What are the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and how has Zimbabwe’s Children successfully achieved many with their programmes.
Since its beginnings, Zimbabwe’s Children has worked closely alongside the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), supporting the global goals of eradicating global poverty and improving the life chances of the world’s poorest communities.
The eight Goals were set in September 2000 at the Millennium Summit, the largest gathering of world leaders in history. Together, their nations formed a new, global partnership that sought to reduce extreme poverty in its many forms – income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion,- as well as to promote gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability.
A deadline was set for 2015, resulting in a period of fifteen years which has produced the most successful anti-poverty movement in history. The world has since made significant progress in achieving many of the Goals, with the number of people living in extreme poverty declining by more than half (from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015). In September 2015, a global summit was held at the United Nations in New York, where world leaders committed to continuing the progress made in the new Sustainable Development Goals.
But the UN reports that these progresses have not been experienced worldwide. There are huge disparities within countries, where poverty is much more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. Sub-Saharan Africa has also been referred to as the “epicentre of crisis,” facing a widespread shortfall for most of the MDGs. The region has seen continuing food insecurity, a rise of extreme poverty, high child and maternal mortality, and large numbers of people living in slums.
Zimbabwe’s Children works in the remote, rural region of Chinhoyi and the Hatcliffe Township in northern Zimbabwe, where communities have experienced the full impact of poverty. We have implemented a number of projects that ensure as many Goals as we can are met and that the families living here experience the benefits of our achievements. We have had much success in all areas of the agenda in this part of Zimbabwe, thanks to our funders’ generous and loyal support, and the hard work of our dedicated team.
