1. An Analysis of the United Nations Development Goals:
Moving from MDGs to SDGs to empower women and children
through nutrition
“Only through broad empowerment of women, and broad pursuit of equality, will true
progress be seen in tackling food security.”
~ O. De Schutter, 2013
Assignment #2 for CHL 5117:
A Global Perspective on the Health of Woman and Children
Submitted by: Vanessa Young (1001616655)
Submitted to: Akwatu Khenti, Julia Lee, and Catherine Chalin
March 19, 2015

2. Introduction
Unprecedented progress has been made in improving the lives of some of our world’s
neediest populations through the United Nation’s (UN’s) leadership in steering the multi-national
policy initiative of the Development Goals. Currently we stand at a pivotal point between reflecting
upon and evaluating outcomes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs; adopted in 2000 to
be met by 2015), and the development and implementation of the new Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs; being set now for achievement in 2030) (UN, n.d.). For decades, the Goals have driven
agendas, directed funds, and shaped programs in both the public and private spheres alike, and will
likely continue to do so as we work to execute the post-2015 agenda (Adams and Tobin, 2014).
A key element of global development, and therefore both sets of Development Goals, is
nutrition and food security. Adequate and quality nutrition is essential for survival and leading a
productive life, regardless of age or gender. For women and children, however, the stakes are
particularly high when nutritional needs are unmet; for women and children, nutrition, health, and
social statuses are inextricably related. This paper will examine these connections and compare
both MDGs and SDGs efficacy in addressing them, as well as address the utility, implications,
processes, and outcomes of the UN Development Goals themselves.
Importance of Nutrition to Women and Children
Nutrition is directly associated with the health outcomes of women and children. In fact, the
eradication of hunger has been named an “essential condition” to meeting all other MDGs (FAO,
2005). Hunger increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases and is the cause of nearly half of
child mortalities worldwide (FAO, 2005). But its effects begin even before the child is born.
Malnutrition takes a heavy toll on pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding; maternal
undernutrition accounts for 800 000 neonatal deaths each year globally (Bhutta et al., 2013). Even if
a child survives the vulnerable first few years of life and is not one of the three million under the

3. age of five who die annually from insufficient nutrition (Horton and Lo, 2013), malnutrition can
greatly hamper cognitive and physical development. This radically reduces opportunities for
education and employment later in life.
In 2011, stunting (failure to reach the proper height) affected approximately 165 million
children globally, and wasting (thinness) affected at least 52 million (Black et al., 2013). For this
reason, recent research has focused on the first 1000 days of a child’s life, beginning at conception,
as a key window of opportunity for shaping a child’s long-term health through nutrition. As
emphasized by De Schutter (2013), the quality of nutrition as young infants during the 1000 day
window is a major determinant in their future height and learning performance – and thus their
income as adults. Undernutrition in these 1000 days can begin a vicious cycle of low birth weights,
carrying from one generation to the next – one of many compelling reasons to make malnutrition a
priority area for global action (De Schutter, 2013) and simultaneously target poverty.
Although undernutrition continues to be all too prevalent, particularly in Asia and Africa
(Black et al., 2013), insufficient food is not the only nutrition issue facing our world’s women and
children. Overweight and obesity have been steadily increasing for decades – more than doubling
since 1980 – and not just in high-income countries. In fact, the rate of increase among low- and
middle-income countries is now 30% faster than that of high-income countries, and Sub-Saharan
Africa is now home to over 10 million overweight children under the age of five (De Schutter, 2013).
Although counterintuitive, overweight and obesity is actually linked with more deaths annually than
underweight. Given the fact that there were 42 million children under the age of five worldwide
who were overweight or obese in 2014 (WHO, 2015), this problem adds significantly to the burden
of other diseases plaguing women and children and is in urgent need of attention.
Malnutrition is not a matter that can be remedied by solely focusing on food. There are
deeper-rooted health-influencing factors than nutrition which must be addressed in order for food
security to become a reality. For instance, diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis also

