15.7.1 Millennium Development Goals

You will recall from Study Session 2 that there were eight MDGs, and that Goal 7 included the aim to halve, by the end of 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The goal for basic sanitation has not yet been achieved but, after a concerted effort by the Ethiopian government, the public and development partners, in March 2015, Ethiopia celebrated meeting the target for water supply. This made Ethiopia one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to fulfil this global commitment. Figure 15.7 shows a UNICEF poster designed for the event and the celebration by assembled stakeholders held at the Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa on 23 March 2015.

Figure 15.7  Celebrating the achievement of the water MDG in March 2015.

This was a great achievement for Ethiopia but, despite huge improvements across all eight goals across the globe, there are still many targets that have not been met. The global community has therefore developed a new set of goals called the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’.