ADB, UNICEF agree to help countries achieve MDG goals

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed an agreement to help some countries in Asia and the Pacific region, including the Philippines, to reduce poverty and inequalities and improve child welfare.

The agreement was signed with five years remaining until the 2015 deadline for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Manila-based bank said in a statement released to media on Thursday.

The ADB said the two agencies will look for opportunities to work together to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs, including reducing infant and maternal mortality rates, improving the quality and relevance of basic education, promoting investments in water and hygiene, strengthening child protection systems, and combating HIV/AIDS.

They will also look at opportunities to cooperate on public-private partnerships and enable the poor to participate in and benefit from economic growth, the bank said.

The ADB said the agreement will run for five years from the date of the signing of the agreement, and it may be extended by mutual consent.

Apart from the Philippines, priority areas for the project include Armenia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Georgia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, the bank said. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV