International Development CommitteeMDG 66 Written evidence submitted by Malaria No More UK

Background

1. Malaria No More UK (MNM UK) is an innovative charity committed to ending suffering and death caused by malaria. The charity, founded in 2008, is part of the global effort to roll back malaria. MNM UK works to support programmes on the ground in Africa and in the UK to strengthen awareness and engagement in tackling this preventable and treatable disease.

2. Malaria No More UK is pleased to submit evidence to the International Development Committee (IDC) inquiry on Post-2015 Development Goals. Our input here will focus on malaria, our area of expertise, but builds on the broader health related evidence submitted as part of the Action for Global Health UK network.

Lessons learned from the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals: in particular how effective has the MDG process been to date?

3. The adoption of the MDGs in 2000, by all the member nations of the UN, was an important turning point in International Development. It shone a light on the starkest inequalities facing our world at the turn of the millennium and recognised that the international community can and must do more to change this. It brought together governments, movements and international agencies with a sense of common purpose.

4. For malaria, a disease which has afflicted and debilitated civilisations for centuries, the MDGs have created a historic opportunity to turn the tide on the disease, acting as a critical rallying point, helping to inspire and promote progress on a number of levels:

4.1They have inspired action—including the development of a Global Malaria Action Plan, which the 500 members of the Global Roll Back Malaria Partnership are now working to realise.

4.2They have inspired innovative new financing—including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria—whose funding represents over half of all international financing for malaria, positively impacting many millions around the world and resulting in a step change in the trajectory of all three infectious diseases.

4.3They have inspired innovation—including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations’ tremendous support to accelerate progress on malaria alongside other key global health and development issues. As Bill Gates said in his 2008 speech to the UNGA:

“The opportunities for innovation are incredible. And the Millennium Development Goals can guide the search for new discoveries by showing us where innovation can bring the biggest returns. This is their genius, and I am optimistic about what they can help us accomplish. They can bring together new partnerships with the private sector, the philanthropic sector and government and UN agencies working in new ways.... People are motivated by success. And we have many successes and opportunities for many more.”1

4.4They have inspired private sector leaders to engage in International Development—including Wall Street pioneer and philanthropist Ray Chambers whose realisation of the potential for change inspired him to co-found Malaria No More and go on to dedicate himself to pushing progress as an MDG advocate and the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Malaria.

4.5They have inspired increased endemic country ownership and leadership at the highest level in tackling this disease—including the creation of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance.

5. The MDG’s have also provided a unifying mechanism by which progress is being measured and governments are being held to account. For malaria, this progress has been substantial, with an estimated 26% decline in global malaria mortality rates between 2000 and 2010 and a 33% decline in the WHO’s African Region—where over 90% of all malaria deaths occur.2 The MDG target to halt and reverse the spread of malaria by 2015 is now within our grasp.

6. We have highlighted here just a few of the positive changes the MDGs have prompted in the fight against malaria. But, we would also acknowledge that there are limitations to the MDG framework and lessons that can and should be learned in building a unified post-2015 development framework. As many of these are well articulated in other written submissions, we will not detail much further here, but they include the challenge of accounting for the inter-related nature and impact of many health and development issues and the fact that, by focusing on global level goals, it is possible to miss or overlook inequalities in progress.

How should the “Sustainable Development Goals” being established following Rio +20 relate to the development goals being considered by the High-Level Panel?

7. One of the greatest lessons we should take from the success of the MDGs in galvanising support, interest and engagement in international development issues is the importance of having a clear, understandable and unified single global development framework. We must avoid fragmentation or dilution of efforts by creating parallel discussions on the “Sustainable Development Goals” and the development goals being considered by the High-Level Panel and other consultation mechanisms. We would urge greater clarity now about how and when these processes will be brought together, particularly given the common ground shared and the critical importance of having a unified single post-2015 global development framework.

Targets: was the MDG “target-based” approach a success? Should it be retained? How should progress be measured?

8. It is clear that target-based approach of the MDGs has helped to galvanise action and allowed progress to be measured. However, there has been considerable discussion around whether the right elements are being tracked and there is concern at the limitations posed by a relatively narrow set of quantitative indicators not desegregated by location, age or sex.

9. Whilst we would recommend the continued inclusion of concrete, measurable and time-bound indicators and targets within any new framework, it would be helpful to desegregate these beyond the global level and supplement with other more qualitative measures. Progress should be tracked on a regular basis to allow increased attention on any areas or populations falling behind.

Timescale: what period should the new framework cover? Was the 15-year timescale for the MDGs right?

10. The target timeline for the new framework needs to be short enough to invoke concerted action from the start, but also sufficient to allow time for change to take effect. A 10 to 15 year timescale should provide the right balance in these elements. However, clear milestones to track progress should be included from the outset with check-in points at least every five years.

The content of future goals: what would be a good set of global goals? What continuity should there be with the MDGs, and how should the unfulfilled MDGs be taken forward?

11. The post-2015 framework should build on the momentum of the existing MDG goals: allowing progress to continue and expand to consider additional issues whilst ensuring continuity of effort. It is important to ensure that any new framework builds on existing momentum, ensuring we do not lose the precious progress and traction on these issues that has been already achieved through the MDGs.

12. We also believe that any future framework must acknowledge the importance of health as a driver of social and economic development. Health related goals and indicators should build on those included in the MDGs, being at least as ambitious in their vision for sustainable improvements in global health. They should also recognise the interconnectedness of health and development targets; as was made clear in the Rio +20 outcomes document:

“We recognize that health is a precondition for, an outcome of, and an indicator of all three dimensions of sustainable development. We understand the goals of sustainable development can only be achieved in the absence of a high prevalence of debilitating communicable and non-communicable diseases, and where populations can reach a state of physical, mental and social well-being. We are convinced that action on the social and environmental determinants of health, both for the poor and the vulnerable and the entire population, is important to create inclusive, equitable, economically productive and healthy societies. We call for the full realization of the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”3

October 2012