For the past six weeks I have been traveling in the western, eastern and southern parts of Africa to assess situations on the ground with regards to the implementation and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (this being the mid year in the 15-year period set to achieve the goals) and to see preparations being made by various partners of the UN Millennium Campaign for this year’s Guinness Challenge to beat the record set last year for Standing Up against Poverty.

Led by the UN Millennium Campaign’s Global Director, Salil Shetty, the mission involved meeting with various UN country teams, government officials, National Coalitions for the Global Call Against Poverty (GCAP), MDG campaigners, local and international NGOs, other CSOs, media and other opinion molders among others. So far, we have been in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.

There have been a number of activities reports and media focus during July (the exact mid-point of the MDGs being July 7 2007) in many countries, indicating slow progress on a number of the goals. But there is a general pessimistic consensus that at current pace most of our countries may not achieve the goals by 2015.

A disproportionate focus on what has not been achieved may actually make one lose sight of the progress being made and what more could be done. For instance, all the countries we visited have made tremendous progress in the area of increasing access to education for both boys and girls. Millions of children who would be out of school are now in school. Some countries are making secondary school education accessible. While it is true that there are issues about retention and quality, the minimum threshold is being pushed. It is now up to citizens to press harder for better education through a general improvement in teaching and learning conditions.

In Kenya, the provision of mosquito nets has dramatically brought down the number of people, especially children, dying from malaria. Malawi today is only second to Peru globally in the most dramatic reduction of infant mortality. In the past four years, infant mortality has come down by more than 1/3. In Ghana and Malawi, the interlinked age between poverty and lack of access to education even, when it is officially free and universal, has led to complimentary programmes including giving children from poorer homes a decent meal in school and also providing transport. These successful initiatives prove the integrated nature of the MDGs. They are not cocktails that states and communities can cherry pick as they go along. Progress in one goal must demand progress in others if the success is to be sustainable.

In all the countries, there are sad paradoxes that both governments and campaigners have to focus upon. As infant mortality is coming down, maternal mortality remains scandalously high. In Zambia, Nigeria, Malawi and Tanzania, it is so high yet there is no public outrage. If our children are living longer why are our mothers dying so young? Who is going to look after these children? How can we achieve the lofty goals on gender and women’s empowerment if so many women continue to die in childbirth?

While we welcome the patchy and slow progress that has been made so far, it is important to use this mid-point year to realign our national priorities to ensure that the MDGs are met and even surpassed. As a football supporter, and a life long Liverpool one at that, the analogy I can draw is that of the European finals of 2005. At half time, Liverpool was trailing AC Milan 3:0. As the whistle was blown, both managers went into the dig out. Liverpool’s manager was furious and he read out the riot act to his players. On resumption we saw a changed team who had leveled the scores by full time and refused to concede any even during extra time. Finally in the shoot-out Liverpool won.

We should use the same tactics for our governments. The fact that they are making uneven progress at mid-point should not mean that the outcome is necessarily doomed. More can be done. One of our key partners, The Micah Challenge (a global group of ecumenical churches campaigning on MDGs), has dubbed their campaign: Blowing the Whistle. We need to blow the whistle on our political leaders at local, national, Pan-African and global levels that they fulfill the commitments made under the MDGs.

There is no point in being cynical. Seven years may be short but it is long enough for all states to meet these goals if citizens insist and continue to put pressure on the policy makers, whether government or parliamentarians or politicians at all levels. Indifference is the enemy of delivery and a great ally of insensitive politicians.