Minister of International Development Ms. Hilde F. Johnson

Reaching the Millennium Goals

”The Oslo North South Forum” in Oslo Town Hall, 27 August 2004

Check against delivery

Your Royal Highness,

Mr. Mayor,

Dr. Kaunda,

Archbishop Tutu,

Ladies and gentlemen,

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope....(and) crossing each other, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls...”

These were the words of Robert Kennedy, speaking to the students of Cape Town almost 40 years ago.

The world has changed quite a lot since then - not least in South Africa.

Apartheid is a thing of the past. The Berlin Wall is no more. Millions have gained not only the right to speak, but also the right to be heard.

Yet millions more are still left behind - in poverty, in suffering, in silence - still waiting for a “ripple of hope” to enter their lives.

This is why the work of Fredskorpset and its partners is so important. You are able to touch people in a way few others can - by reaching deep into local communities, building relationships, forging ties that promote change from within.

Today we are gathered to pay tribute to you for your efforts. Your commitment to change and your contributions to development are vital components in the fight against poverty and injustice, in our common struggle for a better world.

The challenge

None of us working in international development are in danger of running out of things to do. Every day seems to bring new crises, new conflicts, new causes for concern. We have to act together, now.

Because the challenge is daunting.

Let me give you a few examples:

• 1.2 billion people are living on less than a dollar a day.
• The same number of people lack access to safe drinking water. Twice as many have no access to adequate sanitation.
• Poverty, hunger and disease kill a child every three seconds.
• At the current rate of progress, it will take 130 years to eradicate hunger in the world.

This is our challenge.

We want a world without these figures, a world that is fair, with dignity for all. We want justice, for everybody.

This requires action - global action.

The Millennium Development Goals - what are they?

At the turn of the millennium, world leaders decided to do exactly that, to act. Every world leader from every country made a commitment to fighting poverty. They agreed on the UN Millennium Development Goals, and they decided on a road map to reach them.

To halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, to make it possible for more children to survive their fifth birthday, and for more mothers to survive giving birth. To promote gender equality and make sure that all children, girls and boys alike, have access to primary education. To reverse the pandemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. And to ensure that growth is based on environmental sustainability. These are the first seven goals.

The main responsibility to act on them will always lie with the national governments, the developing countries.

But they can never act alone. The rich countries have to deliver. In Monterrey in 2002 we all agreed on a global partnership, a global bargain, on Millennium Goal 8. We, the rich countries of the world, committed ourselves to changing our ways and our policies, to developing a more open trade and investment system. We committed ourselves to dealing comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems, and to providing access to affordable essential drugs. We committed ourselves to increasing and improving development assistance. And the poor countries committed themselves to improving their performance.

This is the bargain: We both have to deliver. We both have to act. The bargain is a compact to act.

World poverty is now at the top of the agenda wherever and whenever decision-makers meet. This is new. This is unprecedented. For the first time commitments from a series of UN conferences, the Millennium Development Goals have become the basis for discussions and decisions among the “high and mighty” of the world. The goals are at the core of the work of the World Bank. The IMF, the WTO and other economic powerhouses have signed on to them. They are cited frequently by heads of state, not least the G-8 leaders. For the first time, the interests of the poor and underprivileged have risen to the top of the international agenda.

High-level meetings everywhere include a pledge to fight poverty. They promise to combat poverty by co-operation, by financial assistance, by making policies that are more coherent and consistent with the fight against poverty. They promise concrete actions, and concrete results. This is reason for optimism.

However, some of you may question the motives behind this commitment. You may say that this is not about pure idealism. This is about strategic interest and self-interest. This may be true for some. But for those of us who care more about the results, this is secondary. Action is what counts. We must rather take advantage of this opportunity, and hold the world’s leaders to their promises.

Some of you have also been in this game for a long time. You have seen goals and development strategies come and go, discussed and discarded, largely unnoticed by the poor on the ground. You have seen promises been given, and actions never taken. Why, you might ask, is it different this time?

Let me give you two reasons.

The unprecedented political support is one. There is consensus. Not on everything, not on every step, but on some important core issues. This has not happened before. Rather than focusing on fruitless development debates, we can now focus on peer pressure, on delivery and on action. On accountability.

And this is my second point, the goals have a timetable, and they are monitored. A global monitoring system will make it possible for us to hold governments accountable. We will know where we are making progress and where we are falling behind. We will know who is delivering and who is not. And they will be reported. Regularly. We can hold governments to their promises.

And that is needed.

Because the deadline for all of us is 2015, only 11 years away.

We have much to do. And there is very little time.

Millennium Development Goals - status

What is the current status, actually? How are we doing with the MDGs?

