NGO Another Way (Stichting Bakens Verzet), 1018 AM Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Edition 04 : 27 August, 2010.

Edition 06 : 23 July, 2013.

 

E-course : Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip. Int. Dev)

 

Quarter 1.

 

 

SECTION A :  DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS.

 

 

Study value : 04 points out of 18.

Indicative study time: 112 hours out of 504.

 

Study points are awarded only after the consolidated exam for Section A : Development Problems has been passed.

 


 

Second block : The problems to be solved.

 

Study points : 02 points out of 18

Expected work required: 55 hours out of 504

 

The two study points will be finally awarded on successful completion of the consolidated exam for Section A : Development problems.

 


 

Section 1. Analysis of the Millennium Goals. [22 hours]

 

[18.00 Hours] Analysis of the Millennium Goals.

[04.00 Hours] Preparation report Section 1 of Block 2.

 

Section 2: Relate the Millennium Goals to the services for a good quality of life in Section 2 of block 1. [23 hours]

 

[18.00 Hours] Analysis of the services made available by integrated development projects.

[05.00 Hours]  Preparation report Section 2 of Block 2.

 

Second block : Exam. [ 4 hours each attempt]

 

Consolidated exam for Section A : Development problems (for passage to Section B of the course :  [ 6 hours each attempt].

 


 

Section 1. Analysis of the Millennium Goals. [22 hours]

 

[18.00 Hours] Analysis of the Millennium Goals.

 

00. Summary of the Millennium Goals.

01. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

02. Achieve universal primary education.

03. Promote gender equality and empower women.

04. Reduce child mortality.

05. Improve maternal health.

06. Combat HIV/aids, malaria and other diseases.

07. Target 09 : Ensure environmental sustainability.

07. Targets 10 and 11 : Water, sanitation  and slums.

08. Develop a global partnership for development.

 


 

[18.00 Hours] Analysis of the Millennium Goals.

 

02. Achieve universal primary education. (At least 2 hours.)

 

Refer to slide : Goal 2 : Assure primary education to all.

 

The Millennium Project, commissioned by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has produced a report called A practical plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals – 2002-2006.  With effect from 1 January 2007 reporting on the Millennium Development Goals was taken over  by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which brings out annual reports on progress made in achieving the Development Goals. The report referred to here is the Millennium Development Goals Report 2008.  The most recent report published is  The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. Analysis of these documents is included in parts Goals 1-4 and  Goals 5-8 in Section 8 of Block 5.

 

Incredibly there is no section of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals covering Millennium Goal 2 on a general basis. Some provision for it is made for specific geographical areas. One example is title   Chapter VII : Sustainable Development for Africa which includes paragraph 62, which states:

« 62. [skip]... Achieving sustainable development includes actions at all levels to:

 [skip]

 

“e) Support the development of national programmes and strategies to promote education within the context of nationally owned and led strategies for poverty reduction and strengthen research institutions in education in order to increase the capacity to fully support the achievement of internationally agreed development goals related to education, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration on Development ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education relevant to national needs;

 

f) Enhance the industrial productivity, diversity and competitiveness of African countries through a combination of financial and technological support for the development of key infrastructure, access to technology, networking of research centres, adding value to export products, skills development and enhancing market access in support of sustainable development;”

 

1. Opinion.

 

Paragraph e) seems to be dedicated to education. Describe on one page whether you see any relationship between e) and f) in particular on the subject of research institutions.

The word «education » is mentioned less than 40 times in the Implementation Plan. Of these, 20 are in Section X Paragraphs 81-136). You can have some fun making a complete list of the paragraphs where the word “education” appears.

The most relevant paragraphs are par. 116, 120 and 123.

“116. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development. It is therefore essential to mobilize necessary resources, including financial resources at all levels, by bilateral and multilateral donors, including the World Bank and the regional development banks, by civil society and by foundations, to complement the efforts by national governments to pursue the following goals and actions:

(a) Meet the Millennium development goal contained in the Millennium Declaration of achieving universal primary education, ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling;

(b) Provide all children, particularly those living in rural areas and those living in poverty, especially girls, with the access and opportunity to complete a full course of primary education.”

[skip]

“120. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, as provided in the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All, and at all levels of education no later than 2015, to meet the development goals contained in the Millennium Declaration, with action to ensure, inter alia, equal access to all levels and forms of education, training and capacity-building by gender mainstreaming, and by creating a gender-sensitive educational system.”

 [skip]

“123. Provide all community members with a wide range of formal and non-formal continuing educational opportunities, including volunteer community service programmes, in order to end illiteracy and emphasize the importance of lifelong learning and promote sustainable development.”

The document is called  Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals” Paragraphs 116, 120 , and 123 fall under Section X  Means of  Implementation.

 

“More than half the world’s children do not receive pre-primary education because pre-schools cost too much for those who need them the most. According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2012 -Youth and skills: Putting education to work -the drive to get more children into school is losing momentum, and on current  trends, the goal of universal primary education by 2015 (MDG Goal 2 Target 2A and EFA Goal 2) will be missed. Although enrollment rates for primary school have increased, the quality of education has not improved (EFA goal 6) - of the 650 million children of primary school age, 40 percent fail to obtain minimum learning skills or leave school before reaching grade 4.” (Coyne, B. et al (ed.), Towards Sustainable Development that Leaves No-one Behind : The Challenge of the Post-2015 Agenda, Working Paper, International ATD Fourth World Movement, New York, Pierrelaye and Geneva, June 2013, p. 15.)

 

2. Opinion.

 

Make a one-page analysis of what paragraphs 116,120, and 123 actually say on the way the Millennium goals on education will be implemented.

 

Carefully read pages 45-62 of the report Making the MDGs Work for All, Corner L. , United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) , New York, 2008. These pages refer to Millennium Goal 2.

 

On page 46, the author writes:

 

“However, primary education alone is insufficient to empower women, particularly because in the poorest countries it is often of poor quality, tends to reinforce rather than change gender stereotypes and is not sufficient to lead to regular paid employment.”

 

Art 26 of the Universal declaration of human rights (1948) ( see  Section 1 of  Block 1  11. Education for all  of the course)  states :

 

“1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages….”

 

3. Opinion.

   

Why, in your opinion, doesn’t the “Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals provide for free primary education ? What are the foreseeable consequences of this ? Write a two-page analysis. On the first  page discuss the (possible) reasons for the omission of free primary education. On the second page, describe the consequences where primary education is not free..

 

On page 48 of the report Making the MDGs Work for All,  a proverb from Bangladesh is cited which says  : “ Educating a girl is like watering your neighbour’s tree”

 

4. Opinion.

 

On two pages, discuss this proverb. On the first page take the point of view of a traditional family in Bangladesh.  On the second page take the point of view of a young girl with her hopes for the future.

 

As we have already seen, Art 26 of the Universal declaration of human rights (1948) provides that “1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages….”

 

Paragraph 123 of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals already cited above states,

“123. Provide all community members with a wide range of formal and non-formal continuing educational opportunities, including volunteer community service programmes, in order to end illiteracy ….”

5. Opinion.

 

Why then, in your opinion, do the Millennium Development Goals not provide for primary education for adults previously deprived of the primary education to which  they have the right ? Give your point of view on a page with two columns. In the first column, you are the author of the Plan and you give a list of justifications for the omission. In the second column, you are a young woman and you make a list of the reasons why you need to improve your level of education.

 



 Second block :  Problems to be solved.


Index : Diploma in Integrated Development  (Dip. Int. Dev)

 List of key words.

 List of references.

  Course chart.

 Technical aspects.


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