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Asia-Pacific could tilt the balance in achieving MDGs

By Zhang Yuwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-28 11:18

UNITED NATIONS - As the three-day Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit drew to a close in New York last week, a newly released MDG report by UN agencies points out that there has been "uneven progress" across the Asia-Pacific region and many gaps still remain.

The report, Paths to 2015, was a joint effort by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Development Programme and the Asian Development Bank.

The report excluded China and India, the two giants in poverty reduction, in many of the indicators on poverty reduction to show a clearer picture of the region's performances in this area.

UN data show that poverty rates in China are expected to fall to about 5 percent by 2015.

Ajay Chhibber, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP administrator and director for Asia and Pacific, said China's poverty reduction achievements have been remarkable and it has achieved the MDG targets of halving the impoverished population and providing universal primary education.

Since 1990, the number of poor people in China has fallen by more than 300 million, he said.

"As a major developing country and home to one-fifth of the world's population, China's success is the biggest contribution to world stability and development, as well as the attainment of the MDGs globally," Chhibber told China Daily, adding that China has also "made fairly fast progress in other areas such as health and gender equality".

While China's success against poverty in the past 25 years is "undeniable", Chhibber said the country should address income inequality, which has been on the rise since the mid-1980s.

"The country will need to address this problem if it is to maintain its past rate of progress against poverty," he said, adding that China is also very correctly focusing on social protection in its efforts to ensure that those left behind are getting support.

Looking at the boarder picture of the region, he said the "ugly side of the Asia story" is that almost 600 million people go to bed hungry every day in Asia and the Pacific.

"The irony is that over this period, Asia-Pacific has eliminated the scourge of famines and per capita food grain availability has increased, yet hunger still affects millions," he said.

In achieving the MDGs, the Asia-Pacific region, which has a vast diversity, presents an imbalanced picture, especially in health indicators such as maternal mortality, sanitation, and environmental goals, said Chhibber.

He said in many countries in Asia, well-organized health systems, especially in rural areas, do not exist.

"Basic sanitation has also not been accorded the highest priority in many parts of Asia," Chhibber said, adding that degradation of land and water systems is also worrying.

The set of eight international development goals were agreed upon by 189 world leaders during the Millennium Summit at the UN in 2000. It aims to halve poverty, expand universal education and combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria by 2015.

Noeleen Heyzer, UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the ESCAP, said at a side event during the summit that although some noticeable progress has been made in the region, especially in poverty reduction in China and India, the region is still making slow progress in some major areas.

"It has been slow, for example, in reducing the extent of hunger, and ensuring boys and girls to reach the last grade of their primary education," said Heyzer, adding that other areas lagging include reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and providing basic sanitation.

"To meet the 2015 deadline, countries in the Asia-Pacific region must step up their efforts to eliminate or narrow these development gaps," she said.

Echoing Heyzer's comment, Indonesia's State Minister for National Development Planning Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said that her country has been facing "persistent challenges" in maternal health. Emphasizing that this issue must be tackled, she said that it is essential to "scale up the knowledge sharing among countries in the region" to achieve the MDGs.

Women and children were recognized as one of the focus areas during the summit. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health on Sept 22. Stakeholders pledged more than $40 billion in resources to help more than 16 million women and children worldwide.

China Daily