sustainable development of small island developing states and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the general assembly target 8d: deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least developed countries (ldcs), africa, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. official development assistance (oda): net oda, total and to ldcs, as percentage of oecd/dac donors' gni proportion of total sector-allocable oda of oecd/dac donors to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation) proportion of bilateral oda of oecd/dac donors that is untied oda received in landlocked countries as proportion of their gnis oda received in small island developing states as proportion of their gnis market access: proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and from ldcs, admitted free of duty average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries agricultural support estimate for oecd countries as percentage of their gdp proportion of oda provided to help build trade capacity debt sustainability: total number of countries that have reached their hipc decision points and number that have reached their hipc completion points (cumulative) debt relief committed under hipc initiative, us$ debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services target 8e: in co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis target 8f: in co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population personal computers in use per 100 population internet users per 100 population criticism general general criticisms include a perceived lack of analytical power and justification behind the chosen objectives. some of the indicator definitions, baselines and targets were changed after their first adoption, to suggest that progress had been better than was really the case. the mdgs lack strong objectives and indicators for within-country equality, despite significant disparities in many developing nations. iterations of proven local successes should be scaled up to address the larger need through human energy and existing resources using methodologies such as participatory rural appraisal, asset-based community development, or seed-scale. mdg 8 uniquely focuses on donor achievements, rather than development successes. the commitment to development index, published annually by the center for global development in washington, d.c., is considered the best numerical indicator for mdg 8. it is a more comprehensive measure of donor progress than official development assistance, as it takes into account policies on a number of indicators that affect developing countries such as trade, migration and investment. the mdgs were attacked for insufficient emphasis on environmental sustainability. thus, they do not capture all elements needed to achieve the ideals set out in the millennium declaration. agriculture was not specifically mentioned in the mdgs even though most of the world's poor are farmers. alleged lack of legitimacy the entire mdg process has been accused of lacking legitimacy as a result of failure to include, often, the voices of the very participants that the mdgs seek to assist. the international planning committee for food sovereignty, in its post 2015 thematic consultation document on mdg 69 states "the major limitation of the mdgs by 2015 was the lack of political will to implement due to the lack of ownership of the mdgs by the most affected constituencies". human rights the mdgs may under-emphasize local participation and empowerment (other than women's empowerment). fian international, a human rights organization focusing on the right to adequate food, contributed to the post 2015 process by pointing out a lack of: "primacy of human rights; qualifying policy coherence; and of human rights based monitoring and accountability. without such accountability, no substantial change in national and international policies can be expected." human capital mdg 2 focuses on primary education and emphasizes enrollment and completion. in some countries, primary enrollment increased at the expense of achievement levels. in some cases, the emphasis on primary education has negatively affected secondary and post-secondary education. a publication from 2005 argued that goals related to maternal mortality, malaria and tuberculosis are impossible to measure and that current un estimates lack scientific validity or are missing. household surveys are the primary measure for the health mdgs but may be poor and duplicative measurements that consume limited resources. furthermore, countries with the highest levels of these conditions typically have the least reliable data collection. the study also argued that without accurate measures, it is impossible to determine the amount of progress, leaving mdgs as little more than a rhetorical call to arms. mdg proponents such as mcarthur and sachs countered that setting goals is still valid despite measurement difficulties, as they provide a political and operational framework to efforts. with an increase in the quantity and quality of healthcare systems in developing countries, more data could be collected. they asserted that non-health related mdgs were often well measured, and that not all mdgs were made moot by lack of data. the attention to well being other than income helps bring funding to achieving mdgs. further mdgs prioritize interventions, establish obtainable objectives with useful measurements of progress despite measurement issues and increased the developed world's involvement in worldwide poverty reduction. mdgs include gender and reproductive rights, environmental sustainability, and spread of technology. prioritizing interventions helps developing countries with limited resources make decisions about allocating their resources. mdgs also strengthen the commitment of developed countries and encourage aid and information sharing. the global commitment to the goals likely increases the likelihood of their success. they note that mdgs are the most broadly supported poverty reduction targets in world history. achieving the mdgs does not depend on economic growth alone. in the case of mdg 4, developing countries such as bangladesh have shown that it is possible to reduce child mortality with only modest growth with inexpensive yet effective interventions, such as measles immunization. still, government expenditure in many countries is not enough to meet the agreed spending targets. research on health systems suggests that a "one size fits all" model will not sufficiently respond to the individual healthcare profiles of developing countries; however, the