Summary

Good progress has been made on the MDGs over the past decade due to the contribution of governments, organisations and individuals. However, achieving the MDGs by 2015 requires an increased commitment from Australia and the international community.

Description

Good progress has been made on the MDGs over the past decade due to the contribution of governments, organisations and individuals. However, achieving the MDGs by 2015 requires an
increased commitment from Australia and the
international community.

The eight Millennium Development Goals

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education


MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women


MDG 4: Reduce child mortality

MDG 5: Improve maternal health

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development

This publication is available in the following formats:

Achieving the millennium development goals: Australia's support 2000-2010 [PDF 2.3mb]
Achieving the millennium development goals: Australia's support 2000-2010 [text only 115kb]

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Foreword

For a decade the Millennium Development Goals have been guiding the international community's efforts to eliminate poverty, hunger, inequality and disease, and to achieve environmental sustainability and inclusive growth for all.

There is no doubt that they have made a significant difference. They have focused attention on what needs to be done, what it costs and how well the international community is travelling on the path to 2015.

Globally, since 2000, hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. Forty million more children are going to school–many of them girls. Three million more children are surviving beyond their fifth birthday. And there has been important progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Though global progress has been good, serious challenges remain. Achieving the goals we set ourselves on maternal mortality and access to sanitation services will be difficult. The smallest and most vulnerable countries face particular challenges. However, if we strengthen our collective commitment and work hard to accelerate progress where it is lagging, the goals lie within our reach.

Australia's commitment is strong. Since 2005 Australia has doubled the size of its overseas aid program and on current projections the program will double again to more than $8 billion by 2015. In addition, Australians are generous donors to development NGOs, giving around $800 million last year.

Australians can take pride in the achievements made possible by their aid program and their private contributions over the last ten years. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Australia's Support highlights many of these.

With five years to 2015, Australia and Australians will redouble their efforts to overcome the blight of global poverty. We will work in close partnership with developing countries, helping them to achieve their goals in areas such as health, education and food security. It is in our national interest to do so, and it is the right thing to do.

The Honourable Kevin Rudd MP,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Federal Member for Griffith

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Overview

Good progress has been made on the MDGs over the past decade due to the contribution of governments, organisations and individuals. However, achieving the MDGs by 2015 requires an increased commitment from Australia and the international community.

It has been ten years since Australia and 188 other nations adopted the Millennium Declaration and committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a set of measurable targets to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and disease; and to promote gender equality, education and environmental sustainability.

Since this commitment in 2000, Australians have helped improve the lives of millions of people across the world, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region. Australia's approach to the MDGs recognises:

• the goals are interrelated and efforts to achieve one goal can support the achievement of others
• progress needs local ownership and developing country leadership
• effective partnerships must be established between development actors–government, non-governmental and multilateral–in order to maximise the impact of development efforts
• specific attention must be given to the needs of small island nations, communities affected by conflict and disaster, and marginalised people.

Australia's commitment is reflected in the doubling of its official aid since 2005, with a further doubling anticipated by 2015, and its emphasis on aid effectiveness. New programs in the areas of education, maternal and child health, and food security will help accelerate progress on the MDGs over the next five years. Australian non-government organisations, businesses, researchers and individuals will also continue to play vital roles in Australia's national contribution to the achievement of the MDGs by 2015.

Australian assistance to developing countries has helped achieve progress on all the MDGs. This assistance has been provided through a variety of channels, including through the Australian Government's aid program overseen by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), donations from Australians to non-government organisations (NGOs) and the work of volunteers.

The Australian Government expects to spend $4.3 billion on official aid this year, an increase of over 160 per cent from 2000. On current projections, Australia's aid will more than double, to over $8 billion by 2015.

Last year, nearly 1.7 million Australians donated over $800 million to overseas aid programs and humanitarian activities organised through Australian NGOs. This was nearly double the level in 2000. Over the past ten years, Australia's efforts have helped countries make faster progress on the MDGs.

