The MDGs and Beyond: Pro-poor Policy in a Changing World Andy Sumner and Claire Melamed
Introduction – The MDGs and Beyond:
Pro-poor Policy in a Changing World
Andy Sumner and Claire Melamed
Abstract This issue of the IDS Bulletin is dedicated to discussing and reviewing the MDGs and the global effort that grew from the UN Millennium Declaration. This article provides an overview of this IDS Bulletin and introduces the key themes.
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.
(The Millennium Declaration of the UN
General Assembly – resolution 55/2,
8 September 2000)
Important recurring debates include: what have the MDGs actually achieved, and for whom?
What can we learn from the MDGs about how the international community can best play a role in national processes of development and poverty reduction? Will the MDGs prove to reflect an international commitment to poverty reduction that goes beyond 2015, or are they the product of a specific moment, unlikely to be repeated?
1 Introduction
Nearly ten years have passed since that declaration and the context has changed radically. The Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) were an approach born of a benign era of relative stability, stronger economic growth and fairly buoyant aid budgets. We now face a very different world. Changes sparked by increased uncertainty and a growing sense of multiple insecurities have the potential to impact adversely on levels of poverty. The economic crisis itself has led to significant changes in the context for international development (see discussion in
McCulloch and Sumner 2009; Sumner and Tiwari
2008). The crisis/post-crisis context is, of course, central to many MDG questions not only in terms of crisis impacts on the MDGs and poverty but also in the impact on development commitments internationally and nationally over the next ten years. The articles here seek to inform
Pro-poor Policy in a Changing World
Andy Sumner and Claire Melamed
Abstract This issue of the IDS Bulletin is dedicated to discussing and reviewing the MDGs and the global effort that grew from the UN Millennium Declaration. This article provides an overview of this IDS Bulletin and introduces the key themes.
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.
(The Millennium Declaration of the UN
General Assembly – resolution 55/2,
8 September 2000)
Important recurring debates include: what have the MDGs actually achieved, and for whom?
What can we learn from the MDGs about how the international community can best play a role in national processes of development and poverty reduction? Will the MDGs prove to reflect an international commitment to poverty reduction that goes beyond 2015, or are they the product of a specific moment, unlikely to be repeated?
1 Introduction
Nearly ten years have passed since that declaration and the context has changed radically. The Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) were an approach born of a benign era of relative stability, stronger economic growth and fairly buoyant aid budgets. We now face a very different world. Changes sparked by increased uncertainty and a growing sense of multiple insecurities have the potential to impact adversely on levels of poverty. The economic crisis itself has led to significant changes in the context for international development (see discussion in
McCulloch and Sumner 2009; Sumner and Tiwari
2008). The crisis/post-crisis context is, of course, central to many MDG questions not only in terms of crisis impacts on the MDGs and poverty but also in the impact on development commitments internationally and nationally over the next ten years. The articles here seek to inform
References: Atkinson, A.B. (2006) ‘Funding the Millennium Development Goals: A Challenge for Global Spadaro, Amede (2009) Millennium Development Goals at Midpoint: Where Do We Stand and Where Chakravarty, S. and Majumber, A. (2008) ‘Millennium Development Goals: Measuring Clemens, Michael; Kenny, Charles and Moss, Todd (2007) ‘The Trouble with MDGs: Confronting Demery, L. and Walton, M. (1999) ‘Are the Poverty and Social Goals for the 21st Century Attainable?’, IDS Bulletin 30.2: 75–80 DFID (2009) Eliminating World Poverty: Building Our Fukuda-Parr, S. (2008) Are the MDGs Priority in Development Strategies and Aid Programmes? Only Gaiha, R. (2003) ‘Are the Millennium Goals of Poverty Reduction Useful?’, Oxford Development M. (1999) ‘Are the DAC Targets Achievable? Poverty and Human Development in the Year James, J. (2006) ‘Misguided Investments in Meeting Millennium Development Goals: A Manning, R. (2009) Using Indicators to Encourage Development: Lessons from the MDGs Maxwell, S. (2005) The Washington Consensus is Dead! Long Live the Meta-Narrative!, ODI McCulloch, N. and Sumner, A. (2009) ‘Will the Global Financial Crisis Change the Nelson, P.J. (2007) ‘Human Rights, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Reddy, S. and Heuty, A. (2005) ‘A Practical Approach to Achieving the Millennium Roberts, J. (2005) ‘Millennium Development Goals: Are International Targets Now More Saith, A. (2006) ‘From Universal Values to Millennium Development Goals: Lost in Satterthwaite, D. (2003) The Millennium Development Goals and Local Processes, London: Sumner, A. and Tiwari, M. (2008) After 2015: International Development Policy at a Crossroads,