danielle2

Alrighty, here's my summarization of the article about The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007.

- sub-Saharan Africa is not really on the way to accomplish the goals that have been set

- there is still extreme poverty

- however, things are getting better over there

- there is a higher education rate

- things have improved for women, though they're still sub-par

- child mortality rates have dropped from 185 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 166 per 1,000 in 2005.  I assume from the article that it is a goal to have less children being born in developing countries, so that more children can have a stable environment.

- measles cases and deaths have dropped 75% since 1999, so that's good news.

- The number of people who died from AIDS increased, as well as people suffering from advanced HIV.  :(

- A low amount of people had access to sanitary water.

- crime rates are dropping, most governments are becoming more democratic, and the economy of the general region is becoming stronger

- The fees for education and medical assisstance are no longer existant in some countries

- Malaria rates have dropped thanks to such programs as Red Cross and Unicef

Eh hem... some of the goals (direct C.A.P.):

    So, my feelings about this report.  Well, there's always that feeling that Africa needs to step aboard the developed country train, but at the same time there was a twinge of guilt.  I mean, it's going to take a while for some of these goals to be accomplished, and that there really should be more done to help.  It's not an overnight fix, and it may take some time before everything gets fixed.

It's always depressing to hear about countries worse off than us.  It's a shame to hear how many people don't have access to clean water and sanitation facilities.  This report sort of echoes the People Bomb movie, making me feel all guilty and whatnot.  But it's nice to know that things aren't completely loss over in Africa.  I mean, even though things aren't perfect yet, they're working for it.  And I respect and encourage that.  AIDS... wow.  A lot of deaths.  I'd really like to know how this disease started, and why there's been such an... outbreak.  I mean, this is like the Black Death of the new millenium.  Or at least, so far...  I sense a new blog entry coming on.