For example, Australia has taken action to:

• eradicate hunger and poverty by helping to increase food production and distribution in many countries in Asia and Africa, including increasing yields of five staple food crops in East Timor by between 23 and 80 per cent
• eradicate poverty and improve health and education, by helping to build and maintain roads and bridges that allow people in Asia and the Pacific to access schools, health clinics, jobs and markets
• achieve universal basic (primary and lower secondary) education through school infrastructure and teacher training programs, including in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Projects in these two countries alone will help an estimated 630,000 more children to complete at least nine years of education
• give more people the skills and qualifications they need to support development in their own country. Since the start of the decade, over 20,000 people from developing countries have been trained in Australia and at regional institutions in a range of areas including agriculture, medicine, education and public administration
• promote gender equality and empower women, by increasing the number of girls receiving an education in many countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Laos, and opening up business opportunities for women in countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh
• reduce child and maternal mortality through major vaccination programs for hundreds of thousands of children in Papua New Guinea and East Timor, and improvements to health services across the Asia Pacific region
• combat disease through a program to prevent and treat malaria in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and in the Mindanao region of the Philippines
• increase access to safe water and sanitation for millions of people including for 4.6 million people in Indonesia, 174,000 households in Vietnam and 51 000 people in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Malawi.

Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
Target 2: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people
Target 3: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

The number of people living in poverty worldwide has continued to fall. By 2015, the number of people living in extreme poverty (less than US$1.25 a day) is expected to be 900 million compared to 1.4 billion people in 2005.

Over the past ten years Australia has helped to reduce poverty and hunger by improving agriculture, infrastructure and employment opportunities in developing countries.

Australia has helped to increase food production and distribution in Asia, the Pacific and Africa.

Australian aid for food security and agriculture programs was substantially increased from 2008. Australian funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) has helped to relieve hunger in acute and protracted emergency situations. Oxfam Australia has been supporting farmers in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and India to grow rice using a new technique known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This technique, which uses organic compost and natural pesticides, has nearly doubled rice yields and helped to overcome critical food shortages for many families and communities. The work of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has also helped increase the quantity and quality of food produced in many countries. Australian aid has helped almost two million people in Zimbabwe grow more food and contributed to the delivery of seeds and fertiliser to 376 000 farmers for the current agricultural season.

Improvements to transport infrastructure in countries in the region have been an important part of Australia's support for MDG 1.
The construction and maintenance of roads, wharves and bridges has helped to stimulate growth and employment in countries such as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, and in parts of South-East Asia. This has helped countries respond to the challenges caused by the global recession. A World Bank study found the number of households living above the poverty line in Oro Province in Papua New Guinea increased from 28 to 80 per cent between 2005 and 2006 after roads were upgraded.

Community development programs supported by Australia give people the confidence and skills to overcome poverty.

Australia is the largest bilateral donor to the Indonesian Government's largest poverty reduction program–the National Program for Community Empowerment. This program works in 80 000 Indonesian villages helping about 35 million of Indonesia's poor. Australia's funding is improving health and education services as well as access to microfinance. Nearly 70 per cent of the proposals supported by this program in rural areas were initiated by women, including giving women the chance to start small businesses and earn incomes for their families.

Australia has supported the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's comprehensive poverty reduction program in Bangladesh since 2007. This program is aimed at the poorest of the poor. It offers them assets such as cows or goats, and provides training so people can generate income from their assets. People receive a regular small allowance to live on until their small businesses create a stable income. Nearly all of the 100 000 families the program has helped have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

Examples

The Seeds of Life program in East Timor, which started in 2001 with support from ACIAR and AusAID, has produced varieties of staple food crops suited to local climate and farming methods. Crop yields have increased by between 23 and 80 per cent with these varieties.