4. contribute to nutritional failures (UN, 2014a). Gender inequality – and inequality in general – is
another such root cause which impacts not only the women and girls, but society as a whole (De
Schutter, 2013). Unequal rights to education, land ownership, and other economic opportunities
results in the marginalization of women and undermines the value potential of their collective voice
and leadership. Truly addressing malnutrition means entering into a complex web of interconnected
factors and thinking “upstream” from food itself. Global actors must move beyond “piecemeal
actions” (De Schutter, 2013) towards changing the deeper driving forces of inequality and
discrimination in order to effect change in food security.
For these reasons, investing in undernutrition is not often an attractive spending option for
those in power; addressing it’s social, political, and economic causes would take a much longer than
a single political cycle (Horton and Lo, 2013). Consequently, it has been said that nutrition was one
of the greatest “missed opportunities” of the MDG era (Horton and Lo, 2013). Yet at the same time
it remains an unparalleled opportunity. If nutrition is given the focus it needs as a sustainable
development objective (and woven throughout other non-nutrition objectives), the effects of the
benefits can extend far beyond physical health – and far beyond one generation. Food security and
proper nutrition can help bring about economic independence of women, furthering their ability to
access adequate food for themselves and their families – a virtuous cycle.
Millennium Development Goal Success
Arising out of a landmark summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the MDG’s (see Appendix) were
the first global-scale demonstration of the ability of international leaders to unify in a strategic,
specific fight against poverty, gender inequality, child mortality, and disease, among others (UN,
2014b). The most nutritionally-relevant of these eight ambitious goals was to “eradicate extreme
hunger and poverty”; closely linked to this discussion were goals to “promote gender equality and
empower women,” as well as “reduce child mortality” and “improve maternal health” (UN, 2014b).
Progress has been impressive for several of the goals. According to a very optimistic report from the

5. UN, the MDGs have since generated unparalleled improvements around the world through
innovative approaches, new data, and new technology (UN, 2014b).
The statistics speak to this success: more than 700 million people have been lifted out of
extreme poverty, and steady improvements have been made in primary school enrolment, access to
child and maternal health care, and in the participation of women in politics (UN, 2014b). Notably,
success has been achieved in halving the number of hungry people and those with unsafe drinking
water, and the proportion of people unable to obtain enough food to live a healthy and active life
decreased from 23% in 1990 to 14% in 2013 (UN, 2014a). Other encouraging progress includes 46
countries now having at least 30% female parliament membership, and official development
assistance having reached the highest amount ever recorded at $134.8 billion in 2013
(Post2015.org, 2014). Reviews of the MDGs also quote improved transparency, strengthened
multilateral approaches, and enhanced international cooperation as secondary outcomes of the
MDG process (UN, 2014b).
Millennium Development Goal Criticisms
Despite these commendable wins, the MDG experience is not without blemish. There
remains some serious gaps in achieving health for women and children, and concerted effort will be
essential for continued progress (UN, 2014b). The MDGs are seen by many as “unfinished work”
which we must continue, a springboard into the future, or a foundation on which we must build
(UN, 2014b). In order to craft a healthier, more equitable future for women and children, lessons
learned from the MDG experience ought to inform our next steps in working towards these ends.
To begin, some of the health issues for women and children outlined above are completely
missed in the MDG’s. The two indicators for MDG #1 (which is to halve the number of people who
suffer from hunger) are the prevalence of underweight children under five years of age, and the
proportion of the population below the minimum level of energy consumption (UN, n.d.). The one-

6. sided focus on underweight and lack of direction in addressing micronutrient deficiencies,
overweight, and obesity is concerning. It is also surprising, considering that the UN has already
noticed these trends and declared that in countries where both sides of the malnutrition problem
exist, interventions particularly targeting women are required which encompass a wide range of
policies dealing with health, hygiene, and education (UN, 2014b).
Secondly, can we compare all countries to a common standard? Is it realistic and fair to do
so? In a 2009 article entitled “How the Millennium Development Goals are Unfair to Africa,” William
Easterly describes how the cut-offs selected to define success of the MDGs are not attainable by
most African countries, despite perhaps exceptional progress compared to historical trends or to
other regions. For example, the indicator of MDG #1 is the proportion of people living below the
poverty line (on less than $1 per day). However, no value is given to the number of people who
move closer to the poverty line but do not rise above it (Easterly, 2009), so progress statics reported
according to the targets set by the MDG indicators could be discouraging and misleading. For this
reason, Easterly reproaches the MDGs as having painted Africa in a bad light by emphasizing
shortcomings compared to other regions. He also reports that those involved in setting the MDGs
have even admitted that Africa will miss all the MDG targets. On the other hand, it could be argued
that the MDGs, as they are, focus more attention on Africa and therefore bring more aid to the
neediest areas of the world.
Another question is whether the goal outcomes should be measured in relative or absolute
numbers. Although great strides have been made towards MDG1, a closer look at the numbers
reveals that not only has progress been quite uneven across and within countries, but the absolute
number of people suffering from hunger has only somewhat decreased (De Schutter, 2013). Far
more ambitious than halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger (the MDG target)
would be to halve the actual number of hungry people – precisely what the 1996 World Food
Summit (WFS) set as a goal to be achieved by 2015. According to 2014 report “The State of Food

