UN Millennium Project: small interventions = big difference

Rav Casley Gera — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:24:47 +0000

The UN Millennium Report proposes each country prepare a detailed shopping-list of interventions, from education and health to environmental protection, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. But what kinds of interventions do they have in mind? The report outlines a host of “quick wins” - comparatively cheap, highly effective investments that could be effective in most developing countries - that give us a good sense of what later investments could entail.

Here are some examples:

abolishing fees for school uniforms
nitrogen replenishment treatment for agriculture
free school meals
breast feeding support with micronutrient supplements
annual deworming of schoolchildren
basic health training in villages
antimalarial bednets
eliminate health fees for essential services
increase sexual health
expanding AIDS, malaria and TB treatment, for example achieving the “3×5” target of getting 3 million people onto AIDS treatment by 2005 (the report came out in late 2004)
slum upgrading
establishing off-grid electricity sources for remote areas, including solar
legislation to ensure property rights for women
campaigns against violence towards women
appoint science advisors for presidents and prime ministers, getting women into policy processes, community support for tree-planting.

“The Quick Wins are not the only interventions needed to reach the Goals,” points out the report, but “the ones with very high potential short-term impact that can be immediately implemented.” (p26)

Still, that gives us an idea of the specific kinds of investments the Project envisage - a similar list to those outlined in Sachs’ book, and many also tried out in Sachs’ Millennium Villages. But as we noted with reference to the villages, it’s one thing to make interventions in certain areas, another to “scale up” to making interventions at national and Africa-wide level. What kind of guidance does the Report offer on scaling-up?

Page numbers come from the Overview Report. You can also see the full 300+ page version, ten key recommendations, or the reports of the individual task forces.

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