Since 2006 Caritas Australia has supported a sustainable agriculture program in eastern Uganda. With AusAID funding the program now helps 600 farming families to produce food, and to improve sanitation and environmental practices. The program provides seeds, seedlings, tools and materials for water tanks, and supports training in literacy, health and hygiene, land use and water conservation. The program makes it possible for children to spend less time working on farms and more time at school.

Australia has supported the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's comprehensive poverty reduction program in Bangladesh since 2007. This program is aimed at the poorest of the poor. It offers them assets such as cows or goats, and provides training so people can generate income from their assets. People receive a regular small allowance to live on until their small businesses create a stable income. Nearly all of the 100 000 families the program has helped have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

Target 1: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

The enrolment of children in primary education has increased over the past ten years, with 89 per cent of children formally enrolled in schools.
Australia's support for the MDGs has recognised the importance of education as a way of helping people out of poverty and towards better lives.

Australia has helped improve access to, and the quality of, primary and secondary education in countries in Asia, the Pacific region and Africa.

Australia has worked with governments and communities in these regions to build schools, improve the quantity and quality of teaching staff, improve curriculum materials, and reduce the burden of school fees on poor families. For example, hundreds of thousands more Indonesian children will be able to go to school thanks to the Australia–Indonesia Basic Education Program. Between 2006 and 2010, with Australian support, 2074 new junior secondary schools were built or renovated, creating places for about 330,000 more children, helping achieve the Government of Indonesia's objective to provide nine years of basic education for all children.

Australia has supported global education efforts through the Education for All–Fast Track Initiative.

This global partnership brings together donors and developing country governments to enable more children to benefit from primary education. Between 2000 and 2007, the program has enabled an additional 19.3 million children to attend primary school in sub-Saharan Africa. Another 20 million African children are expected to attend primary school by December 2010 supported by the Initiative with funding from Australia and other donors.

Australia has helped give children living with disabilities and those living in conflict areas a chance for an education.

In Kiribati, Fiji and Samoa, Australia has helped children with disabilities to access better quality education through providing improved facilities and training teachers. Since 2008 schools built under the Australia-Indonesia Basic Education Program have included handrails, ramps and Braille signs to help children with disability. The Indonesian Government has committed to provide equivalent features in all new schools that it will build. Australia's support to upgrade the skills of teachers working in the poor and conflict-affected region of Mindanao in the Philippines has helped an estimated 90,000 Muslim and indigenous students in the region receive a better education.

Examples

Increasing elementary school access in Papua New Guinea

Australia has helped Papua New Guinea to introduce an additional three years of basic education before primary school. This level of education, known as elementary schooling, has contributed to increased enrolments of students in grades 1 to 8 from 970,000 in 2006 to 1.7 million last year. The language of instruction in elementary school is vernacular, schools are built out of bush materials and teachers are recruited from local villages.

New school buildings in Siraro district

From 2006–07, ChildFund Australia built and equipped two new schools in rural Ethiopia, providing over 1000 children with a chance for a better future. These facilities, constructed in the district of Siraro, have helped to increase school enrolment rates by 39 per cent and supported 130 more girls to attend school.

Target 1: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

More girls have a chance for education now than they did in 2000 but equality between girls and boys, and men and women, in many countries is yet to be achieved.b Australia has supported gender equality in all aspects of development.

Australian aid has supported improvements to girls' education in many developing countries.

In Vanuatu, Australia has helped the education sector address gender stereotypes by improving learning materials and teaching methods. In Pakistan, Australian aid helped to get more than 46,000 girls into primary school. In Laos, several initiatives including a school feeding program are contributing to increases in girls' enrolment. The Australia Pacific Technical College is providing the chance for more girls to obtain a technical and vocational qualification, opening further opportunities for employment.

Australia has supported women's leadership in government, business and the community.

For example, the number of women trained and employed as village court magistrates in Papua New Guinea rose from just 10 in 2004 to 384 by 2009. In 2008–09, Australia supported the United Nations Development Program's Micro-Enterprise Development Program in Nepal. This helped 5288 women set up new businesses and employed 5426 female workers.

