Angola

Millennium Development Goals

 

Click on an icon below to view Angola's individual MDG progress

 

 

 

Millennium Summit

The year 2000 marked an important event in the history of the world and the United Nations. The Millennium Summit brought leaders of 189 states together to call on the world’s most pressing challenges. They pledged to make the world a better place for all humanity. It is an opportunity of the millennium for states to join efforts to fight poverty, improve access to basic services, reduce the spread of diseases, and care for environment.

The Millennium Declaration set the global agenda for the 21st century and established action-oriented targets around eight specific goals that are known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Millennium Declaration was thus born to reflect the decisions of the world leaders and outlined a road map for progress as far as the year 2015.

For more informations on MDGs UN Millennium Declaration What are the MDGs UN Millennium Development Goals UNDP and the MDGs MDG Monitor MDG campaign Angola and MDGs Support for MDGs and NEPAD Project

What are the MDGs?

The Millennium Development Goals are a framework world leaders agreed upon to reduce poverty and improve the wellbeing of people. They are a set of eight inter-connected development goals with time-bound targets and indicators. The MDGs focus the efforts of the world community on achieving significant, measurable improvements in people’s lives by establishing yardsticks for results:

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

The first seven goals are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms: hunger, lack of income, education and health care, gender inequality, and environmental degradation. Altogether, these goals form a comprehensive and mutually reinforcing approach to alleviating poverty.

The eighth goal provides the means to achieving the first seven. It is targeted to developed nations, calling them to provide additional debt reduction and development assistance.

Supporting the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Angola

 

Angola signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration, together with 190 other Heads of State and Government, at the United Nations General Assembly Millennium Summit held in New York, in September, 2000.

 

This commitment has effectively informed the long-term agenda for development, aimed at achieving eight specific quantitative development results, known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by 2015.

 

The outcome document of the September 2005 “MDG+5 Summit” reaffirms the joint commitment of the United Nations and its Member States in making all efforts in achieving the MDGs by the established 2015 timeline.

 

This entailed, on behest of the Angolan Government, a commitment to “spare no effort to free Angolan men, women and children from the abject and de-humanizing conditions of extreme poverty” and to make ”the right to development a reality for everyone” (Millennium Declaration).

While the first seven goals address the most critical dimension of poverty, Goal 8 differs slightly in that it calls for public and private partnership, and global partnership towards achieving those goals.

 

Partnership at the global level calls for the developed nations to assist developing countries to meet those goals. At the national level it challenges Government, private sector and civil society to work together towards the achievement of the MDGs.

 

Keeping with its commitment, the Angolan Government has given the highest consideration to the MDGs, making them the fundamental reference for its main development plan, the “ Poverty Reduction Strategy” (Portuguese version).

 

The two national MDGs reports, produced respectively in 2003 and 2005, showed that over the recent years Angola has made progress towards achievement of some of the MDGs, especially increasing primary schooling enrolment, reducing child mortality, improving access to safe water and sanitation.

 

However, huge challenges still lie ahead to fulfil the MDGs in Angola.

 

As part of the international community, our main challenge will be to support Angola in scaling-up and sustaining its efforts towards achieving the MDGs in four fronts:

 

·       Mainstream the MDGs within national policy frameworks;

·       Disseminate information and promote dialogue around the MDGs, namely with civil  society    organizations and at sub-national level;

·       Develop capacities at individual and institutional level for the achievement of the MDGs;

·       Establish systems and tools to monitor and evaluate progress towards the MDGs.

 

In his report “In Larger Freedom”, the UN Secretary General set out priorities for action in the field of development, security and human rights, and recommendations for global institutions – mainly the United Nations – to become a more effective instrument for pursuing those priorities.

 

In that respect, UNDP needs to take very seriously its role entrusted by the UN Secretary-General to act as the MDG campaign manager and score keeper.

 

It is within that framework that UNDP will seek to engage its key partners – Government, civil society organizations, communities, academia, private sector and international development partners - in building a broad and strong National Coalition to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Angola.