UN Millennium Development Goals

SINGAPORE AND THE UN's MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

During the Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new partnership to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women, and agreeing to a set of measurable goals and targets to be achieved by 2015. The proposals in the Millennium Declaration were expanded into eight specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More information is available at the UN's MDG website

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

Singapore supports the achievement of the MDGs and recognises the challenges that many developing countries face in achieving them.  Within our means, we share our development experience – in particular, in human resource development and economic development – with other countries through MFA's Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP).  To date, more than 80,000 officials from over 170 countries in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean regions have attended SCP training programmes in diverse fields such as education, environment, healthcare, and economic development.  We also collaborate with more than 40 countries and International Organisations to jointly provide technical assistance to other countries.

The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), which was launched by then-Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong at the ASEAN Informal Summit in 2000, is another major contribution by Singapore to help narrow the development gap among ASEAN countries.  The IAI is targeted at capacity-building in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, and covers areas such as English Language, Trade and Finance, Information and Communications Technology, Public Administration and Governance, Tourism and Hospitality and Environment and Health.  To date, we have trained over 23,000 government officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam under the IAI framework.

Examples of Singapore's contributions towards the MDGs

We have been active in promoting the MDG of environmental sustainability and working with others to achieve its objectives.  Singapore and China are currently cooperating to build an Eco-City in Tianjin that is socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource-efficient, and which can serve as a model for other Chinese cities.  Through hosting international conferences such as the biennial World Cities Summit and the establishment of the Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore is also committed to sharing its knowledge with countries which are interested in Singapore's experience in governance, urban management, environmental sustainability and transport systems.

Water will be a critical resource in the 21st century deserving special attention.  Through initiatives such as the Singapore International Water Week, the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize and the Institute for Water Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore hopes to promote innovative and effective solutions to address global and regional water challenges.  During the most recent Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2012, themed “Water Solutions for Liveable and Sustainable Cities”, more than 19,000 participants from 104 countries / regions, comprising key decision-makers from across the government, industry, international organisation and academia sectors participated at the event.  We also had the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum Governing Council, and workshops on river basin management and management of urban floods and climate change as part of the 149 events co-located with SIWW 2012.

Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB), the national water agency, has close interactions with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other international or regional organisations like the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, Southeast Asia Water Utilities Network (SEAWUN) and the Global Water Partnership-Southeast Asia (GWP-SEA). We leverage on these platforms to share our experience and knowledge, sometimes co-locating events during SIWW, so as to help the region attain water and sanitation-related MDGs.  PUB, together with the ADB and UNESCO, helped establish the APWF’s “KnowledgeHubs” initiative in 2008 to improve water security in the Asia-Pacific region by promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building.  Two of the current 17 knowledge hubs are located in Singapore (PUB’s WaterHub and the Institute of Water Policy).  MFA and Waterhub also regularly organise capacity building programmes under the Singapore Cooperation Programme to share our approach to achieving the MDGs.