The Commonwealth and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa

Abstract

The Commonwealth has a stronger reason than other comparable international organizations to commit to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Most of its member states are classified as developing, a large minority of its peoples live in poverty, afflicted by internally high rates of HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality. Specifically, more than half the world's 115 million people without education are to be found in the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's MDG strategy has been criticized for focusing on attracting aid at the expense of encouraging increased local investment and ending capital flight. The writer considers this criticism and argues that the governance issues that the strategy is said to be ignoring are at the core of its approach.