7. Insecurity in the World,” although there was a 40% reduction in the proportion of the world’s
undernourished people (the MDG goal) from 1990 to 2014, there was only a 21% decrease in the
number of the world’s undernourished people (the WFS target) over the same time span.
Furthermore, as measured by proportion, every world region showed improvements, but when
measured by absolute numbers, some regions such as Africa even showed increases in hunger (FAO,
2014). For this reason, less than half of the countries achieving MDG #1 also achieve the WFS target
(FAO, 2014).
Finally, many critics feel that gender-specific goals are necessary for true advancements of
women’s health, and that reported data should be disaggregated for gender. For example, De
Schutter (2013) points out that a shortcoming of the MDGs is that they are “gender-blind,” focusing
on overall progress and thereby allowing disparities within populations to be unnoticed. Because of
this characteristic of MDGs, many countries have been able to boast of achieving national targets by
focusing on easy wins while data for the poorest and most marginalized populations within national
boarders may remain the same or worsen (De Schutter, 2013). This can lead to worsening
inequalities within countries, despite national data which reports of MDG success.
Transitioning Into Sustainable Development Goals
Upon evaluation of the MDGs, stakeholders voiced that the world needs to continue this
course of action, but that there are key sustainable development gaps such as the multi-
dimensional aspects of poverty and human rights that need to be addressed (UN, 2014b). In 2012,
another landmark UN conference held in Rio de Janeiro again brought world leaders together to
vision-cast for future development. This UN Conference on Sustainable Development launched
the process of developing the SDGs (see Appendix) by producing the document “The Future We
Want” which captures both the lessons learned from experience with MDGs (including gaps that are
yet to be filled), as well as a summary of what the world desires to see in the next sustainable
development agenda (UN, 2014b). In 2013, a diverse Open Working Group was tasked with

8. developing the specific proposed goals (UNDESA, 2015), which were delivered in July 2014. The
next step is the finalization of the goals and their targets which will happen through three
international meetings this year (UN, 2014).
So what do people want in a post-2015 development agenda? Some ‘asks’ outlined in “The
Future We Want” include building democratic processes and accountability; eliminating inequalities
across gender, class, race, and religion; and opportunities to make sustainable livelihoods through
development of the ‘pro-poor’ economic policies (Waituru, 2013). Others, recognizing that gender-
based discrimination is a key obstacle to sustainable development, have asked for new goals to
aggressively eliminate disparities (De Schutter, 2013). Specific to food security, De Schutter (2013)
addresses the importance of measurement by saying that targets – such as those on hunger –
should not be achievable on paper if they are not also achieved for disadvantaged groups such as
women.
The 17 proposed SDGs and their attached 169 detailed targets are praised for being
more inclusive, addressing more root causes of poverty such as human rights, and being
applicable to all nations, not just developing ones (Engel, 2015). So how do the proposed goals
differ from MDGs and how will they address food security for women and children? Besides the
prominent nutrition-related SDG #2 to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition
and promote sustainable agriculture” (UNDESA, 2015), several others also influence food security
and sustainable agriculture, and therefore, women and children’s health. These include goals to end
poverty in all forms, to promote well-being for all, to achieve gender equality, to promote economic
growth and education for all, to reduce inequality within and between countries, and to ensure
sustainable production and consumption patterns (Galatsidas, 2015).
Unfortunately, some elements of the Goals have not been improved upon from the MDGs.
For example, there is still no direction for combatting overweight, obesity, or micronutrient
deficiencies. In addition, the majority of indicators are still measured as proportions as opposed to

