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1.3 How Does this Guide Relate to UNDP’s Work? Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 established a framework for development co-operation and co-ordination. The goals set targets for: (1) eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieving universal primary education; (3) promoting gender equality and empowering women; (4) reducing child mortality; (5) improving maternal health; (6) combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; (7) ensuring environmental sustainability; and (8) developing a global partnership for development (see http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals). These goals were reinforced by the Plan of Implementation adopted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which also emphasised the importance of mainstreaming gender perspectives and recognised that access to energy can play an important role in efforts to eradicate poverty. UNDP is the UN campaign manager and scorekeeper for the MDGs. At the country level, UNDP is working with governments to develop capacity for achievement of MDG targets and promoting consultations with key stakeholders to build support for policies and programmes that are truly pro-poor and pro-women. Projects designed to increase poor people’s access to energy for development can provide important entry points for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals if they consider how energy-related activities can have positive impacts on poverty alleviation, education, health, and environmental sustainability – as well as gender equality. (See section 2.3, “How are Gender and Energy Related to Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals?”, for further discussion of these linkages.) During preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
the UN Secretary-General identified five key priority areas for action:
Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture, and Biodiversity, collectively referred
to as “WEHAB priorities.” These sustainable development priorities
are directly linked to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
UNDP’s thematic practice areas relating to poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis recovery and prevention, energy and the environment, and HIV/AIDS all work together to support developing countries in adopting strategies for reaching the targets for 2015 set out in the MDGs (http://www.undp.org/policy). UNDP views gender as one of three cross-cutting issues to be addressed in all the thematic practice areas. The other cross-cutting areas are capacity development and information and communications technologies. This toolkit and resource guide outline linkages between gender and energy
issues, the MDG targets, and WEHAB priorities. Gender Mainstreaming in UNDP’s Work The third Millennium Development Goal sets targets to “promote gender equality and empower women.” As part of its commitment to gender equality, UNDP has adopted a strategy of “gender mainstreaming.” Gender is seen as a social construction defining the different roles of men and women in various cultures and regions (as distinct from sex roles, which are biologically determined). A gender mainstreaming approach requires that gender equality issues
be raised at each step in the project cycle. Moreover, UNDP aims to take
account of gender concerns in all policy, programme, administrative, and
financial activities, including decision making with regard to core policies
as well as every-day implementation decisions (see UNDP’s Guidance
Note on Gender Mainstreaming, available on line at http://www.sdnp.undp.org/gender/policies/guidance.html
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