Middle East / North Africa and the Millennium Development Goals ...

Markus Loewe
In 2001, the MDGs were approved by the 56 th UN General Assembly. The
international community is thus in possession of a common goal system
that has been agreed upon by all relevant actors and that is both measurable
and set to be implemented by a fixed date. The intention is that both,
the international community as a whole and each individual country,
should achieve all of the MDGs.
This study looks into the degree to which the MDGs are relevant for the
countries of the Middle East and North Africa (the so-called MENA region),
most of which are classified as middle- or, in some cases, even
high-income countries. It explores specifically whether the adoption of the
MDGs has already found expression in changed national policies, what
successes have been made thus far on individual MDGs, and where the
principle implementation-related problems must be sought.
It furthermore discusses what relevance the MDGs have for German development
cooperation (DC): What contributions Germany, as a bilateral
donor, is in fact making toward the implementation of the MDGs in its
partner countries, whether and to what extent this contribution is based on
preliminary conceptual-analytical considerations, how well the contribution
is documented, and what implications all this may have for the future.
The study shows that the MDGs are highly relevant for the MENA region.
All MENA countries approved the MDGs in September 2000, but they
have made only inadequate progress towards implementing the goals since
then. This goes above all for MDG1 (reduction of income poverty and
hunger), MDG7 (ecological sustainability of country policies), and several
targets of MDG8 (good governance, reduction of youth unemployment,
improved access to modern information and communications technologies).
Substantial deficits, however, have also been noted for the quality of
education and the social, economic, legal, and political equality of women.
One of the reasons for this situation, especially in the region’s low-income
countries, must be seen in both financial bottlenecks and management
failures. In addition, political decision-makers in the region also lack adequate
commitment for the MDG agenda.
German DC is generally relatively well positioned to support its partner
countries in the MENA region in their efforts to reach the MDGs. In its
main priority sectors, “economic reform and market systems development,”
water management,” and “environmental policy, German DC is in
24 German Development Institute