question, our ideas We tend to oversimplify Don't Believe - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

• We seek to confirm, not to question, our ideas • We tend to oversimplify Don't Believe Everything You Think Thomas Kida, 2007

MDG summit 2010 • Some good language • Same old discourse

 Conventional discourse • economic growth + foreign aid + good governance = MDGs  Unconventional evidence • within-country inequalities + global trading system & TRIPs + climate change = jeopardy for global progress

MDG summit 2010 • Some good language • Same old discourse • 124 commitments • Usual aid-centric perspective • Limited voice of civil society

Danger is that, like with the MDG discourse, the debate about climate change becomes captive of „groupthink‟ and a donor-centric mindset – dolarized & donorized

Nigeria – Measles immunisation 80% 47% 44% 60% 40% 20% 0% 1990 2008 Bottom Second Middle Fourth Top

“…what matters in determining mortality and health in a society is less the overall wealth of that society and more how evenly wealth is distributed.” British Medical Journal, 1996

Bangladesh – U5MR 200 145 150 72 100 50 0 1994 2007 Bottom Second Middle Fourth Top

Malawi – U5MR 300 238 250 200 121 150 100 50 0 1992 2006 Bottom Second Middle Fourth Top

“ There is no one policy for reducing inequality […] and another for raising national standards of performance. Reducing inequality is the best way of doing both.” The Spirit Level Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009

MDG s = M inding D evelopment G ap s

Empress Mumtaz Mahal Mughal Shah Jahan 1627-58

Queen Ulrika-Eleonora 1656-93

Post-2015: method & process • Revise structure • Formulate clearly as global targets • Stress measurability; not perfectibility • Capture equity dimension • Include interim targets for political accountability • Focus on ends; not on the means

New approach to global summitry  ‘ Peer & Partner Group ’  high-calibre individuals  led by the South  able & ready to challenge world leaders & conventional wisdom  By 2013, generate options & proposals regarding next framework; based on wide consultation and a bit of thinking  Beyond 2015, serve as global custodian of new set of targets

“…the assumption of a „fair exchange‟ – i.e. if we give you money, we are entitled to tell you how to use that money – is highly dysfunctional.” Collins J. (2005) ‘ Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is not the Answer’