UN adopts ambitious agenda for development

Transcript

The United Nations has adopted an ambitious agenda to guide the world's development over the next 15 years.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are fleshed out with 169 targets for action that aim to tackle poverty, climate change and inequality for all people in all countries.

They replace the eight Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted in 2000, but which have had only limited success, with most Pacific countries failing to meet most goals.

However,  the executive director of the New Zealand branch of the UN children's agency, UNICEF, Vivien Maidaborn, says the new goals have been designed to avoid the failures of the Millennium Goals.

But she told Jamie Tahana there needs to be the political will and adequate financing to make them work.

VIVIEN MAIDABORN: It felt like a huge day. And it felt like a huge day not just for civil society or the UN but for governments all around the world. In the room it felt like deep commitment and recommitment to really doing something about poverty and something about inequality. You know we have proven through the millennium development goals that having global goals works. So now let us take it really seriously and focus.

JAMIE TAHANA: Has it been proven through the millennium development goals because they have only been partially achieved and in the Pacific there is very mixed results with how they have gone.

VM: Yes if you take a global view the number of children who die a day from preventable diseases have dropped by about 40 percent. We wanted to get to no children dying from preventable diseases. So we didn't make the goal but wow that is a staggering improvement. Globally polio is almost gone that is a staggering improvement. 60 percent improvement in the number of girls in primary school. So there are some incredible achievements but they are not good enough there are still many, many thousands of children a day dying from preventable diseases and now the biggest killer of all being malnutrition. So we certainly haven't arrived where we want to be as a globe. And in the Pacific there are some particular challenges. Climate change is affecting the Pacific and also violence is a significant area of non-improvement. Women and children in the Pacific suffer rates of violence amongst the highest in the world. So you know there is heaps to do. But definitely having goals that the UN and governments and civil society are focused on made a huge difference to what did get achieved.

JT: The millennium development goals there were eight of them with twenty one targets and only about half of them where achieved. We are moving into the sustainable development goals with 17 goals and 169 targets. If only half the millennium development goals were achieved its going to be very difficult, possibly impossible to achieve this isn't it?

VM: Well that is the criticism that people are holding potentially about the sustainable development goals, that it is just too complex. On the other hand particularly developing countries today were saying how much they like the fact that this is not a simplistic measure of poverty. It is a sophisticated measure, it is systemic. So they have argued strongly for this much more comprehensive way of measuring progress. And that has helped me to understand why it has kind of finished up the way it has. I think in New Zealand and the Pacific we will want to have a really good conversation across government, business, civil society about what we want to focus on. In order to kind of not lose it in the complexity. You know it is all going to come down to how much government prioritise it.

JT: We have had global consensus and plenty of speak before on the need for action on the need to accept such goals and the reality sometimes has been very different. So where does the region take this now to implement these goals and make them effective?

VM: Well I look forward to having more conversation about that. I think that UNICEF in New Zealand will be wanting to do is to get into a cross-sector conversation with governments and with business and with the wider civil society. So we have got lots to learn and you know I agree with you there is no point in being just talk. It has been very easy here today to feel inspired and to come away with a sense of deep commitment to not losing it in the rush of life.

JT: For the Pacific there is a lot to do with the goals just here, ending poverty, or ocean health, climate and gender equality. How do we go from here and will this need more money or whatever?

VM: Yes and I understand the New Zealand government has just announced an increase to the aid available for the Pacific but I will be very interested to look into that and you know understand what the potential is. You know I think everybody will be asking themselves where is our priority where is our focus. And important for us to nail what the goals are and have a plan. So certainly UNICEF will be working towards having a plan and to participate and support plans in the Pacific as well.

JT: In 15 years when these goals were meant to have been reached how do you measure how you have achieved them? How do you know you have ensured equality and empowerment or some of those things?  

VM: There is a lot of talk about measurement today probably more talk about what is the data and how do we measure it than you know almost any other single thing. They actually say there are these goals and there are these goals and they do have a hundred and something measures to indicate that we are getting there and as each country and hopefully in New Zealand as we focus down on which of the goals we want to see real progress in. We will have a conversation about what are the measures we are already collecting and how do we use those and what is missing. What do we need to add so that we do get a brutally honest picture of how we are going. There is no point in us covering this up we have got to make  substantive change. So the measures are there. What we want to see is the strategies in place for closing those measures.