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Latin America's problems of underdevelopment most adversely affect the region's indigenous, black and mulatto citizens. This paper argues that Latin American governments should thus incorporate race and ethnicity in their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to reduce social exclusion in the region by 2015. However, most Latin American countries do not collect race and ethnic data or do so inappropriately and thus there is an urgent need for census and national survey systems to begin collecting such data. This paper describes the data that currently exist and proposes how to improve data collection so that equitable development can be properly monitored. This article is based on a 'concept paper' that was prepared in 2004 for the Inter-Interagency Consultation on Race and presented at the World Bank in February 2006. It was later presented at the 'International Seminar on the Construction and Use of Ethnic Variables in Public Statistics' in Mexico City in October 2006.

This paper presents an overview of the trade and policy issues in the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It assesses the dramatic changes in the political, economic, and business background from the early 2000s (shaping the MDGs) to the early 2010s (designing the SDGs). These changes rarely get the attention they merit, despite their profound consequences on how to use - or not use - trade policies for promoting development. Following this, it examines the three major phases in the MDG/SDG progress: first, a pro-trade agenda during the preparation of the MDG Report (2002-2005) insisting on the positive impact of trade for development if - a big if - economically sound trade policies are adopted; then, uninspiring MDG8 Gap Reports cantoned in the increasingly sterile - and economically unsound - World Trade Organization negotiations during the implementation period of the MDGs (2007-2015); finally, the ignorance of the trade potential for a "better life" during the preparation of the SDGs (2013-2015). The paper also provides a telling comparison of the MDGs' and SDGs' very different inputs and outputs. The paper concludes by stressing the largely ignored common regulatory agenda between trade policies and the SDGs, arguing that a well-designed trade policy could play a key role for improving domestic regulations, and, hence, contribute to the SDGs' ultimate goal - a "better life".

As one of the countries in the Global South, Bangladesh has experienced numerous development challenges since its liberation in 1971. Bangladesh has showcased how to fight against poverty and to initiate meaningful change and development in human lives. Nobel Prize (2006) winner Grameen Bank is one of the popular development innovations in the country. Since the beginning of this Bank in the early 1970s, microfinance and entrepreneurship development with small amounts of money have proliferated to nearly every corner of the globe with the paramount goal of alleviating global poverty and ensuring human development. Like all other new social science techniques, the societal revolution brought about by microfinance expansion has left substantial room for refinement and further support by empirical evidence. This article critically evaluates a non-governmental initiative to empower extremely poor women through entrepreneurial microfinance, and examines the socioeconomic impacts in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UNMDGs). This article covers both primary and secondary information. The aim is to demonstrate how countries of the Global South can use carefully designed microfinance projects to address major development challenges and meaningfully contribute to creating a more equal, humane society.

This research is a comparison of women"s rights in the UAE and Saudi Arabia referenced against the United Nations Human Rights Legislation and certain United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The qualitative methodology employed was based on a review of secondary sources. This method, called Documentary Research or Secondary Analysis, is frequently used with other research methods in the Social Sciences. It is derived from the primary documents of formal studies, public documents, autobiographies and diaries, producing themes. This is quick low-cost research from frequently the Internet, and often the only method of accessing information from restricted societies (Sarantakos 1998). A brief over-view of women"s rights world-wide is discussed, with a focus on New Zealand. A brief summary and recent history is provided of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Cultural and social traditions including Islamic traditions in many aspects of daily life, religious tolerance, religious intolerance and punishments that might impact on women"s rights are discussed. The impact of feminist movements in these two countries is also reviewed. Finally, there is a discussion on the way in which the UN Millennium Development Goals are working towards women"s rights and empowerment in the face of these cultural and social traditions.

The international community has hailed impressive strides toward the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, but Africa lags because of a late start, despite its more recent successes. Will the next set of goals avoid arbitrary and unrealistic targets?

This book assesses financing strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean, in pursuance of the United Nations' millennium development goals (MDGs) and their achievement in 2015. It looks at how to make public policies more conducive to support sustained growth and reduce the still widespread poverty and inequality in the region.

This unique work by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, tracks the progress Africa has made in achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since 2000. The chapters are organized around the larger themes of political economy, structural issues, sustainable goals, and human development goals. Together they provide a unique assessment from experts on the ground of whether the goals were a success and what remains to be done to achieve sustainable economic and human development in Africa.