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• MDG 1: Poverty
• MDG 2: Universal Primary Education
• MDG 3: Gender Equality
• MDG 4: Child Mortality
• MDG 5: Maternal Health
• MDG 6: Combat HIV. Malaria and Disease
• MDG 7: Environmental Sustainability
• MDG 8: Develop Global Partnerships

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Women and girls with disability face multiple discrimination and disadvantage. The
target of eliminating gender inequality in all levels of education by 2015 will not be
reached without considering the needs of girls and women with disability. Poor women
and girls with disability have the least power in society. Women and girls with disability
are at even greater risk than women and girls without disability of all forms of violence:
at home, in their community and in institutions.

Fistula: A preventable disease

“The Millennium Development Goal 3 opened my eyes.

I am a student from Germany and at my overseas volunteer internship at cbm Australia it was the first time I’ve heard about fistula. It is a painful disease as a result of often unwanted pregnancies through sexual abuse.

Millions of women in developing countries are affected and now have a disability. But the good news is this disease is preventable. So I want you to consider which Christmas gift will make more sense – to buy a new ‘must have’ flat screen television to entertain yourself – or – to give a life -changing donation for the women in the developing countries.

And that is what we really have to do to reach the millennium development goals: change the people’s point of view.

Evelyn Haag
Tertiary Student & CBM Volunteer (Germany)

Post your own response!

Answer these two questions about MDG3 Maternal Health:

1. How do you believe the MDG’s are relevant to/impact on people with disabilities? AND
2. How does what you do contribute to making the MDG’s a reality?

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