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The United Nation’s
millennium development goals (MDGs) are an ambitious set of goals
(see Table 1) aimed at reducing poverty and improving the lives
of people living in the world's least developed countries. Thanks
mostly to the occasional endorsement by celebrities like Bono, front
man for legendary Irish rock band U2, this notion of helping the
world’s poorest people has gained some notoriety in recent
years.
Earlier this year, while addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF)
in Davos, Switzerland, Bono challenged, “we’ll be remembered
for three things right now: the internet, the war against terror,
and what we did or didn’t do about the glorious continent of
Africa and its travails. And I think we can be the generation that
ends extreme poverty.”
Regina Clewlow, of Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), agrees
with Bono. “Our goal is to engage engineers to address global
poverty and sustainable development issues,” said Clewlow.
The Millennium Development Goals
Table 1: The United Nations Millennium Development Goals
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Policy-makers have set some rather ambitious timelines for most
of the goals shown in Table 1. Not surprisingly though, poverty
alleviation is more than an economic challenge, and without the
serious attention of scientific and engineering minds, it is unlikely
that the MDGs will be met.
Presently, more than one billion people in the world live on less
than one dollar per day, and many of these same people lack access
to safe drinking water and proper sanitation. Embedded within the
MDGs is the desire to reduce by half the number of people who lack
access to safe drinking water by the year 2015. Senate Majority
leader Bill Frist, who is also a doctor, addressed this very issue
at the WEF. “There are 1.1 billion people today who don’t
have access to clean water, and the continent of Africa is an epicenter
for that — right now 10,000 kids die every day [from lack of
access to clean water]. I hope this becomes a major issue for all
of us,” said Frist.
To put Frist’s challenge in perspective, it would require that
infrastructure be put in place at a pace that would provide potable
drinking water and other services for an additional 70 million people
every year if the 2015 goal is to be met. The sheer magnitude of
this problem is daunting, but Clewlow emphasized that engineers
had to focus on solutions that were relevant to the environment
they are working in. For example, advanced water purification technologies
like those found in the United States are not always appropriate
in remote parts of the world.
Combating HIV/AIDS is also at the top of the list of the MDGs. Specifically,
policy-makers would like to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft Chair Bill
Gates has been a leader on this issue. “It’s ironic at
the time where science is advancing and we have this great resource
of medical understanding that we’ve allowed the AIDS epidemic
to get truly out of control — particularly in Africa,”
said Gates at the WEF.
Solutions to the Problems
Although almost all of the MDGs require the skills of some type
of engineering, some goals specifically require insights from computer
and electrical engineers. For example, access to modern energy resources
is considered an essential prerequisite for improving peoples’
lives. At present, nearly two billion people in mostly rural areas
lack access to modern energy services.
Engineers and policy-makers agree that developments in off-grid
power systems, distributed energy resources, and renewable power
sources can help to provide much of the electrification effort.
Although more focused on domestic issues, IEEE-USA’s Energy
Policy Committee (EPC) has taken proactive stances on many of these
energy issues, while acknowledging that “nations with the highest
electricity generating capacity tend to have the highest gross domestic
product per capita.” [www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/electrification.asp]
Other organizations, such as ESW take more of a grassroots approach
to development issues. ESW organizes roughly 30 to 50 projects each
year that place engineers on the ground in developing countries.
Recent projects have included water resource development efforts
in Honduras, which involve the efforts of computer scientist and
computer engineers to develop control mechanisms for the water system.
ESW has also worked in Yugoslavia to develop computer science curricula
and increased access to the Internet.
Tsunami Relief
In February, the United Engineering Foundation (UEF), of which the
IEEE is a member, contributed $25,000 to the engineering community’s
collaborative efforts to rebuild schools and other infrastructure
destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004. The engineering
community's efforts in the devastated region are being spearheaded
by Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA), a group that partners
with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life
through implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable
engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible
engineering students [www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2005/uef-022205.asp].
With the help of organizations that shape policy, such as the IEEE-USA,
and more hands-on engineering organizations such as ESW and EWB-USA,
there can be some optimism that UN’s MDGs might actually be
achieved. As Bono said, “we can be the generation that ends
extreme poverty.”
For More Information
• Engineers for a Sustainable World: www.esustainableworld.org
• United Nations Development Goals: www.undp.org/mdg
• Columbia Earth Institute: www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu
• Engineers Without Borders-USA: www.ewb-usa.org
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