study found a common set of constraints in scaling up international health, including the lack of absorptive capacity, weak health systems, human resource limitations, and high costs. the study argued that the emphasis on coverage obscures the measures required for expanding health care. these measures include political, organizational, and functional dimensions of scaling up, and the need to nurture local organizations. fundamental issues such as gender, the divide between the humanitarian and development agendas and economic growth will determine whether or not the mdgs are achieved, according to researchers at the overseas development institute (odi). the international health partnership (ihp+) aimed to accelerate mdg progress by applying international principles for effective aid and development in the health sector. in developing countries, significant funding for health came from external sources requiring governments to coordinate with international development partners. as partner numbers increased variations in funding streams and bureaucratic demands followed. by encouraging support for a single national health strategy, a single monitoring and evaluation framework, and mutual accountability, ihp+ attempted to build confidence between government, civil society, development partners and other health stakeholders. equity further developments in rethinking strategies and approaches to achieving the mdgs include research by the overseas development institute into the role of equity. researchers at the odi argued that progress could be accelerated due to recent breakthroughs in the role equity plays in creating a virtuous circle where rising equity ensures the poor participate in their country's development and creates reductions in poverty and financial stability. yet equity should not be understood purely as economic, but also as political. examples abound, including brazil's cash transfers, uganda's eliminations of user fees and the subsequent huge increase in visits from the very poorest or else mauritius's dual-track approach to liberalization (inclusive growth and inclusive development) aiding it on its road into the world trade organization. researchers at the odi thus propose equity be measured in league tables in order to provide a clearer insight into how mdgs can be achieved more quickly; the odi is working with partners to put forward league tables at the 2010 mdg review meeting. the effects of increasing drug use were noted by the international journal of drug policy as a deterrent to the goal of the mdgs. women's issues the hollywood actress geena davis in a speech at the mdg countdown event at the ford foundation in new york, addressing gender roles and issues in film such as her organisation's work in combating inequality in hollywood (24 september 2013) increased focus on gender issues could accelerate mdg progress, e.g. empowering women through access to paid work could help reduce child mortality. in south asian countries babies often suffered from low birth weight and high mortality due to limited access to healthcare and maternal malnutrition. paid work could increase women's access to health care and better nutrition, reducing child mortality. increasing female education and workforce participation increased these effects. improved economic opportunities for women also decreased participation in the sex market, which decreased the spread of aids, mdg 6a. another way in which women can be empowered is through access to paid work. kabeer states that this access increases women's agency in their households, it does so in the economic and political spheres as well. a study of women in rural mexico found that those of them engaged in industrial work were able to negotiate and obtain a greater degree of respect in their households. additionally, another study from tanzania found that increased access to paid work led to a long-term reduction in domestic violence. lastly, women's employment and access to financial resources increased their political participation. data from bangladesh indicates that longer membership in microfinance organizations have many positive effects including higher levels of political participation and improved access to government programs. although the resources, technology and knowledge exist to decrease poverty through improving gender equality, the political will is often missing. if donor and developing countries focused on seven "priority areas", great progress could be made towards the mdg. these seven priority areas include: increasing girls' completion of secondary school, guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights, improving infrastructure to ease women's and girl's time burdens, guaranteeing women's property rights, reducing gender inequalities in employment, increasing seats held by women in government, and combating violence against women. it is thought by some women's rights' advocatess that the current mdgs targets do not place enough emphasis on tracking gender inequalities in poverty reduction and employment as there are only gender goals relating to health, education, and political representation. feminist writers such as naila kabeer have argued that in order to encourage women's empowerment and progress towards the mdgs, increased emphasis should be placed on gender mainstreaming development policies and collecting data based on gender. progress graph of global population living on under 1, 1.25 and 2 equivalent of 2005 us dollars a day (red) and as a proportion of world population (blue) from 1981 to 2008 based on data from the world bank progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven across countries. brazil achieved many of the goals, while others, such as benin, are not on track to realize any. the major successful countries include china (whose poverty population declined from 452 million to 278 million) and india. the world bank estimated that mdg 1a (halving the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day) was achieved in 2008 mainly due to the results from these two countries and east asia. in the early 1990s nepal was one of the world's poorest countries and remains south asia's poorest country. doubling health spending and concentrating on its poorest areas halved maternal mortality between 1998 and 2006. its multidimensional poverty index has seen the largest decreases of any tracked country. bangladesh has made some of the greatest improvements in infant and maternal mortality ever seen, despite modest income growth. between 1990 and 2010 the population living on less than $1.25 a day in