A global bargain: introducing the Norwegian MDG 8 report.

• Author: Johnson, Hilde F.
• Position: MDGs - Millennium Development Goals

Globalization is a fact of life. We see it around us every day--in what we eat, in what we wear, in the work we do. We can communicate around the world in an instant--by cellphone, by e-mail. The Internet gives us access to more information than we will ever need. The effects are enormous. The benefits are everywhere, almost everywhere. For half the world's population, these benefits are completely out of reach. We all know that 1.2 billion people are living on less than a dollar a day. Equally, many lack safe water; twice as many lack adequate sanitation. At the current rate, it will take 130 years to eradicate hunger. This is the greatest challenge to our generation.

Four years ago, at the turn of the millennium, the world community made an important promise to the world's poor. World leaders stood together, giving the solemn pledge to end extreme poverty and hunger. They agreed that status quo is not acceptable. They--we--agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We promised sweeping changes, not only more development aid or minor adjustments of policy. We promised to deliver on the MDGs, not only to support them, as long as they did not infringe on our own benefits. We did not merely submit to a momentary sense of charity. We, the leaders of the world's nations, gave our word that this time it would be different. This time, we would not give up until the fight was won. Both rich and poor nations have entered into this global partnership--to fight poverty. In Monterrey, the poor countries committed themselves to improve their governance. We, the rich countries, committed ourselves to improve our policies and provide more resources--and the deadline is 2015--shared by all of us. We all have to deliver. This is the global bargain. We made a deal; now we have to live up to it. MDG No. 8 speaks directly to us in the rich part of the world and to our commitment to improve on our own policies in all areas.

Poverty is an overwhelming enemy. The fight can only be won when the world community unites, when all of us pull in the same direction. Poverty cannot be ended, MDGs cannot be reached, unless we are able to count on the maximum efforts of all countries. Therefore, we need a global reform agenda. We need to see reforms in international framework conditions. If we in the developed world do not allow easier access to markets and reduce the debt burden of the poorest countries, we will fail. We have numerous figures illustrating this...