Weitzenegger's Millennium Development Goals Report

MDG

Sustainable Development Report on Africa (SDRA)
http://www.uneca.org/ecaresources/Publications/books/sdra/index.htm
The Economic Commission for Africa has released the second edition of its flagship publication, the Sustainable Development Report on Africa (SDRA). This edition of SDRA is devoted to a five-year review of the implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development Outcomes in Africa (WSSD+5). Several African countries have made progress in economic governance, public financial management and accountability and the integrity of the monetary and financial systems. As a result, the situation in Africa today is better than it was a decade or so ago. However, a great deal remains to be done. In the area of corporate governance, countries have made efforts to promote private sector-led growth and development.

Stepping up the ladder: how business can help achieve the MDGs
http://tinyurl.com/59asvl
Business and development is the topic to watch and work on in 2008, as businesses
respond to sustained pressure to contribute to the MDGs. Maintain the pressure, manage the engagement, and the prize is a new contribution by business to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods: social welfare contributions and links to social enterprises, yes, but also new procurement practices and new kinds of partnership with local communities and local government. To understand the potential, think of business engagement as a (short) ladder with three – possibly four – steps.

Countdown 2010
http://www.countdown2010.net
A powerful network of active partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target. As a partner, AGEG Consultants support projects and programmes towards biodiversity conservation and improvement of local livelihoods world-wide in collaboration with other partners (e.g. GTZ, KfW, WWF). AGEG also provides expertise and collaborates with local NGOs in voluntary conservation initiatives in Germany with specific attention to forest biological diversity.

World Bank/IMF: Global Monitoring Report 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5zbweg
This new report warns that most countries will fall short on the MDGs. Though much of the world is set to cut extreme poverty in half by then, prospects are gravest for the goals of reducing child and maternal mortality. The report also stresses the link between environment and development. The implication of this assessment is clear. If the world is to get back on track to meet the MDGs, the international communityneeds to move quickly to generate stronger and broader momentum toward these goals. In the context of expediting and broadening progress toward the MDGs, and ensuring the sustainability of that progress, the report proposes an agenda for inclusive and sustainable development.

MDGInfo 2007
http://www.devinfo.info/mdginfo2007
This database system is designed for the compilation and presentation of development indicators to support data users in their MDG monitoring. The MDG goals and targets are imbedded in the system linked to the 48 MDG indicators in a goal monitoring framework. MDGInfo has been adapted from DevInfo and presents the most up to date country-level statistics available as of August 2007 for the global monitoring of progress achieved towards the MDGs since 1990.

TransMONEE database – Unicef Innocenti Research Centre
http://www.unicef-irc.org/databases/transmonee/
The TransMONEE database is an annually updated database containing a wealth of general social and economic statistics and indicators of child well-being across the 27 countries of the CEE-CIS region, collected directly from the national statistical offices. The 2007 release of the TransMONEE 2007 is now available in English and Russian.

Creating a World without Poverty, by M. Yunus
http://ga4.org/ct/gdwkqMM1BRP0/
In his new book, Yunus gives a compelling account of the successful launches of social businesses. These businesses, while structured the same as traditional businesses, have two significant difference: all profits are reinvested into the business and used to advance the company's mission, and the mission is to provide a product or service that improves the lives and opportunities of poor people.

The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/11povertydesai/11povertydesai.pdf
Large-scale antipoverty programs have achieved significant and positive results in many developing countries around the world in the past decade. This paper explores the challenges of ''scaling up” small-scale antipoverty programs—taken here to mean the processes by which successful efforts to raise the incomes of the poorest citizens in developing counties are expanded in coverage over time and across geography. By Raj M. Desai, Visiting Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Wolfensohn Center for Development - The Brookings Institution.

Human Development Report 2007/2008
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008
The HDR provides evidence of the mechanisms through with the ecological impacts of climate change will be transmitted to the poor. Focusing on the 2.6 billion people surviving on less than US$2 a day, the authors warn forces unleashed by global warming could stall and then reverse progress built up over generations. The Report argues that climate change poses challenges at many levels. In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, it challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth. It challenges us to reflect on social justice and human rights across countries and generations. It challenges political leaders and people in rich nations to acknowledge their historic responsibility for the problem, and to initiate deep and early cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Above all, it challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and strong collective action based on shared values and a shared vision.