Australia increased its assistance to programs to address violence against women in Melanesia and East Timor between 2007 and 2010.

This support included assistance to the development of a policy for the elimination of violence against women in Solomon Islands. The policy will be used as the basis for new laws to protect women from violence and for training programs for police. Australia's ongoing support to the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre enabled the Centre to start new services in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Cook Islands, and extend its reach in Vanuatu.

Example

Building women's confidence and skills in Nepal

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Australia has worked with ADRA Nepal over the past ten years to support literacy training for more than 25,000 women and open up rural women's access to microfinance and income-generating activities.

Women's savings groups established under this program have now formed into registered Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SCCs), managed by women for women. Some SCCs currently have more than 800 members and $200,000 in savings. With higher self-confidence, access to financial resources and improved technical skills, women are more involved in decision-making for their families and within their communities.

Target 1: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

By 2008, globally, the total annual number of deaths in children under five years of age had fallen to 8.8 million, down by 30 per cent from 12.4 million in 1990 (World Health Organization Statistics 2010).

Australia's support for child health programs has helped save the lives of millions of children worldwide.

Australia has helped deliver successful child vaccination programs in developing countries over the past decade.

With support from Australia, Papua New Guinea's child mortality rates are now in decline. More than 900 000 children were immunised against measles and other childhood illnesses by 2009. In East Timor, Australian assistance helped reduce child mortality by increasing the availability of vaccines for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. Immunisation levels increased from just 56 per cent in 2003 to 79 per cent in 2009. Australia has supported the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI Alliance) which has helped protect about 233 million children from Hepatitis B, 60 million children from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and 41 million children from yellow fever, across 72 countries.

Improving child nutrition has been an important part of Australia's fight against child mortality in the region.

Low levels of vitamin A, for example, increase a child's chance of an early death. Through Australia's aid program, 95 per cent of children at risk in Nepal from low levels of vitamin A have been tested and treated. A project by Plan International Australia in Isabella Province of the Philippines, and funded by Australia between 2005 and 2008, helped train families in low-cost organic farming methods, which helped to improve child nutrition and household incomes.

Example

Helping the children of Papua New Guinea

As an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, Brisbane's Christian James spent nine months volunteering as a nurse educator in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea, training nursing students and helping out at the Alotau General Hospital (nurse station pictured above). The wards at the hospital were busy and full of people, many of them children, who had travelled for days to get there. 'It can tear your heart out when you see five-year-olds dying of things we wouldn't die of back home in Australia.' Christian saw many deaths but many success stories too, like the young boy Christian saved after he was nearly electrocuted. 'From that moment on it didn't matter what else I did while I was in PNG, my time had been worthwhile.'

Target 1: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Target 2: Achieve universal access to reproductive health

Some countries have recorded a decline in the number of women dying during pregnancy or childbirth but progress is insufficient to achieve the MDG target by 2015. Australian aid has helped women give birth safely.

Australia has supported the training of birth attendants and midwives in the Asia-Pacific region over the past ten years.

In Bangladesh, women's lives have been saved by the presence of skilled health workers and improved health facilities. In the district of Nilphamari, for example, deaths of women during or after birth decreased from 257 per 100,000 live births in 2007 to 171 per 100,000 live births in 2009. In East Timor, the number of births attended by skilled health workers rose from 35 per cent in 2008 to nearly 47 per cent in 2009. In Cambodia, Australian support for the training of midwives ensured that by the middle of 2009 every health centre in the country had at least one midwife. This was an improvement from 2008 when 79 health centres did not have a midwife.

Programs to improve health services in remote areas have helped give rural women better health support.

