Make Noise for MDGs

Launched in 2001, the Measles Initiative is a partnership - led by the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and World Health Organization - committed to reducing measles deaths worldwide.The Measles Initiative founding partners provide technical and financial support to governments and communities conducting mass vaccination campaigns, improving routine immunization services, and establishing effective disease surveillance. To date, the partnership has invested US $670 million in measles control activities, helping to save an estimated 4.3 million lives.

The goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to ensure that no child will ever again know the crippling effects of polio. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is the largest public health initiative the world has ever known.

The Committee that will be reviewing the Foreign Assistance Act, which is an important component in America's effort to help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

On September 4, 1961, the Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which reorganized the U.S. foreign assistance programs including separating military and non-military aid. The Act mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic assistance programs, and on November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin testified on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. The subject of her testimony: how cross-sector partnerships are advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

WHAT IS UN Action? UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action) unites the work of 13 UN entities with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict. It is a concerted effort by the UN system to improve coordination and accountability, amplify programming and advocacy, and support national efforts to prevent sexual violence and respond effectively to the needs of survivors.

From the article: It is just about time for yet another round of international development goals. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - the eight goals, 20 targets and 60+ indicators that came out of the United Nations in 2000 - are coming to the end of their natural life. Although the official end date is not until 2015, if your country is not close to reaching the MDGs now, there is simply not much time to catch up. (Helpfully, the UN's MDG Monitor website counts down to 2015 by the second.)

The report provides a mix of good and bad news. One good news message is that the under-5 child mortality rate has declined by 28 percent, from an estimated 90 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 65 deaths per 1000 in 2008, accounting for a reduction of nearly 4 million child deaths per year.

Quote from paper: A successor accord to the Kyoto Protocol was supposed to be wrapped up in Copenhagen in December 2009, but negotiations are now expected to extend through the South African UNFCCC conference in 2011 since the Copenhagen talks failed to yield a binding agreement. To reach a comprehensive deal, major gaps between developing and developed countries must be narrowed. The gaps include the character of common but differentiated responsibilities, financial support, technology transfer, and trade subsidies and sanctions. The paper concludes with some options and recommendations.

Quote from paper: In this paper, we review some of the climate burden-sharing proposals raised by Chinese scholars to shed some light on China's perspective on the post-Kyoto climate architecture. Then we summarize China's current pollution abatement policies and measures, and analyze some potential policy instruments for China to reconcile its future economic growth and carbon mitigation, as well as some practical design and enforcement issues to be considered for the near term

This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA's lead role in population and development.

The Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) has become a prominent feature in international debates about preventing and responding to genocide and mass atrocities. Since its adoption in 2005, it has been discussed in relation to a dozen major crises and been the subject of discussion at the UN Security Council and General Assembly. This article takes stock of the past five years and examines three questions about RtoP: What is its function? Is it a norm, and, if so, what sort?

Over the coming months, Devex will host a global conversation on each of the eight Millennium Development Goals - we want you to share your success stories, thoughts on what obstacles remain, and ideas for how the development community is Making the Millennium Development Goals Happen.

"The Forum recommends that agencies and bodies of the United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations rethink the concept of development, with the full participation of indigenous peoples in development processes, taking into account the rights of indigenous peoples and the practices of their traditional knowledge."

A participating non-government organization in the MDG summit this September. The GMC was created as a result of the outstanding success of the "Say Yes for Children" campaign which led to the UN Special Session on Children in 2002 resolving to help mobilize citizens of every nation families, communities, civil society, organizations of every kind and children within an active, influential and united movement. This means

The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) is an inter-agency programme of the United Nations mandated to promote and develop constructive relations between the United Nations and civil society organizations.

It's not this diagnosis of Africa's problems that makes Sachs's theories contentious, but his proposed solution, which might be called shock ­aid-­huge, sudden injections of money into poor areas. Over five years, $2.75 million is being invested in the single village of Sauri, and an equal amount will be sunk into each of another 11 Millennium Village sites that are being established in 10 African ­countries.

A critical review of Sachs' Millennium Villages.

The Earth Institute encompasses centers of excellence with an established reputation for groundbreaking research, including the renowned Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, home to some of the world's leading scientists pursuing the study of Earth and its systems. The Earth Institute is implementing solutions to global challenges; pioneering research; advising national governments, the United Nations and other international agencies; and educating the next generation of leaders in sustainable development. While Earth is indeed at a critical crossroads, our work reflects the fundamental belief that the world has within its possession the tools needed to effectively mitigate climate change, poverty and other critical issues.

EURODAD (European Network on Debt and Development) is a network of 58 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from 19 European countries working on issues related to debt, development finance and poverty reduction. The Eurodad network offers a great platform for exploring issues, collecting intelligence and ideas, and undertaking collective advocacy.

The double edge sword of global aid, the system that creates the aid is also arguably the system that creates the problem or at least helps perpetuate it.

Mission: To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.