|
Governments and the international community are working to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Concerns have been raised over the increased risk of not achieving the MDGs for minorities due to disproportionately high levels of exclusion, the impact of discrimination, identity-related issues and weak participation of minorities in decision-making relating to the MDGs.13
The UN Millennium Declaration clearly expresses that States resolve "To strengthen the capacity of all countries to implement the principles and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including minority rights" (paragraph 25, emphasis added). Support could be offered to achieve this objective while at the same time avoiding potential negative outcomes for minorities in the process.
Enhanced attention to marginalised minority groups may improve the chances of achieving the MDGs, for these groups and for a country as a whole. For example, the goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015 might not be reached if minority children continue to drop out of school because of the discrimination. Efforts are also needed to ensure the MDGs do not inadvertently violate minority rights. For example, forced displacement of minority groups from remote areas has been used as a means of improving access to social services for minorities, but has often proven to worsen human development. Governments could be assisted to understand the particular challenges faced by minorities in reaching the MDGs, and to put in place sound strategies – linked to minority rights protection – for overcoming these challenges.
 |
|
In her initial report to the Commission on Human Rights in 2006, the UN Independent Expert on minority issues highlighted that:
"The poorest communities in almost any region tend to be minority communities that have been targets of longstanding discrimination, violence or exclusion. As such, poverty within minority communities must be viewed as both a cause and a manifestation of the diminished rights, opportunities, and social advancement available to the members of that community as a whole. Without a targeted focus on their needs and rights, they will remain disproportionately impoverished. And without a more coherent effort to reduce poverty through targeted strategies that specifically reach out to minority communities, the international community will fail to achieve, or sustain, the important targets set within the Millennium Development Goals." 14 |
|
 |
|
|
Three overarching contributions of UNDP to achieving the MDGs for minorities could be:
- supporting the articulation of minority concerns for reaching the MDGs, (e.g. through hosting consultations or developing theme groups on minority issues);
- encouraging governments to measure the progress of minorities’ in all MDG reporting and;
- disseminating information on the MDGs to minority groups (e.g. translating MDG reports into minority languages; inviting minorities to participate in discussions about the MDGs, including facilitating dialogue on the MDGs in minority areas, and supporting minority CSOs’ efforts to engage their governments in discussions about the MDGs).
|
|
|
|
In 2006, the UN Independent Expert on minority issues conducted a review of MDG country
reports to explore whether and how minorities are discussed in progress for achieving the
MDGs (see Annex VI, Themes - Reports of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues). The
study found that ethnic or linguistic minorities were mentioned in only 19 of the 50 MDG
country reports reviewed, most often under
Goal 2 on education.
Some promising practices were also noted, including:
- providing background information on minority groups within the country, including poverty indicators that are disaggregated by membership in an ethnic, religious or linguistic group and also by gender;
- discussing the rationale for specially targeted poverty reduction measures for minorities, based on an analysis of disproportionate and persistent inequalities experienced by certain minority groups over time and the failure of previous approaches to benefit such groups;
- giving specific attention to the situation of minority women and girls and providing targeted efforts to overcome the inequalities they experience;
- discussing the importance of the participation of minorities in the elaboration and implementation of MDG and PRSP-related development programmes and projects, especially at the level of local governance;
- adding MDG-Plus Targets aimed at marginalised minorities and including ethnically disaggregated indicators for monitoring progress towards MDG and PRSP objectives;
- making commitments to improve the legal framework for enabling citizens to better access their human rights;
- taking a comprehensive approach to poverty reduction by including mainstreaming and targeted measures for minorities not only in the area of income growth but also key issues such as education, health, governance and access to information.
|
|
The UN Country Team (UNCT) in Ecuador established an Inter-Agency Working Group on Intercultural Issues. Under the auspices of this group, a distinct MDG report was produced focusing on the situation of Afro-descendants: Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: Estado de Situación 2007; Pueblo Afroecuatoriano.15 The report provides an overview of key issues facing these communities and assesses progress towards realisation of each of the MDGs. This report attempts to bring the MDGs closer to the challenges faced by the Afro-descendant population, aiming to:
- Undertake specific measurements, which incorporate indicators targeting marginalised cultural minorities;
- Promote cultural policies, with concrete measures to benefit disadvantaged social groups;
- Direct citizen participation of Afro-descendants.
In preparing the report, the UNCT worked with the national Corporación de Desarrollo Afroecuatoriano (CODAE).16 Complementary initiatives include the creation of the Afro-Ecuadorian System of Social Indices (SISPAE) in the Technical Secretariat of the Ministry of Social Development Coordination. |
MDGs 1-7 will be explored below for the particular implications of each goal with respect to minorities and to offer some suggestions on how UNDP could support governments to devise MDGs strategies that are inclusive of minorities and respectful of minority rights.
|
