COUNTRY AND REGIONAL
LEVEL ACTION
Guidelines
Country-Regional Studies & Strategies
|
In the United Nations's strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, primary focus has been given to action at the country level. The rationale for this lies in moving the Millennium commitments from the global to the local level by giving countries the ability to assess their needs, develop political commitment and mobilize public opinion, define economic policies and monitor their own progress. As the MDGs aim to reverse the growing tide of world poverty, developing countries are expected to be active at a national level. Developed countries have a corresponding obligation to ensure an international environment conducive to development. As such, developed countries are to focus on stimulating action on aid, trade, debt relief, new technologies and investment flows. It is therefore understood that developing and developed countries will submit annual progress reports, foster national campaigns and produce country studies and strategies. This section describes the MDG country-reporting mechanisms and guidelines set up by the UN, while showcasing some of the country/regional studies and strategies submitted by national governments, international organizations and UN agencies. Information is also made available on country and regional led MDG campaigns. The Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGR) is a tool for awareness raising, advocacy, alliance building, and renewal of political commitments at the country level, as well as to build national capacity for monitoring and reporting on goals and targets. Each signatory country to the Millennium Declaration is expected to produce an MDGR. To ensure that a consistent methodology is used by every country, UN Country Teams (UNCTs) have been designated to support the preparation of the MDG reports. UNCTs help countries to produce reports in a way that fosters broad national ownership. This is done through consultation and collaboration that includes a variety of stakeholders, such as relevant UN agencies, governments, civil society organizations, foundations, and the private sector. UNCTs are also mandated to do some capacity-building, especially in the area of national data collection, analysis and application. The United Nations Development Group has provided documentation on how countries should develop their Millennium Development Goals Report:
United
Nations Development Group (UNDG) - Second Guidance
Notes on the Millennium Development Goals Country Reports (2003) - First Guidance Notes
on the Millennium Development Goals Country Reports(2002) - Strengthening MDGs
Tracking and Monitoring at Country Level (2002) - Millennium Development
Goals Reports: A Suggested Step by Step Preparation Plan According to the UN core strategy, the MDG country reports are to be public affairs documents targeting a broad audience including the general public, the media, experts, parliamentarians and policy-makers. These reports identify country needs and monitor progress, but they also serve as public relations tool that stimulate dialogue and debate within societies. For this reason, they are required to be short and accessible as they serve to be catalysts for public mobilization aimed at a more vigorous national debate on how the MDGs apply to each country's situation and link with development priorities and policy choices. Developing Countries: The 57 MDG country reports that have been completed by developing countries are accessible at the following two websites:
United Nations Development Group (UNDG)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Developed Countries: To date, two reports have been submitted:
Denmark's First Reporting on Goal 8: Establishing a Global Partnership
Netherlands'
Report on Millennium Goal 8: Developing a Global Partnership for Development
Country-Regional Studies & Strategies Asian Development Bank - The
Millennium Development Goals: Will Asia and the Pacific Achieve Them?
(2004) - Millennium
Development Goals in the Pacific: Relevance and Progress (March 2003)
Development Gateway - Capacity
Development for Achieving the Health MDGs: The Southern Africa Capacity
Initiative (SACI) (March 2004) - Maternal
and Child Nutrition in Afghanistan (March 2004) Inter-American Development Bank - The
Millennium Development Goals in the Caribbean: Challenges, Actions, and
Commitments (2004) - Latin
America and the Caribbean: Challenges before the Millennium Development
Goals (2002) Japan International Cooperation Agency - Toward
the Millennium Development Goals (May 2003) National Statistics Coordination Board for the Philippines - Millennium
Indicators for the Philippines (March 2004) National Strategies for Sustainable Development - Sustainable
Development Strategies: A Resource Book (October 2002) Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat - Forum
Economic Ministers Meeting: Millennium Development Goals (June 2003) United Nations Development Programme (including regional offices) - Millennium
Development Goals: Reducing Poverty and Social Exclusion (2004) - Guidebook:
African Civil Society Engagement in the MDGs (2003) - The
Millennium Development Goals in the Eastern Caribbean: A Progress Report
(December 2003) - National
Human Development Report: MDG Targets for Timor-Leste (August 2003) - Costing
the Millennium Development Goals: Uganda Country Study (April 2002) - The
Millennium Development Goals in Africa: Promises & Progress (June
2002) United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - Promoting
the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting the
Challenges of Poverty Reduction (2004) - The
Feasibility of Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and
the Pacific (2002) - Millennium
Development Goals and their Monitoring United Nations in Viet Nam - Bringing
the Millennium Development Goals Closer to the People (2002) United Nations Non-governmental Liaison Service - MDGs:
Taking Root at the National Level?(September 2003) Part of the UN strategy in promoting the Millennium Development Goals is to support an international awareness campaign, and foster similar undertakings on a local level. National millennium campaigns or movements help build coalitions, managed and owned by local actors, which can then place the MDGs at the centre of national debates and action on priorities, policies and resource allocations. Many of the national campaigns have been supported by UN Country Teams through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the MDG Campaign Office. Please visit the UNDP country offices' websites for more information on the specific activities of respective countries. United Nations Campaigns: UNDP
by Country UNDP
by RegionSouth and West Asia Central
and Eastern Africa Southern
Africa West
Africa Other national campaigns: German
Foundation for International Development Millennium
Development Goals: "No Excuse 2015"(Italy) Other MDG related campaigns: |
Contact Country
Reporting 1
UN Plaza, Room DC1-2040
For
additional research Country-Regional
Studies |