Title Page		  
Chapter 1:
Guide to this Manual		  
Chapter 2:
Millennium Development Goal Campaign
  1. The Millennium Declaration
  2. The Millennium Development Goals
  3. What is special about the Millennium Development Goals?
  4. The “No Excuse” Campaign
  5. The United Nations’ role and responsibilities for the campaign
  6. The Millennium Development Goals Campaign Unit
  7. Government’s role and responsibilities for the campaign
  8. Civil society’s role and responsibilities for the campaign
  9. The private sector’s role in the campaign
  10. The role of other actors in the campaign
  11. Case Study: The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
  
Chapter 3:
Campaigning toolkit 		 
Chapter 4:
Campaign Tools		  
Chapter 5:
Campaign Skills		  
Chapter 6:
Campaign Tips		  
Chapter 7:
Links to Campaign Resources		  
   
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Chapter 2: Section 2.3
Millennium Development Goal Campaign

What is special about the Millennium Development Goal?s

International compact between rich and poor countries
Unlike previous declarations, the MDGs are measurable, time-bound and involve a compact between rich and poor countries. Goal 8 commits rich countries to deliver on aid, debt, trade and technology transfer, while Goals 1-7 commit poor countries to put the right type of policies in place.

Measurable progress at international and national levels
Goals and targets mobilise national and international partners into action and help forge new alliances. They also provide a means for benchmarking and assessing progress towards human development. Policy reforms, institutional change and resource allocations often result from discussions centred on time-bound targets. Each country is required to set such targets in line with the MDGs. They offer a minimum threshold-level of transparent and quantifiable outcomes, targets and indicators rendering themselves open to independent monitoring. Annual Reports are to be published for each country assessing their progress in relation to each goal.

Interdependence between growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development
The goals are interlinked and provide a platform for linking and following up on all the commitments made at the various UN global summits held in the 1990s. They recognise the interdependence of growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Achievable goals and targets
The MDGs are not over-ambitious. We are the first generation that has the financial resources and knowledge to meet the basic needs of all people in the world in an equitable manner. The Monterrey Conference has shown that the resources are available to achieve these goals. Only US$100 billion of additional aid per year would be needed to meet the goals. This is not much more than global military expenditure or the billions spent in the Iraq war. Political will is needed on the part of all states to allocate adequate resources to create an enabling environment to achieve the goals.

Clear roles

  • The MDGs bring clarity to the shared and individual roles and responsibilities of key parties:
    Governments are responsible for achieving or enabling the achievement of the goals and targets.
  • Networks of international organisations are responsible for marshalling their resources and expertise in the most strategic and
  • fficient way possible, to support the efforts of partners at global and country levels and to monitor progress.
  • Citizens, civil society organisations and the private sector are required to contribute their unique strengths for motivation, mobilisation, action and evaluation.

In the light of the above, the “No Excuse” Campaign was launched to transform the Millennium Declaration from a vision into a set of actions.

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