9. absolute numbers. Because many indicator statements are broad such as “eradicate extreme
poverty for all people everywhere”, whereas others have specific numerical targets (e.g., “reduce
the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births” (UNDESA, 2015)), Beattie
(2014) critiques the SDG goals and targets for being a mixture of “arbitrarily precise and
comfortingly vague.” The SDGs are also faulted for being unwieldy due to the large number of goals,
targets, and indicators. Stoksad (2015) asserts that only 29% of the targets are well-defined and
scientifically rigorous, and that the rest lack specific endpoints and therefore can’t be accurately
measured. He warns that ambiguous targets could deter donors and allow too much latitude in
evaluating progress (Stoksad, 2015).
Many other aspects of the goals have been improved, however. Learning from the MDG
feedback in setting the post-2015 agenda, the SDGs are much more context-relevant. For example,
a novel feature of the SDGs is that they take into account country-specific circumstances, and
contain both global targets and those which make sense in the national context and which consider
national priorities (UN, 2014b). This can be evidenced by the phrase “as nationally appropriate”
which appears several times among the MDG indicators. Special attention was also devoted to
least developed countries and countries in situations of conflict (UN, 2014b). This is a difficult but
crucial balance to attain because it would be counterproductive for a country to feel the goals don’t
apply to them, or to feel overwhelmed by the seemingly unattainable standard set.
One common criticism of the MDGs had been that they were prioritized and decided upon
“behind closed doors,” dominated by the OECD countries (Nabila Kabeer in an interview with
UNICEF Innocenti, 2012). That is why the new global conversation on the post-2015 development
agenda is being applauded. Stakeholder input has been much more diverse for the development of
the SDGs; consultations have taken place in all 193 UN member states with millions of voices being
heard. Through community consultations, online surveys, and interviews, ideas have been heard
from young people, women, parliamentarians, academics, those from the business sector, and

10. those below the poverty line (UN, 2014b). This certainly reduces the sense of “cockpit-ism” – the
top-down steering by governments to address global problems (Hajer et al., 2015).
Another encouraging outcome in response to the demand for gender-disaggregated data is
that many of the goals contain gender-specific gender targets such as “reduce at least by half the
proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to
national definitions.” Women are also emphasized in several nutrition-related targets such as
“double the agricultural productivity and the incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly
women…including through secure and equal access to land…” (UNDESA, 2015). During the transition
from MDGs to SDGs, there seems to have been an evolution in understanding of the connections
between gender equality, agriculture, and food security.
One example of such connections involves trading markets for agricultural goods. According
to Swain (2009), almost every developed country spends generously on agricultural subsidies. This
depresses global market prices, rendering farmers in developing countries unable to compete with
imported crops, and drastically reduces the amount of potential revenue to be gained by exports of
crops from developing nations. This phenomenon undoes much of the benefit from donated foreign
aid; it’s as if developed countries are giving with one hand and taking away with the other (IMF,
2003). There is also a harmful reverse trend existing when goods are imported from developing to
developed countries with exceptionally low tariffs and duty charges. These factors contribute to a
stagnation of the debt burden of developing countries which has been hovering around 3% of
export revenue (Post2015.org, 2014).
The good news is that the Development Goals are this time devoted to levelling the playing
field for agriculture producers. It helps that sustainable agriculture lies at the intersection of food
security and environmental concern (which takes prominence in the SDGs). Some indicators for SDG
#2 deal directly with this issue by declaring trade distortions in world agricultural markets should be
corrected by the “elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies” and that measures are to

11. be adopted which “ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives,
and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit
extreme food price volatility “(UNDESA, 2015). If these goals are taken seriously by high-income
countries, the beneficial effects on small-scale farmers and their families in low-income countries
could be tremendous.
Finally, a few ways to increase chances of success as we embark on the SDG adventure. It
will be important to empower indigenous leadership and community capacities, carefully
incorporating their wisdom and local experience. Another key prerequisite for food security goals is
for the nutrition community to be more engaged in this latest round of development goals, and for
it to forge strategic partnerships with those outside nutrition (Gillespie et al., 2013). We must
ensure that food security gaps are decreased not only between countries but within them as well.
Strong monitoring and data collection will also be necessary; for example, the measurement of
national budget spending on nutrition can be key to ensuring strong accountability (1,000 Days,
n.d.). Most importantly, it will be necessary for nations to be united in considering the SDGs a
universal agenda. As we tackle problems that transcend boarders, all countries – with their
respective approaches – will need to make changes for the global common good (UN, 2014b).
Conclusion
While far from perfect, the Development Goals have rallied international leaders and
created cohesion for what would otherwise be a disjointed effort at best; they have served as both
the lens through which we understand the world’s need and the standard by which we measure our
efforts. Important lessons have been learned from our global experience with MDGs, many of which
have informed a more applicable, intelligent list of goals and targets in the SDGs. The health of
women gets more much-needed attention, and many deeper causes of food insecurity are
addressed. As we strive towards combining international efforts to reach these goals, we may truly
be moving towards a more sustainable, healthier future.

12. References:
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14. Appendix: Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (from http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/)
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

15. Sustainable Development Goals (from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgsproposal)
Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all
Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all
Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity
loss
Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development