A primary health care program, implemented by Save the Children Australia and the Laos Ministry of Public Health, has supported health services for women and children in remote and mountainous Sayaboury Province in Laos. Around 94 per cent of the population of the Province now lives within five kilometres of a health facility, with increased access to mobile community health workers. The demand for maternal and childhood health services has increased with the employment of more female health staff and purpose-built maternal and child health centres at district hospitals. Trained village health volunteers and traditional birth attendants now work in nearly every village. The breastfeeding rate for babies at four months of age more than doubled between 1999 and 2004.

Examples

Treating fistula in Ethiopia

Australia has provided support to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia over many years. In 2009 with Australian assistance the hospital, which was founded by Australian Catherine Hamlin, treated 2278 fistula patients, distributed 15 622 birthing kits to traditional birth attendants and health extension workers and provided awareness training on the prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula for 5677 community members.

Training midwives in Cambodia

Jill Moloney is an Australian volunteer midwifery adviser helping Cambodia's health sector improve maternal health. 'I am working with staff at the maternity unit at the University of Health Science on a new three-year course in midwifery. We want to improve the clinical skills of students who are learning to become skilled midwives.'

Target 1: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Target 2: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
Target 3: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

HIV infection rates and deaths from AIDS are now in decline worldwide. Good progress has been made to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases. Australia has made a strong contribution in the fight against diseases that cause millions of deaths in developing countries.

Australia's successful approach to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS has been shared with developing countries.

Australian support has reached around 75 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea. Counselling and testing services increased from nine sites in 2005 to 226 sites in 2009, and now reach about 183,000 people. Australian assistance has also helped prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users. In 2009, over 1.5 million sterile needles and syringes and over 270,000 condoms were distributed in parts of Burma, China and Cambodia. A three-year World Vision Australia program in southern Malawi led to an increased demand for testing services, condoms, counselling and HIV treatment options. Voluntary testing rose from five per cent at the time the project started to 33 per cent by 2006. Over the past six years, Plan International Australia has worked with counterparts in Kenya, Zambia,Uganda and Zimbabwe to increase the rate of voluntary testing and community acceptance of those living with HIV.

Australia has helped reduce malaria in the Pacific.

Australia has worked with the Governments of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the World Health Organization (WHO), to improve the prevention and treatment of malaria. Cases of malaria in Solomon Islands decreased from 199 people per thousand in 2003 to 77 per thousand in 2009. In Vanuatu, new cases decreased from 74 people to 15 people per thousand between 2003 and 2009. Australia helped protect more than 900,000 people from malaria in Burma following cyclone Nargis, by providing insecticide-treated bed nets and insecticide treatment for their houses. Six provinces in the Philippines were declared malaria-free in 2009 as a result of the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria Partnership, delivered with Australian funding.

Australia has supported better ways of recognising and treating tuberculosis and addressing the rise of non-communicable diseases in the region.

Australian health programs in Burma, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have helped prevent the spread of tuberculosis. Solomon Islands achieved a 90 per cent success rate in treating cases in 2008–09. In Kiribati, a three-year program delivered by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) helped reduce the number of tuberculosis cases in the country from 745 in 2007 to 337 in 2008. A partnership between Australia, SPC and WHO is supporting Pacific island countries to prevent and control cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes caused by tobacco and alcohol use, poor diet, inactivity and other factors.

Target 1: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources
Target 2: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
Target 3: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
Target 4: Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

Worldwide, over two and a half billion people directly depend on their local natural resources and ecosystems for food, shelter and income. International development efforts over the past ten years have helped to reduce the impact of environmental change on communities, and to increase supplies of clean water and sanitation. Between 1990 and 2006 over 1.6 billion people benefited from development programs that provided clean drinking water.

Australia has been part of global efforts to promote clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help communities adapt to changing environments, and improve access to clean water and sanitation.

Helping countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and protect biodiversity have been important elements of Australia's international development efforts.

