By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and reduce child mortality. Sounds like the goals of a beauty pageant contestant. They're not. They're just a couple of the Millennium Development Goals set by the U.N. in 2000. And a new report reveals not only won't these goals be reached, but we're moving backwards. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
190 countries agreed by signing the Millennium Development Goals. By 2015, the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and those who suffer from hunger would be cut in half.
But the recently released "Human Development Report 2003" concludes though progress is being made in a couple of countries, "the 1990's were a decade of human development crisis. 54 countries had ended the decade poorer than they began it." 21 countries had an increase in the rate of hunger. The report calls it "unprecedented."
A New York Times articles reminds us while only 23% of the global population lives on less than a dollar a day, down from 30% in 1990, this average declined is almost totally attributed to the progress in China, with a little help from India. So excluding China, more people live in extreme poverty today than in 1990. And if you're having a hard time putting a face on a percentage, here's a couple of numbers the Times gives to put it in better perceptive. "1.2 billion people live on less than what a dollar a day will buy in America. And 2.8 billion live on less than two dollars."
And what about child mortality? Shameless. The percentage of children who die under the age of 5 has risen in 14 nations. One country sub-Saharan Africa would not achieve the goal of reducing child mortality for 150 years.
So for these goals to be met, richer countries need to double their aid and quoting the report, "fulfill the commitments made under the goals." What are they waiting for? For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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