Measuring Well-Being Beyond GDP
http://www.beyond-gdp.eu
The European Commission is working on a new tool to measure the wealth and well-being of countries beyond the traditional GDP. The new tool will aim to measure 'true' progress, taking environmental and social indicators into consideration. The initiative was presented at a high-level conference in Brussels that aimed to clarify which indices are most appropriate to measure progress, and how these can best be integrated into the decision-making process and taken up by public debate.

The International Poverty Centre (IPC)
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org
IPC is a joint project between the United Nations Development Programme and the Brazilian Government to promote South-South Cooperation on applied poverty research and training. It specializes in analyzing poverty and inequality and offering research-based policy recommendations on how to reduce them. IPC is directly linked to the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), which does research for the Brazilian Ministry of Strategic Planning, and the Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP.

International Development Knowledge Platform
http://www.comminit.com
The CI has recently launched its new digital knowledge sharing, networking and interaction platform. It includes over 35,000 knowledge summaries of programme action, strategic thinking, planning models, evaluation/research results, change theories etc across the full range of DEVELOPMENT ISSUES including Children, Conflict, Democracy and Governance, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Gender, HIV/AIDS, Health, Natural Resource Management, New Technologies Rights and others.

Pro-poor macroeconomic policies in Africa
http://www.uneca.org/ecaprogrammes/tradeandregionalintegration/pro-poor.htm
Official UN website of the online discussion, which is being organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and MDGnet. The discussion will run for five weeks from 29 October to 30 November 2007. The purpose of the online discussion is to contribute to a better understanding of macroeconomic policies in Africa, especially how they are designed and implemented; what objectives are pursued and achieved; and the appropriateness of macroeconomic frameworks. The discussion should identify good practices and lessons learned and highlight gaps and challenges requiring further action. The results of the online discussion will be used for an overview of macroeconomic policy making in Africa and a policy brief on challenges for pro-poor macroeconomic policies in Africa. In addition, the online discussion is expected to help identify needs for technical capacity for macroeconomic policy analysis.

Poverty & Growth Blog: Building Capacity to Reduce Poverty
http://pgpblog.worldbank.org/
The Poverty & Growth blog is maintained by WBI’s Poverty and Growth Program. The blog tries to bring together everything you want to know about poverty and growth, including knowledge, news, resources, tools, ideas and commentary on issues relating to the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of poverty reduction policies and strategies. The Poverty & Growth blog aims to reach participants in WBI courses, partners, researchers, academia, civil society, government officials, and people interested in poverty reduction.

2015-Watch report: EU aid programme to Africa fails to address Millennium Development Goals
http://www.alliance2015.org/index.php/news/allianceupdate/euaidprogrammetoafricafailstoaddressmillenniumdevelopmentgoals
On the occasion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) mid-point, Alliance2015 published its 4th ‘2015-Watch’ report addressing the crucial question whether Europe is still on track to fulfil its commitments and deliver on its promises.
The European Commission is currently finalising its aid programmes for countries in Africa for the period 2008 – 2013. Officially, the main objectives of these programmes are the eradication of poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals but it appears that these are being pushed aside in favour of the EU’s own interests, as evidence suggests: the report cites the example of the new ''Governance Facility” which, the Commission claims, will boost the EU’s support for health and education in its partner countries. However, according to the report, the evidence suggests otherwise. The Governance Facility uses a set of 23 indicators to determine which countries will be eligible for additional funding. Of these, only one is related to the Millennium Development Goals.

World Bank's MDG Atlas
http://devdata.worldbank.org/atlas-mdg/large.html
This attractive website provides maps of accomplishments under most of the indicators defined for the eight Millennium Development Goals. The information and its display are provided by the World Bank. The site provides added data in some pull down graphs, and has other features, such as help buttons.

Poverty Reduction through Small Enterprises
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/filedownload.do?itemId=1094048
There is increasing recognition that private sector development has an important role to play in poverty reduction. The private sector, including small enterprises, creates and sustains the jobs necessary for poor people to work and earn the income needed to purchase goods and services. Two years ago, the ILO’s Small Enterprise Development Programme (SEED) initiated a process of internal discussion and review, assisted by outside experts, on the important issue of poverty reduction. This paper is a product of that process. Both the paper and the process complement the larger initiative taken by the ILO to make the fight against poverty a central element of its agenda. Through the Director-General’s Report, Working Out of Poverty, and the many initiatives guided by that report, the ILO has joined with its partners in taking up the challenge posed by the most important of the Millennium Development Goals, reducing by half the incidence of world poverty by 2015.

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