Australia has assisted vulnerable countries in the Pacific region adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change by, for example, helping with water security in Tuvalu, ensuring transport infrastructure in Vanuatu is better able to endure climatic extremes, and funding local-level adaptation activities in communities throughout the region. Australia has helped protect 19 of the earth's largest marine ecosystems through support to the Global Environment Facility, and to the coastal and marine ecosystems of six countries of the Asia Pacific region through the Coral Triangle Initiative. Australia was one of the founding donors to the Global Crop Diversity Trust which manages the Global Seed Vault in Norway, a safe depository for unique crop varieties from around the world.

Australia has helped developing countries to move toward lower carbon growth and environmental sustainability through a range of international and regional programs.

Australia and Indonesia are undertaking a large scale demonstration activity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Kalimantan. Australia's support to the multilateral Clean Technology Fund has provided financing for low carbon technologies in the energy and transport sectors. A total of around US$40 billion has been allocated to projects under the fund, comprising $4.3 billion from governments and an estimated US$36 million from the private sector and other sources. This will help expand geothermal power capacity in Indonesia and solar power in Africa.

Australia's Water and Sanitation initiative has helped increase access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and improve hygiene practices.

Assistance has helped rural and urban communities in countries including Bangladesh, East Timor, Indonesia, Mozambique, Solomon Islands and Vietnam. In 2009-10, Australia contributed to a joint program with Denmark and the Netherlands which helped to provide around 1200 new piped and small water schemes in Vietnam. These schemes have given approximately 2.5 million people access to clean water. In Indonesia, Australia helped 4.6 million people access clean water and toilets over the last ten years.

Example

Providing clean water for Africa

Following the installation of safe water points in communities in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Malawi 8473 households, or approximately 51,000 people, have access to clean water as a result of Australian aid.

Target 1: Address the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states
Target 2: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
Target 3: Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt
Target 4: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
Target 5: In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

A lower burden of debt, increasing opportunities for trade and market access, new technology and aid flows are helping many developing countries improve the lives of their citizens.

By improving access to products and markets for developing countries, and establishing new partnerships for development, Australia has helped countries reduce poverty and move towards sustainable development.

Australia has recognised the importance of trade to reducing poverty.

Approximately 10 per cent of Australia's official aid program has supported activities that facilitate trade and boost business opportunities. Australia has supported developing countries' involvement in multilateral and regional trade agreements and has worked hard with other countries on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations and trade reform in the agricultural sector. Lowering trade barriers affecting agricultural products can bring benefits to rural producers in developing countries through greater access to markets, and to the urban poor through more affordable food prices. Since 2003, Australia has granted duty- and quota-free market access to the poorest countries. Australia's support for the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus and the Australia–New Zealand–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement will also create a free trade area of more than 600 million people, providing new opportunities for business.

Australia has been part of an international effort to make products and technology affordable and accessible to all.

Australia has helped improve access to medicines in developing countries by supporting the pilot of the Global Fund's Affordable Medicines Facility–malaria (AMFm) that aims to increase access to affordable and effective treatment. Australia provided start-up funding for the World Health Organization's Good Governance for Medicines program, which operates in 26 countries to reduce corruption in the pharmaceutical sector. Australian support for telecommunications regulatory reform in developing countries in the region has helped to increase access to affordable mobile phone technology.

Example

New technology in Vanuatu

Australian support to the Government of Vanuatu has allowed many more people in the Pacific island country to take advantage of the benefits of mobile phones for business and information services. Farmers can get up-to-date information, fishermen can get current weather reports and families can get health advice and seek assistance in an emergency.

By assisting with regulatory reforms to the telecommunications market in Vanuatu between 2007 and 2009, Australia and the World Bank have helped to open up competition and provide consumers with protection on products and services. Mobile phone coverage has increased from around 20 per cent to about 85 per cent. The price of SIM cards has fallen from an additional $60 to zero when buying a phone, and the price of handsets is now a quarter of the price under the previous monopoly arrangement. International call rates have fallen by about 50 per cent and broadband internet prices by about 75 per cent.

