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Hello, I’m Rachel Hobson.
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And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Fatima lives in a small village in Angola. She had to walk four hours every day to collect water. And the water was not even clean. Some children in the village became sick after drinking it.
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Kaima is twelve years old. She lives in the desert area of Rajasthan, in India. She is the first female in her family to learn how to read and write. Kaima wants to be a pilot.
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Chorn is an intelligent two year old boy. But he has been very sick for much of his short life. Chorn and his parents live in Cambodia. His parents have to borrow money to pay for private doctors. But no-one seems able to help their son.
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Water supply, education, healthcare - it is a sad fact that millions of people around the world do not enjoy these basic services. But in the year 2000, the UN set ‘the Millennium Goals’. These goals seek to improve the lives of people in developing countries. And world leaders promised to make every effort to achieve these goals. But how many people’s lives have truly changed? Have the Millennium goals made any real difference? And who can actually remember what they are? Here is Spotlight’s guide to the Millennium Goals:
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Goal one:
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To destroy extreme poverty and hunger.
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Goal two:
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To provide a basic level of education for children around the world.
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Goal three:
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To make sure that women have the same chances as men in every area of life.
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Goal four:
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To reduce the rate of children dying.
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Goal five:
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To improve the health of mothers before, during and after giving birth.
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Goal six:
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To fight against HIV/Aids, malaria and other sicknesses.
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Goal seven:
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To care for the environment.
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Goal eight:
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To encourage countries to work together for global economic development.
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June 2007 marked the half-way point of the project to complete the Millennium Goals. So, has the international community kept its promises? Have governments invested in projects that will deal with problems of health, education and the environment? At that half-way point, the UN published a report. It was about the progress different countries were making so far with the Millennium Goals. Here are the main points of the UN report:
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Goal One: to destroy poverty and hunger.
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The poor are getting a little less poor in most areas. But progress is slow. Governments need to act quicker to meet the goal.
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Goal two: education for children.
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Generally, more children are attending school. But in parts of Africa, the rate of progress is slower. And girls are still less likely to attend school than boys.
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Goal three: equal rights for women.
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Employment for women is improving. But women are still less well represented in politics than men are.
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Goal four: to reduce the rate of children dying.
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Child survival rates have not improved very much. But governments are providing more basic health services.
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Goal five: to improve the health of mothers.
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Half a million [500,000] women continue to die each year during pregnancy or childbirth. Mothers need expert care - and in many places this help is still not there for them.
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Goal six: to fight against HIV/Aids, malaria and other sicknesses.
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There are now more deaths from HIV/AIDS in parts of Africa. Many HIV/AIDS patients still do not receive treatment. And it seems increasingly difficult to control the spread of the disease.
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Goal seven: to care for the environment.
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People are trying to use different kinds of energy supplies. But worldwide pollution is increasing. Also, more people are moving to cities to find work. This leads to over-crowding and fewer resources for more people.
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Goal eight: to encourage countries to work together for global economic development.
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Richer countries are giving less aid to developing countries. And there are fewer jobs for young people.
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The general opinion seems to be that there has been some progress towards reaching the goals. But the richer nations need to be true to their promises. This is the only way that real change will happen. And pressure groups around the world agree. Many of them have united to voice their concern. They believe that change can happen. And they have the job of helping governments to remember their promises.
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One of these pressure groups is called, “Micah Challenge”. The group’s name comes from a Jewish prophet in the Christian Bible. Micah declared how God hates it when people are unfair. He said:
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“God has told us what is right. We must act justly and love mercy and follow God with the right heart and mind.”
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“Micah Challenge” believes that this message is as true now as it was in bible times. And the group believes that encouraging governments is necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These goals will bring more justice to the world. That is why “Micah Challenge” joined together with many other pressure groups. They asked thousands of people to come to London for a public protest. They wanted this demonstration to remind governments not to forget their promises.
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So, many people did gather. And not just in London. People organized similar protests in many different countries. Their message was that the world cannot wait - now is the time to act.
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The former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, agrees. Before he left office, he said:
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“In the Millennium Declaration of 2000, world leaders made some big promises. They said that they would make every effort to free men, women and children from the terrible conditions of extreme poverty. But there is a danger here. These leaders have to keep their promises. If they do not, then the biggest world fight against poverty will result in very little change. And people in developing countries will never trust them again. I hope that we will not look back in 2015 and say that we could have tried harder to achieve these goals.”
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