MDGs to ride on SPG wave

Dev Nadkarni
“We are ahead of our target on All MDGs,” says Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister, Misa Telefoni Retzlaff when asked about his country’s progress on the Millennium Development Goals.

Samoa Games... first ever games in the region where telecasts will be live and in real time. Pic: Dev Nadkarni

Signed by 147 heads of nations and 189 countries in the year 2000, the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim to bring the benefits of development for all and free the world from want within an agreed timeframe. The path to achievement of these goals is structured and among the main aims is the eradication of poverty or slashing by half the number of people in the world who live on less than one US dollar a day.

This effort also involves finding solutions to hunger, malnutrition and disease, promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, guaranteeing a basic education for everyone, and supporting the principles of sustainable development.

The target for the achievement of these difficult tasks is the year 2015 and member nations are supposed to closely monitor progress achieved or how far they are lagging behind according to parameters set in their respective countries.

Samoa has done well when compared to other Pacific Islands nations in closing the gender gap in primary and secondary school education and generally in raising literacy levels.

It is the second highest spender on health care as a proportion of its GDP in the region (after Tonga) and is well on its way to achieving its goals in that sector, though it needs to move up from its third position in the live births per thousand list.

While all Pacific governments are committed to the achievement of MDGs, awareness about the goals and what the governments need to do to achieve them is poor among the most crucial stakeholder group—the common people.

That being the case, there is little pressure exerted by people on their elected representatives for the achievement of the goals according to the prescribed schedule.

Riding the SPG wave

The United Nations in the Pacific has decided to use the region’s biggest event to try and spread awareness of MDGs among the people of the islands region.

Misa Telefoni Retzlaff...Samoa’s done well in MDGs. Pic: Dev Nadkarni

At the games in Apia later this month, it has planned a range of activities, some of them high profile, to inform people about the importance of the development goals.

According to Dr Willy Morrell, UN Sports for MDGs coordinator, whose work focuses on promoting MDG using sports as a vehicle, among initiatives planned are the installation of two 3 x 3-metre solar powered digital scoreboards.

These ‘MDG scoreboards’ costing US$50,000 have been funded by UNDP and form part of a longer term MDG partnership with Samoa’s Ministry of Communications, Information and Technology.

During the games, the scoreboards will be used not only to carry live coverage of the events and medal tallies, but also be used to carry messages promoting MDGs and associated messages such as HIV/AIDS prevention, anti-smoking, anti-doping and environmental sustainability.

Interestingly, it will also double up as a scoreboard in which it will track how countries are doing in terms of meeting their MDG targets.

The fact that this will be the first ever games in the region where telecasts will be live and in real time for all of the region to view simultaneously means the MDG messages will also reach those audiences effectively.

Live and simultaneous television coverage is a significant development especially since international public attendance is not expected to be much at the games (in fact participants and games officials would outnumber international visitors 5 to 1, according to an estimation provided by the Deputy Prime Minister’s office).

“We also plan to run a media campaign during the games to raise awareness of the MDGs,” says Morrell. Media is an important channel and a stakeholder in the propagation and dissemination of MDG ideas in the larger population.

He hopes to tap into a media day the SPG Authority will be holding in the week prior to the SPG.

The initiative is also looking beyond the games. “Both during and after the games we are looking to partner with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to further promote and achieve MDGs,” says Morrell.

“Our post-games programme is likely to focus on developing a pilot programme here in Samoa that taps into the very successful School Soccer Programme that promotes the role of sports in education.”

An MOU is already in place with OFC which has expressed keeness to help promote MDGs within the Pacific Islands region.

As part of its overall package, valued at about US$100,000, the UN will also promote another initiative involving the establishment of a UNV award for volunteers which aims to promote the critical role volunteers play within societies.