MDG 8: Realistic Goals or Set-Up for Failure?

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established in 2000 at the Millennium Summit, are the world’s largest time-bound and quantified targets for addressing the eight major global issues listed below.

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

While the world has made some significant progress, this progress has failed to be uniform across nations and the determined goals. It is this lack of uniformity and streamlined focus that has lead me to question whether it is realistic to think we have the possibility of reaching the established goals, as a world, by 2015.

Let’s take a look at MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger andPoverty. This goal contains three objectives: halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.25 a day; achieve full and productive employment for all, including young people and women; and halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people suffering from hunger. 

The picture above indicates the progress of MDG 1, as of 2013. The green tiles indicate that the goal has been met or will be met by 2015. The yellow tiles indicate that progress made is insufficient to reach the established goals if trends persist. The red tiles indicate no progress or deterioration in goal. It is easy to see that, as of 2013, we were spilt even between meeting goals and insufficient progress/no progress. With this even spilt is it realistic to believe that these objectives can be met by 2015? Additionally, this image demonstrates the uniform progress between different countries, even different geographically areas within these countries. It is easy to see that Eastern and Central Asia are expected to meet their goals, while Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to make progress in the same goals.  Is lack or funding/resources promoting these objectives the only thing limiting the progress in struggling countries or is the cycle of poverty harder to overcome than originally expected?

Poverty is cyclical; usually when born into poverty it is extremely difficult to raise out of poverty.  Extreme poverty, I believe would follow this trend even more, which is why I am left wondering how do we, as a world, help the extremely impoverished and met the goals established in MDG 1? We could give the impoverished food and jobs, but giving them these things won’t increase their ability to get food and jobs themselves. While I believe the MDG goals are a good beginning and much needed focus on the problems our world, I am considered about helping vulnerable populations without hurting their ability to achieve for themselves.  Additionally, any political uprising local or global could reverse any progress made within these vulnerable populations. Without infrastructure and stable governmental system these countries are vulnerable to numerous factors, all outside of their control, which will affect their ability to rise out of poverty.