Asia falls short of UN goals

The head of the United Nations on Tuesday cited “significant gains” of the Asia-Pacific region in achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but said that more needs to be done to fully accomplish the millennium goals by 2015.

Meanwhile, it was revealed during a ministerial meeting that 11 Asia-Pacific countries with poverty rates above 5 percent of their populations are “likely to miss the income-poverty target,” including the Philippines, Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

In his message during the ministerial meeting for the MDG review held in Jakarta also on Tuesday, which was delivered by Sha Zukang, the undersecretary general for economic and social affairs, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that although the global records when it comes to completing the millennium goals are mixed, there have been many important gains from which each country can learn.

“But much remains to be done,” Sha quoted the UN secretary-general as saying.

Ban welcomed the progress made by some countries, saying, “A number of countries have registered major successes in combating hunger, improving school enrolment and child health, expanding access to clean water and HIV treatment and controlling tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases.”

He added that despite the recent food, energy and financial crisis that affected the world in general, the developing world still remains on track to halve extreme poverty from its 1990 level.

The UN secretary general said that the improvements in most developing nations “happened in some of the poorest countries, demonstrating that the MDGs are indeed achievable.”

RP falling behind

But for the Philippines, Ban earlier raised alarm that the country eradicating extreme poverty, or MDG No. 1, is already an “endangered goal” despite the progress made by its neighbors in recent years.

He said that significant gains made by countries in the Asia-Pacific region contributed to global successes.

The ministerial meeting, which ends today, will allow countries to address remaining gaps and continuing challenges in achieving the MDGs. The special ministerial meeting for the review of the millennium goals will have a roundtable discussion on “Challenges and Opportunities of Asia and the Pacific Countries in Achieving the MDGs by 2015.”

“In particular, we must assist those countries that have fallen behind, especially the region’s 14 least developed countries and the Small Island Developing States,” the UN secretary general said.

The eight MDGs—eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality rate, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome), malaria and other diseases, ensure environment sustainability and develop a global partnership for development—were laid out by 192 member-states of the United Nations and some 23 international organizations in September 2000.

The goals are set to be achieved by 2015.

But even with the progress recorded by some countries, the UN secretary general said that “the gains have been uneven across the goals and from country to country.”

He added that the recent crisis has even made it harder for countries to work for the MDGs.

“Progress has been slow in improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality. There has been insufficient progress on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Almost half of the people in the developing world continue to live without access to basic sanitation. Too many people remain jobless or under-employed. And more attention needs to be given to sustainability and ‘green’ growth,” Ban said.

But the secretary general noted in his message that the UN will continue to be supportive of the countries’ aim to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

He added that the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific will continue to work with its system partners and regional organizations to report on progress and policy challenges, as well as to carry out capacity-building programs.

Achieving the goals in all the indicators across the region would mean additional spending until 2015 of $636 billion.

“For the region as a whole, the costs may not seem daunting, but for individual countries they can be steep,” a briefing paper on the MDGs said. Additional money could come from a variety of sources including better managed tax systems and even a 0.1-percent tax on global foreign exchange transactions, which could raise about $640 billion a year, it added.

The Jakarta conference gives Asia-Pacific ministers and institutions a chance to take stock ahead of a world summit on the millennium targets scheduled to take place at the UN in New York City next month. –Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Reporter, Manila Times  with report from AFP