MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS 8/9

In 2000, the international community agreed to eight time-bound development goals to be achieved by 2015, including a goal on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as one on the reduction of maternal mortality. Seven of the Goals have specific targets to measure progress. Although they have shortcomings from a human rights perspective, the Millennium Development Goals are an important political commitment which has galvanized international support for some of the world’s most daunting problems.

 With respect to women’s rights, Millennium Development Goal 3 is to promote gender equality and empower women. However, its corresponding target relates only to eliminating gender disparities in education by 2015. While girls’ access to education is imperative for achieving gender equality, this narrow target is insufficient for measuring progress on achieving gender equality and empowering women. Goal 3 also includes indicators on the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector and in national parliaments, but these do not have benchmarks or deadlines. Critical issues such as violence against women and discriminatory laws are not addressed.

Millennium Development Goal 5 aims to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015. Unfortunately, at the 2010 High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, it was revealed to be the most off track of all of the Goals, despite the fact that the knowledge and the tools are available to make pregnancy and childbirth a safe experience for women. In 2010, the Secretary-General launched the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, setting out key actions to improve the health of women and children worldwide. 

Integrating human rights and gender equality throughout the Millennium Development Goals and in the post-2015 development agenda are key to achieving meaningful progress.

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR-PUB-14-2.pdf