The first goal – halving extreme poverty and hunger – will most likely be met. This is the good news. The bad news is that there are dramatic regional and national differences. While China, India and Thailand are making terrific progress, sub-Saharan Africa and the Least Developed Countries are lagging behind. In sub-Saharan Africa almost half of the population live in extreme poverty. This is unacceptable.

In 1990, there were almost five times as many people living in extreme poverty in Asia than in Africa. Unless there is a change for the better, 2015 will see a dramatic shift. There will be more people living in extreme poverty – in absolute numbers – in Africa than in Asia.

We cannot afford to leave any region, any country, behind.

Asia also demonstrates that the Millennium Goals can be reached. But we must make sure that sub-Saharan Africa and the Least Developed Countries follow suit.

Norway – “Fighting poverty Together”

How? We need a global reform agenda. And this reform agenda needs to be implemented.

The reform agenda is laid out in a white paper called “Fighting Poverty Together”, which was recently presented by the Norwegian government.

For us, the basis for this agenda is human rights. Human rights are the cornerstone, whether social, economic and cultural rights, or civil and political rights. This is why the paper’s opening line is “Dignity for all!”. This must be our guiding light in all we do: Human dignity, equality, solidarity, respect.

Our efforts are based on these principles, on a rights-based approach. Combating poverty is in itself a means of promoting human rights, of ensuring the social and economic rights of the poor. The Millennium Development Goals are closely linked to these rights.

In order to fulfil the rights of every person and reach the goals worldwide, we need global reform in four key areas:

Global reform agenda

1. International framework conditions

No country develops in isolation. Development calls for international co-operation, trade, access to markets. If we in the developed world do not allow easier access to markets and reduce the debt burden of the poorest countries, we will fail.

So our first area of reform is international framework conditions - debt cancellation, trade and investment regimes. For many of the developing countries, this is more important than development aid. We have numerous figures illustrating this, proving the injustice of the current system. We must ensure consistency and coherence between the goals we have set and the framework in which they are to be achieved. We must make sure we do not take away with one hand what has been given by the other. In other words, bad trade policy can undermine good development policy.

For our part, we are addressing improved market access for the poorest countries. Still, we have to improve our performance. We have presented a new and revised action plan, “Debt Relief for Development”. Now we have to deliver on it.

2. More and better aid

Even if we do the right things in these areas, it will not be sufficient to reach the Millennium Development Goals. We need more and better aid. This is the second area of reform.

In order to reach the Millennium Goals, we need another 50 billion dollars in aid per year. According to UN statistics, the world’s total military spending amounted to USD 850 billion in 2002. Total development co-operation assistance amounted to USD 60 billion in 2002. It makes you think, doesn’t it?

But we not only need more aid, we need better aid. We need to change the way we work. Many poor countries are forced to spend scarce resources on preparing thousands of reports to numerous donors and manage a dizzying number of accounts. I call it the “donor circus”. And it must come to an end. We have to get rid of the flags and fanfares, we have to be less concerned with our own “glory” and more concerned about results on the ground. Results for the poor.

Scarce government resources are spent on satisfying donors rather than developing the country concerned. Donor-initiated and donor-managed projects are detrimental to national ownership and to development. This is undermining our partners’ efforts. The country itself is not in control of its development. In other words,we need to improve the way we deliver aid. We need donor reform.

The recipient country must be in the driver’s seat - setting priorities, making sure policies and programmes go hand in hand, ensuring consistency and co-ordination. All donors and organisations in the field have to work in line with this. For us this means working together, through joint programmes, joint reporting, joint missions, pooling resources, or simply just delegating responsibilities to each other. In this way we are more effective, and we will get more value for the poor for every dollar, every krone. Without donor reforms, without ownership and leadership, we will not reach the Millennium Goals.

We also have to focus more on results. What matters is the effect on poverty reduction. Are people better off? Have we helped as many as we could? Have we maximised our total output?

There is still a way to go here. And the white paper addresses this. To the person in need, it is of no consequence who is behind the efforts. They don’t care about flags. They only care that it’s done. If I may borrow a few words from you, Archbishop Tutu:

“The good news to the hungry person is bread.”

Whether the bread is provided by Norway, the UN, an NGO or Santa Claus is hardly of interest to the receiver. Results, and results only, matter. And that is our responsibility.

3. National governments must do better

If we do all the right things, in trade and debt, in aid and aid reform, if we keep our part of the bargain, we will still not reduce poverty if the developing countries themselves fail. If we are dealing with a completely corrupt government, if national policies only benefit the few, if government institutions don’t work, there is little we can do.

Therefore, we need a third area of reform:governance. Developing countries have committed themselves to improving their governance as part of the global partnership, the global bargain. Poor countries need to put their own house in order, to improve their policies and their governance. Anti-corruption efforts, democracy building and respect for human rights must be the foundation for development everywhere. No amount of development dollars or kroner can do much good if governance is not satisfactory. NGOs, the media and political parties can be important advocates and watchdogs here. We provide assistance in these areas and will continue to do so – as we state in the white paper.

