be used across the globe in Africa, South Asia, and Eastern Europe to build and upgrade schools.

To learn more about this:

Check out the MDG Monitor to see what the progress is for achieving the Millennium Development Goals:

http://www.mdgmonitor.org/

Read the full article at:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25660&Cr=education&Cr1=

Promoting Potatos

Did you know that spuds can save lives? Yep, it is true... the carb laden potato that you shun in the name of weight loss has huge potential to deal with global hunger problems.

Why? The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals.

In honor of this humble nightshade plant (and its potential to help solve the global hunger crisis), the United Nations has declared 2008 to be the year of the potato.

Check out the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for more information on the International Year of the Potato! The video on the home page is quite informative, although a bit dry.

Learn something, feed people

You enrich your vocabulary while putting rice on a hungry person's table somewhere in the world. That is the basic plan Free Rice, the vocabulary game that is sweeping through the halls of DC think tanks and high school writting classes.

It is much easier for you to play it than read about it... so click here and spend 3 minutes. You will get addicted or feel inferior, either way you will earn some rice for hungry folks and learn something about the English language.

Ok, you are still reading and want to know how it works? Well, basically there is an ad banner on the site and the advertisers pay for the rice that you win in the game. The rice goes to the United Nations World Food Program for distribution to those who need it most.

What a good idea!

Human development, just one click away

UNDP is moving with the times, especially when it comes to technology. Last week, the UN, Google and Cisco launched a new resource designed to track the progress of the Millennium Development Goals.

But MDG Monitor is far more interactive and user friendly than the wealth of information that already exists online. In the place of complex reports, this brand new resource offers users the opportunity to track progress on any of the MDGs in any given region of the world. Indicators ranging from health to education to socioeconomic factors are readily interactive and available.

Next time you're surfing the net, take a moment and visit MDG Monitor. Pick any country in the developing world and immediately find out what challenges they face, where progress has been made and what still needs to be done. Human development with just one click.

Celebrities Against Poverty

People listen when sports stars have something to say. Maria Sharapova recently joined up with NBA star LeBron James to spearhead the "Team Up Against Poverty" intiative, launched by the UN Development Program to raise awareness about the Millennium Development Goals. Essentially, the stars will use their celebrity to publicize the MDGs and encourage greater action to achieve them by the 2015 deadline.

With the help of world-renowned photographers, Sharapova, James and a total of 50 other celebrities will participate in a series of advertisements promoting the MDGs. These include eradicating povery, improving access to education, promoting women's rights and providing adequate health care. UNDP is responsible for coordinating the specific actions relating to each goal.

Sharapova has experience in using her fame to rally support for important causes. Appointed a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in February 2007, she has supported the MDG campaign, as well as specific development programs in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Hopefully her fame and experience will provide "Team Up Against Poverty" the necessary push it needs to suceed. Let's bring the MDGs to the mainstream.

Youth Unite!

Few organizations have the power to unite people across the world in celebration of a common cause. The UN did just that on August 12 for International Youth Day, established 8 years ago to enable young people to become as politically and socially involved as possible in pressing global issues.

If you want to get involved

Youth organizations have a very refreshing take on how to take action on the Millennium Development Goals. I particularly recommend UNICEF's Voices of Youth for ideas and practical advice on where to begin on the road to advocacy.

Another great resource is TakingITGlobal, an interactive online community that connects you to others with similar interests and ideas. Create a profile and start sharing information today!

100 People

Sometimes it can be easy to get lost in talk of GDP, percentages, billions. This video does a great job breaking through the numbers and showing what achieving the Millennium Development Goals really means for all of humanity.