For the United Nations (UN), 2010 marks a critical year for the Millennium Development Goals. From September 20-22, the UN will be hosting an MDG summit (High-level Plenary Meeting) whose aim is to identify ways to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. To gather input for that meeting, the UN held “Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly with Non-governmental organizations, Civil society organizations and the Private sector” this past June 14 and 15.

At the hearing, representatives of civil society and private sector organizations shared their analysis of the challenges in meeting the MDGs and their recommendations to overcome those challenges. With rising levels of poverty and growing unemployment worldwide, we appear to be further from achieving the MDGs than we were in the year 2000. But the attendees were reminded that for the millions going hungry, failure of governments to meet the MDGs would be unacceptable.

The presenters understandably placed a strong focus on meeting the targets of MDG 1, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, through a range of recommendations on how to address poverty and its structural causes. In addition, a notable feature of the hearings was the strong representation of women on the panels and in the audience. Therefore, the issue of gender inequality and its impact on achieving the MDGs was addressed in a number of the presentations.

The first speaker at the hearings, Farah Kabir of Action Aid, spoke both on MDG 1 and gender inequality. She pointed out that women make up the majority of the world’s hungry, yet they produce 60-80% of the food in most developing countries and are main producers of the world’s staple crops. According to the research of ActionAid, less than 1% of national agriculture budgets targets women and as little as 10% of international aid to agriculture goes to women farmers. She called for investment in small scale farming (referred to as a ‘smallholder rescue package’) with a focus on women farmers as the key way to halving hunger by 2015.

Constance Okollet of Osukuru United Women’s Network highlighted the growing burden women in their community have faced adjusting to the concrete impacts of climate change. Okollet, a peasant farmer, discussed how floods and droughts resulting from climate change have diminished agricultural productivity in Uganda, a country that used to export food to neighboring countries. She also shared how climate change and the floods have increased disease, death, and reduced school attendance and highlighted how women have shouldered the responsibility of sustaining their families within this context.

In recognition of gender inequality and other forms of discrimination, a number of groups voiced the need to truly root the MDGs in a rights based approach to ensure that the most marginalized and disadvantaged communities are truly benefitting from policies designed to meet the MDGs. Seydi Gassama of Amnesty International spoke of the gross violations of human dignity endured by millions of girls, boys, women and men living in poverty. He commended Ecuador for being the first country in the world to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights which allows individuals and groups within a country to seek justice from the United Nations should these rights – which include the rights to adequate housing, food, water, health, work, social security and education - be violated by their government.

With regards to the MDGs, Gassama called on Member States at the Summit to: better monitor the achievement of the MDGs and their consistency with human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights; include the excluded by taking action to identify and end all forms of discrimination; promote participation by action, ensuring that people living in poverty are able to participate meaningfully in MDG planning, implementation and monitoring at all levels; and provide international cooperation and assistance that supports the national realization of minimum essential levels of economic, social and cultural rights for all.

Other speakers argued that the MDGs cannot be achieved through the dominant economic paradigm being pursued by countries worldwide, and that the onset of the multiple crises (food, energy, financial and climate crises) linked to the continued promotion of the neo-liberal economic model is proof. Daniel Van Daele of the International Trade Union Confederation called on global policy makers to recognize that the lax regulation of financial markets and instruments, the rapid liberalization of trade and capital markets, unfair terms of trade, ill-advised export-led growth models, tax evasion by Multinational Companies, heavy debt burdens and severe shortfalls in financing for development have all hindered the achievement of the MDGs.

Among other things, Van Daele recommended rethinking and restructuring of the institutions of global governance (including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank), and confronting the shortfalls in development financing by giving developing countries access to credit lending on terms that are commensurate with their needs. He also supported the implementation of the Financial Transactions Tax.

Bhumika Muchhala of the Third World Network called for the promotion of national development strategies that build the productive capacities and social and economic infrastructure of developing countries. For too long, the promotion of financial and trade liberalization has seriously eroded public investment and spending necessary to build a country’s productive capacity, create employment, and provide social services in the areas of health, education and housing. Third World Network also supported the creation of a sovereign debt resolution mechanism to address debt burdens carried by developing countries.

But despite growing evidence that the dominant economic model acts counter to development goals, Athena Peralta of the World Council of Churches pointed out that in response to the crisis, countries have been forced to adopt even more stringent fiscal policies and to prioritize the rights of big businesses over people’s economic, social and cultural rights. WCC called for governments and international institutions to pursue economic policies and build frameworks based on, among other things: a more equitable distribution of assets like capital, technology, land, education, and health care; sustainable consumption and production; and social reproduction and ecological protection. Peralta argued that many conflicts worldwide are a product of socio-economic deprivation, eradicating poverty would lead to stronger social cohesion, human security and lasting peace.

Unfortunately, there was little discussion on a post-2015 agenda. And with the focus on what governments and international institutions should do to meet the MDGs by 2015, there was little attention given to the role people’s movements should be playing in compelling governments and international institutions to genuinely address the roots of underdevelopment.

Katrina Abarcar is the coordinator for IBON North America. She participated in the Millenium Development Goals HEaring on June 14 and 15, 2010.