4. Private sector and civil society

Even if the poor countries deliver on their part of the bargain, and if we as rich countries did all the other things right, it will still not be enough to reach the Millennium Goals.

We just need to look at global resource flows, and the incredible gap between the rich and the poor regions of the world. The most significant part of these resource flows are private, they are foreign direct investment. This should teach us one thing: the public sector alone can never lift the poor people of this world out of poverty, or bridge the gap between us. It is simply not enough. The challenge is too big. This is a critical piece of the puzzle. We need to mobilise a number of other actors, in the private sector and in civil society.

And in doing so, we can gain even more. Let me give you a concrete example.

In Bangladesh in 2002, GrameenPhone, a company run by Norwegian Telenor, contributed 662 million kroner to the country’s coffers – around six times as much as Norwegian aid to the country. GrameenPhone, based on the Grameen Bank concept, is now the second largest tax contributor in Bangladesh. It is estimated that more than 50 000 people are supported by the company’s activities. The ripple effect is considerable.

The public sector cannot and should not solve everything. The private sector is needed to spur economic development and growth. It is important in order to win over poverty. I am talking about a fourth area of reform: private sector engagement and civil society. In both of these we need to examine whether we are doing the right things, and what we can do to mobilise more resources - to get better results for many more people.

Civil society, groups and individuals are crucial in many ways to our ability to reach the Millennium Goals. You are important

• as actors in the field - in the delivery of development and relief assistance. Here NGOs that provide services to people on the ground should operate within the parameters of donor-reform, of co-ordination and country ownership.

• as advocates – as the voice of the poor in developing and donor countries alike. The poor have a right to speak - and a right to be heard. You can help to amplify their message. You can make sure their rights are taken into account where decisions are made. We need NGOs to show the world the nature of the daunting task we are facing, and to force us all to find solutions.

• as watchdogs - to help develop and support such actors in the developing countries themselves. Watchdogs need to monitor our policies from the field, to expose any gaps between rhetoric in international fora and realities on the ground.

• and, not least, as campaigners for the Millennium Goals. What can be more satisfying than securing support for a better, fairer world? The message must be: It is possible! You can make a difference!

Fredskorpset is a central part of this effort - a unique tool, an invaluable partner in development. Fredskorpset has a key role in “producing” ever new actors, new advocates, new watchdogs, new campaigners. And in building their competence. I am pleased and proud to see how much has been done already. And we need many many more of you. I have high expectations of what’s to come in the years ahead.

Friends,

We have a lot of work to do. We have to join hands across the globe, to draw on every possible resource, to focus like a laser beam on the most important goal of all: helping the millions whose daily lives are nothing more than a constant fight for survival. They have a right to a better future - we have a duty to help.

Unless each and every one of us cares, unless all of us contribute, we will not reach our goals. We must make people care, make people concerned, build a global coalition powerful enough to do what we have promised to do - make a better world, and to do so within the next eleven years.

It matters

And I believe we can.

Because we have delivered some results together already.

Let me give you some examples from a couple of our partner countries:

In Mozambique, the share of the population that lives in absolute poverty has declined by 15 per cent from the mid-1990s to 2003.

In Uganda, the number of children who can read and write has more than doubled in just four years, from 1999 to 2003. At the outset only a minority of girls could read and write, in 2003 almost two thirds of them could. This is impressive.

It matters. You matter.

Worldwide figures also show encouraging trends:

Recently World Bank statistics showed a 20 per cent reduction in global poverty in the period 1984-2001.

Since I was born, life expectancy at birth has risen by 20 years. This is the largest increase in history.

More than a billion people have been provided with clean drinking water.

We have seen a significant drop in infant mortality rates over the past decade. Every year we save the lives of 2.5 million children through vaccination programmes alone – 2.5 million children!

We can make a difference!

But more must be done.

And this is our job: to continue to spread little “ripples of hope”, each in our own way, until we have made sure that they have touched every child, every family, every country. This is our challenge. This is our duty.

To those who say we are reaching for the impossible, I say: Look back! Look at the past decades. At that time I was a young activist, marching in the streets against apartheid. I met you, Archbishop Tutu, and many others.

Look at Cape Town today. Robert Kennedy would not have believed his eyes. The ripple he was talking about became the current that swept down the mightiest walls. What was impossible was made possible.

It was made possible by the tough line of presidents like Kenneth Kaunda, of archbishops like our friend here, of progressive decision-makers, and of all the people in the streets. It could be done. It was done.

Let us learn from the lesson of South Africa.

Ripples matter. And walls can be swept down.

Together we can make the world a better place.

Together we can fight injustice and suffering.

Together we can reach the Millennium Development Goals.

But there is no time to lose.

Thank you.