Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Measurement of Progress Towards Millennium Development Goals

Abstract

The Horn of Africa is suffering from the worst food security emergency in the world today, and half of those in need are children. Due to the current economic crisis, the funding needed to cope with the severe food crises and droughts rarely seen in the region is being cutback. This article proposes a territorial measure of progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs) in countries in the Horn of Africa. To develop this measure, we constructed an index using the Pena distance method for 2012, the latest year for which data are available. Our goal is to develop a synthetic indicator that allows us to evaluate the territorial disparities in these countries for the year studied relative to the degree (higher or lower) to which they have fulfilled the United Nations’ MDGs. The index contains information about various indicators of MDGs 1, 4, 6, and 7, enabling country-level classification and study of the impact of each variable of the synthetic indicator to determine the measures needed to prevent future humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa.