GUIDANCE: U.S. APPROACH TO THE MILLENNIUM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 047433

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PREL UN
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: U.S. APPROACH TO THE MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOALS

ALSO FOR USAID MISSIONS
NSC FOR KARA MCDONALD







1. This cable is an action request for USUN (see para.
12) and is intended as a brief overview of current U.S.
policy for other posts. More guidance is available on the
State/IO Bureau intranet website (see para. 13).


2. Summary. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have
gained increased prominence in international conferences
and events. Posts can expect interlocutors to raise in
the context of the UN General Assembly, and some may seek
U.S. participation in various fora to highlight specific
MDG goals. The U.S. supports completing certain
time-bound "core" goals in the Millennium Declaration, but
does not utilize the UN's MDG "Road Map" or its
performance indicators. We strongly support the original
goals set out in the Millennium Declaration and are
working hard to achieve them globally, by supporting
states that take ownership of their own development and
incorporate the MDGs into their national development
strategies. Our policy differs from others on how best to
achieve the MDGs by putting less emphasis on official
development assistance as the path to countries achieving
the MDGs and more emphasis on the importance of national
leadership and good governance in development; by
establishing a pro-growth economic policy; investing in
people; and by addressing the obstacles of fragile and
failing states. End summary.

MDGs - Center of Development Debate
--------------


2. A number of international conferences and high-level
events are touching on the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). In addition, some states (the U.K., Denmark) are
drawing attention to their unique agendas for achieving
certain goals. The goals cover a number of policy areas
where the U.S. has existing development programs. In
these fora we are proactively explaining our approach to
development and the MDGs.

What The MDGs Are and What They Are Not
--------------


3. The MDGs are the internationally agreed goals in the
Millennium Declaration, signed in 2000. The U.S. focuses
on contributing towards achieving certain time-bound
"core" goals in the Declaration:

-- To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the
world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day
and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and,
by the same date, to halve the proportion of people who
are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water.

-- To ensure that, by the same date, children everywhere,
boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full
course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will
have equal access to all levels of education.

-- By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by
three quarters, and under-five child mortality by two
thirds, of their current rates.

-- To have, by then, halted, and begun to reverse, the
spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major
diseases that afflict humanity.

-- To provide special assistance to children orphaned by
HIV/AIDS.

-- By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in
the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as
proposed in the "Cities Without Slums" initiative.

Since 2000, however, the goals have been modified and
repackaged by the UN into a "Road Map" in an attempt to
give states a framework for achieving them and reporting

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on their progress. As of today, the Road Map contains a
combination of numbered goals taken from the Millennium
Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome document.


4. The UN Road Map says that all of the goals in it are
time-bound, although some of the original goals the UN
drew upon are not. The Road Map also contains
"performance indicators," which are supposed to measure
progress towards achieving the goals, not become goals in
themselves.


5. It is important to emphasize that the goals measure
global progress towards certain objectives. They do not
by themselves represent a comprehensive development
strategy, as some assert or imply. However, they may
overlap with or be incorporated into national development
strategies.

U.S. Perspective on the MDGs
--------------


6. The Millennium Declaration is a landmark document
because it united every country in the world to work to
achieve some simple objectives in a time-bound manner.
While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, this
one rallied broad support. Tremendous progress towards
the goals has been made globally. For example, the
proportion of people who live on less than $1 a day fell
globally from nearly a third to less than a fifth between
1990 (the base year for measuring progress towards the
MDGs) and 2004. Under current economic trends, the world
is on track to meet the goal of reducing poverty by half
by 2015. This will be a monumental achievement.


7. However, the UN has taken an unproductive tack by
issuing reports on its Road Map for the MDGs that monitor
whether states appear to be "on track" or "off track" to
complete them. This has had the effect of making
developing states defensive about their progress or lack
thereof, and is the basis for arguments that more official
development assistance (ODA) is the only way to meet the
goals. Increasing ODA, while undoubtedly useful in
particular circumstances, may be counter-productive in
some environments, is not sustainable, and will not solve
the economic growth problems faced by many developing
states.

U.S. Strategy: Positive Dialogue and Getting Beyond the
MDGs
-------------- --------------
-


8. In a recent debate at the UN on the MDGs, USAID
Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta

H. Fore delivered a speech that explained the U.S.
approach toward the MDGs. In providing MDG-related
assistance, as we do with other bilateral and multilateral
development assistance, we work with other donors and
partner countries and stress the importance of (a) host
country ownership of the process and good governance, (b)
pro-growth economic policies, (c) investing in people,
through health, education and other programs, and (d)
addressing fragile and failing states, which need special
assistance (not just more ODA) to achieve the MDGs.


9. While the U.S. does not endorse the numbered MDG
framework set up by the UN, or the addition of so-called
"targets" or "performance indicators," we strongly support
the original goals set out in the Millennium Declaration
and are working hard to achieve them globally. For more
information about our programs, please see para. 13. The
U.S. is the largest donor of bilateral official
development assistance in the world. Our programs on
reducing the spread of infectious diseases are the most
comprehensive in history. We have a great development
story to tell and we want to spread a positive message on
the importance of development.


10. Not all states endorse the UN Road Map for the MDGs,
yet it is not uncommon to see claims by UN System or other
organizations that the Road Map MDGs have been endorsed by
the UN. For example, a recent UN resolution stated:
"Noting that full and productive employment and decent
work for all have been adopted as a new target under the
Millennium Development Goal 1". There is no mention of
'full and productive employment and decent work for all'
in the Millennium Declaration. The UN modified its Road
Map in January 2008 to draw in this goal from the World
Summit Outcome Document and make it into a time-bound MDG
target. The change was not negotiated by member states,

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nor endorsed -- states only "took note" of the change.
Posts that encounter references to the MDGs (including in
documents handled by multilateral development banks, the
African Union, Organization of American States, and other
multilateral or regional institutions) should be wary of
claims that its contents have been "endorsed" by the UN
or its member states. In such cases, please check with
IO/EDA (contact information in para. 13).

Key Points in Discussing the MDGs
--------------


11. On an if-raised basis, Post should draw upon the
following guidance when discussing the MDGs and can find
additional points by visiting the website for the Office
of Economic and Development Affairs in the State
Department International Organization Affairs Bureau
(IO/EDA) for expanded "megatalkers" on the MDGs (see para.
13).


12. USUN is instructed to draw on the following points in
all UN System fora:

-- We strongly support the original goals set out in the
Millennium Declaration and are working hard to achieve
them globally, including by helping countries work to
achieve them.

-- It is important to have a positive outlook on the MDGs,
and focus on what works, that is, what countries are doing
to achieve their development goals. Some countries are
having more difficulty than others in reaching their
MDGs. They can learn from the successes of others.

-- Developing countries face different challenges and have
different priorities, so not everyone is committed to
meeting each goal. Countries are free to choose their own
set or mix of MDGs, and the U.S. partners with countries
to help them achieve their development goals.

-- It is essential the each country take ownership of its
development goals and have its own national strategy to
achieve them.

-- We also have found that states promoting good
governance, enabling the private sector, removing
constraints to growth, and developing public-private
partnerships tend to have better success in reaching and
sustaining their development goals.

-- Economic growth is the engine that will enable
countries to achieve and sustain the MDGs.

-- The MDGs can be an effective tool to promote action and
stimulate development efforts around shared objectives.
While there are many aspirational goals states have
adopted in the UN, we believe it is important to keep
discussion of the MDGs focused on the core goals of
reducing poverty and hunger, improving health and
education and combating major diseases. Expanding the
MDGs risks losing our focus and the shared consensus that
binds us together in action.

FRAGILE STATES

-- Fragile and failing states -- characterized by weak
institutional capacities, poor governance, political
instability, internal conflict and large numbers of their
people living in extreme poverty -- are the states least
likely to achieve the MDGs.

-- The U.S. has supported multilateral efforts to improve
our tools of engagement to help fragile and failing states
achieve the MDGs. We need to continue efforts to improve
these and other tools.

ECONOMIC GROWTH/POVERTY REDUCTION

-- The world has made substantial progress toward the goal
of reducing poverty and hunger. Countries that have grown
rapidly have, with few exceptions, made rapid progress in
reducing poverty. Those that have failed to sustain
significant growth in per-capita incomes have made slow
progress in reducing poverty, or have suffered increased
rates of poverty.

-- The end of armed conflict played an essential role in
setting the stage for some of today's African success
stories. Africa has achieved accelerated growth in
agriculture which is the main source of employment for

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nearly two-thirds of all Africans, and an even larger
source of employment to Africa's poor.

-- Sustaining and accelerating agricultural growth in
Africa will require further policy improvements including
the removal of barriers to internal and international
trade, increased competition in domestic input markets,
and improvements in the security of land tenure.

-- To increase growth in agriculture, states must increase
investment in infrastructure -- such as rural roads and
transnational links, including in land-locked countries --
and substantially expand irrigation where water resources
are available.

-- Improved agricultural technology also offers essential
means to help farmers in Africa and other tropical regions
adjust to climate change.

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION (MCC)

-- The MCC's mission is to reduce poverty through economic
growth, the first of the internationally agreed MDGs,
which lays a foundation for partner country efforts to
meet all the MDGs in a sustainable way.

-- The MCC works only with countries that perform
relatively well in terms of good governance, economic
freedom and investments in people. Partner countries are
responsible for identifying the greatest barriers to their
own development and then developing and implementing their
own programs.

EDUCATION

-- Universal primary education is a development benchmark
which can be reached through multiple routes. As a
country's mean level of education increases net enrollment
rates in primary education will concomitantly increase.

-- However, solely focusing on "children" and "primary
education" will not produce the mix of skills needed for
development, nor will it likely be sustainable. Primary
education must be accompanied by a focus on learning
outcomes and complemented with other measures such as
adult literacy.

HEALTH

-- The U.S. coordinates global health assistance in three
ways: high level coordination between U.S. and
host-government partners, global leadership in private
sector engagement, and strategic coordination of support
in services in country-specific programs. (NOTE: Please
see the IO/EDA Website for interagency talking points on
extensive U.S. assistance programs on maternal and child
health, malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases
and HIV/AIDS.)

MDG Website
--------------


13. The IO/EDA Office invites you to visit its website
with reference products on the MDGs:

http://io.state.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=publ ic.display&sho
rtcut=47J4

On this website you will find links to resources referenced
above:

-- the USG approach to development and the MDGs (para. 1);
-- the latest version of the MDG 'Road Map' (para. 3); and
-- Henrietta H. Fore's speech at the UN on the U.S.
approach the MDGs (para. 8),

as well as links to:

-- an "MDGs for Dummies" tutorial in Power Point,
-- a published booklet on the MDGs prepared for the recent
UN Event (in color, .pdf format),and
-- past cables on the MDGs.

We encourage all interested posts to contact IO/EDA staff
Laura de Otalvaro (deOtalvaroLH@state.gov, 202-647-1307)
or Andrew Haviland (HavilandAB@state.gov, 202-647-1545)
for guidance as questions arise, or send an e-mail to the
e-mail list "IO-MDGs-DL".


14. Minimize considered.
RICE