Pacific Partnerships for Development and the Cairns Compact

The Port Moresby Declaration of March 2008 formed the basis for a new era in Australia–Pacific development cooperation. The Declaration established bilateral partnerships for development between Australia and Pacific island countries. The Pacific Partnerships for Development focus on improving development results and achieving faster progress towards the MDGs.

Australia will provide increased assistance in return for a commitment by Pacific island countries to improve services and governance and increase their investment in economic infrastructure. The partnerships are based on priorities identified in Pacific island countries' own plans for development.

Agreed to in 2009, the related Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific aims to accelerate progress against the MDGs by strengthening Pacific island countries' leadership on their own development agendas, and encouraging development partners to work more effectively together.

Towards 2015

The lives of many people have improved since 2000 but more needs to be done across the world if the MDGs are to be achieved by 2015.

Over the next five years, Australia will increase its contribution to international development and help speed up progress on lagging MDGs.

Progress towards the MDGs has been strong but it has also been uneven within and between regions.

The countries of East Asia, for example, have generally experienced strong economic growth and good progress towards their poverty reduction targets. On the other hand, many small island states of the Pacific have yet to meet their health and education targets, and to significantly increase employment and business opportunities for their communities. The global recession of 2009 and rapid increases in the cost of food and fuel in recent years have been major setbacks to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The impact of major natural disasters and conflict on many communities has also slowed progress.

Increases in Australia's official aid program up to 2015–16 and an emphasis on aid effectiveness will make an important contribution to the achievement of the MDGs.

The Australian Government's aid program is projected to more than double, to over $8 billion by 2015–16. This increase is matched by a commitment to long-term partnerships between the Government, Australian NGOs, other donors and international organisations, including the funds, programs and specialised agencies of the United Nations. An emphasis on mutual trust, respect, transparency and accountability for results will underpin Australia's aid relationship with developing countries and the achievement of the MDGs. Australia will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the impact of aid to ensure it makes a real and positive difference to people's lives.

Australia will increase efforts to help countries reduce poverty, create employment opportunities and improve food security.

Australia is helping expand financial services for the poor, including through support to the establishment of micro-level savings, loans and insurance schemes. This approach will help to increase job opportunities and financial security for those most in need. Australian aid will also support increases in food production and distribution, particularly in countries facing critical food shortages. Australia will continue working with developing countries to prevent conflict and disasters, both of which can rapidly reverse development gains.

Australia will help countries deliver widespread and good quality health and education services, with a strong focus on women and children.

Support will help to ensure children have the opportunity to complete at least nine years of schooling. Improvements to the quality of teaching will also be a priority through the training of teachers and the production of textbooks. Australia will support measures to improve adult literacy. It will also increase access to tertiary-level education in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to develop skills and leadership for development. Future Australian support will make it possible for more women to have quality health care when they need it, including for skilled delivery, emergency obstetric care, and post-natal care. Australia will help train health workers and expand health facilities, and contribute to the health needs of children in developing countries. A high priority will also be given to initiatives that help to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases and tackle avoidable blindness.

Australia will continue to build knowledge and skills within developing countries so that their resources and natural environment are better managed.

Australia will share its experience and expertise in areas such as water resources, sustainable agriculture and environmental management. Australia will continue its focus on the needs of the least developed countries and small island developing states as they seek to improve their development outcomes and meet the MDGs. This will include support for communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Australia will continue its support for trade liberalisation and help developing countries gain access to the benefits of free trade.

A successful conclusion to the World Trade Organisation Doha Development Round will increase confidence in the global economy. Australia will continue to support measures to improve market access for developing countries and build competitive economies. This will include support for developing country engagement in trade negotiations and trade agreements, investments in trade-related infrastructure to reduce the cost of doing business, skills development through scholarships and vocational education and training, and support for private sector development. Strong, open and robust economies are necessary for developing countries to graduate from aid dependence.