Anti poverty or anti poor?: the Millennium Development Goals and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger

Following an Asian-Pacific regional forum on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, this dossier contains the discussion paper and the statement that form the output of the Forum as well as a compilation of relevant analyses and experience contributed by some of the participants as well as others in the regional civil society. The papers presented in this dossier include:

The Discussion Paper assesses the impact of the international trade/finance systems as well as other barriers on the efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. In its recommendations the paper suggest that the vision, scope and direction of the MDG needs to be defined in broader terms; also participation needs to be improved and necessary reforms of international trade, finance and investment need to be implemented.

The paper "The Millennium Development Goals and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper: two wrongs don’t make a right", by Nicola Bullard, points out that the already limited scope for PRSPs to generate good country-level poverty reduction policies may be further limited by adopting the MDGs as the overriding target. Furthermore the MDGs are externally imposed and therefore contrary to one of the basic aspects of the PRSPs.

The paper "Privatising human rights: the impact of globalisation on access to adequate housing, water and sanitation", by Miloon Kothari, points out that any privatisation programmes of essential social services, should be based on the following considerations: does it facilitate sustainable development and poverty reduction; does it take into account a gender perspective; and does it include rights-based indicators and benchmarks?