REBEKAH HAMMOND
The Omega (Thompson Rivers University)

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CUP) — Nations won’t achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015, according to humanitarian and former Canadian UN ambassador Stephen Lewis.

Set in 2000, the goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, implementing universal primary education, fighting for gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Lewis discussed the goals with the crowd at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. on April 1, provoking both tears and laughter throughout his talk.

The Millennium Development Goals were overly ambitious, said Lewis. This includes the goal to cut in half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day. We are far from that goal, he said, pointing out that, according to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people live on $1.25 or less per day.

“Its the most excruciating assault on humanity,” Lewis said. “It’s so depressing that this state continues.”

He recounted a time when he talked with some women in Malawi, asking what he could do for them. He thought they’d ask him to bring drugs to combat HIV/AIDS, but he got an answer he didn’t expect.

“They said food,” he said. “And they kept pointing at their stomachs as if to emphasize it.”

The women were getting only one small bowl of soup a day.

There’s no possible reason for it, Lewis said. Despite economic conditions, there’s still plenty of money to go around, he continued, mentioning the American government’s recently-passed health care bill and the money put into stimulus plans and company bailouts.

The Canadian government has decided to freeze foreign-aid spending next year. “It’s humiliating to going back a few years ago when Canada’s aid was merited,” he said.

The issue that Lewis feels most strongly about, however, is gender equality.

“My wife is a feminist and I was raised in a strong feminist family,” he said.

It was hard to listen to Lewis describing the sexual abuse women around the world endure.

“Whether it’s the international sex trafficking, genital mutilation, absence of inheritance rights, absence of laws against rape…. It’s just so appallingly misogynistic,” he said.

Marital rape and abuse is common practice in some African countries, he said, though much of the male population denies it.

“The use of rape is no longer a weapon of war (in Africa), but it’s become a strategy of war,” said Lewis. “The women are never protected.”

The Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo specializes in maternity and treatment, reconstruction and rehabilitation for victims of sexual violence.

“They’ve coined a medical term I’d never before heard — vaginal destruction,” said Lewis. “You have to ask yourself, ”˜How in heaven’s name does the world tolerate this?’” he said. “Virtually nothing happens. There’s got to be some way that the world can stop it… or at least assist the women after the attacks and put pressure on the heads of states.”

Lewis feels strongly about doing what he can and being a voice for those who can’t personally bring their stories and situations forward.

“I’ve never thought a group or individuals are impotent.” Lewis said. “There are so many organizations and an endless array of NGOs that you can become affiliated with and make a contribution.”

UN Millennium Development Goals

GOAL 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
GOAL 2: Achieve universal primary education
GOAL 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
GOAL 4: Reduce child mortality
GOAL 5: Improve maternal health
GOAL 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseses
GOAL 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
GOAL 8: Develop a global partnership for development

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photo: Flickr