Communication for participatory development: Dialogue, action, and change

More than halfway to the 2015 deadline, measurable progress has been achieved on some of the eight millennium development goals established in 2000 by leaders of 189 countries (United Nations, 2007). For instance, according to the United Nations (UN; 2007), from 1990 to 2004, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty (living on a dollar or less a day) dropped from 1.25 billion (32%) to 980 million (19%), and child mortality declined worldwide. However, severe problems remain, as half a million women die annually from preventable and treatable complications from pregnancy and childbirth, and there has been little progress in halving the proportion of underweight children. Moreover, in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 5% of children under age 5 sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets, an effective tool for preventing malaria, far short of the 60% target that was set for 2005. Deaths from AIDS increased to an estimated 2.1 million in 2007, with more than 15 million children having lost one or both parents to the disease. Half the population of the developing world still lives without basic sanitation and over a billion people lack access to safe water. Meanwhile, many of the benefits of global economic growth are not being equally shared.