Training Report: Millennium Development Goals in the SAARC Region

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Working Sessions social services; strengthen social protection; improve quality service delivery; ensure the full participation of all segments of society, including the poor and disadvantaged in decision-making processes; respect, promote and protect human rights, including the right to development; enhance opportunities for women and girls and advance the economic, legal and political empowerment of women; invest in the health of women and children to drastically reduce the number of women and children who die from preventable causes; improve governance system; maintain transparency and accountability in resource mobilization; promote South- South and triangular cooperation, which complement North-South cooperation; strengthen regional ties; promote effective public-private partnerships; expand access to financial services for the poor, especially poor women; strengthen statistical capacity to produce reliable disaggregated data for better programs and policy evaluation and formulation; strengthen and increase use of ICT. Mr. Roomi S. Hayat, Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Rural Management, Islamabad made a presentaion on ‘Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): 3 Years to the Deadline’. He mentioned that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have provided an important motivational force and yardstick for the progress. In their design, the goals were deliberately ambitious and their achievements requiring unparalleled progress in most countries. The fact that many countries will achieve a significant number of the goals and transform the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people should be a sign of hope and spur an action for others. The challenge for their remaining three years and beyond is to learn from and build on this progress. He informed that this year’s UN report on progress towards the MDGs highlights several milestones. The target of reducing extreme poverty by half has been reached five years ahead of the 2015 deadline as has the target of halving the proportion of people who lack dependable access to improved sources of drinking water. Conditions for more than 200 million people living in slums have been ameliorated double the 2020 target. Primary school enrolment of girls equalled that of boys, and we have seen accelerating progress in reducing child and maternal mortality. The UN report represents a tremendous reduction in human suffering and is a clear validation of the approach embodied in the MDGs. But, they are not a reason to relax. Projections indicate that in 2015 more than 600 million people worldwide will still be using unimproved water sources; almost one billion will be living on an income of less than $1.25 per day; mothers will continue to die needlessly in childbirth; and children will suffer and die from preventable diseases. Hunger remains a global challenge, and ensuring that all children are able to complete primary education remains a fundamental but unfulfilled target that has an impact on all the other goals. Lack of safe sanitation is hampering progress in health and nutrition; biodiversity loss continues apace; and greenhouse gas emissions continue to pose a major threat to people and ecosystem. The goal of gender equality also remains unfulfilled, again with broad negative consequences given that achieving the MDGs depends so much on women’s empowerment and equal access by women to education, work, health care and decision-making. He stressed that we must recognize the unevenness of progress within countries and regions, and the severe inequalities that exist among populations, especially between rural and urban areas. In the case of Pakistan, most of the MDG targets seem unachievable by 2015. Poverty reduced between 2002 and 2006 but it started to rise again. Targets for MTDF were not achieved so this indicator is unlikely to be achieved. Similarly, access to primary education, gender equality and improved maternal health are less likely to be achieved. Pakistan has made progress on some indicators of reducing child mortality but the overall target seems to be unachievable. On the other hand, Pakistan has done well to combat HIV/AID, Malaria and other diseases and the targets of few indicators have already been met. Similarly, Pakistan has already met the targets of ensuring environmental sustainability and global partnerships for development. Country report of Pakistan was jointly presented by Dr. Arshad Mahmood Uppal, Dr. Aurang Zeb, Ms. Nargis Bano, and Ms. Bushra Sadiq. It was informed that according to the Pakistan Millennium Development Goals Report (2010) produced by Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan, the targets for the Medium Term Development (MTDF) 2009-10 have not been met in the three indicators for Goal 1, and i required to help in coming close to achieving the MDG 2015 targets. 15
Working Sessions Goal 2 ‘Achieve Universal Primary Education’ focuses on three indicators. i) Net enrolment at primary level remained below 60% until 2008-09; although, there has been marginal improvement in it over time, the MDG target of achieving 100% net enrolment ratio by 2015 requires an increase of 43 percentage point in the next five years. ii) The completion/survival rate of students enrolled in primary schools also present a dismal scenario that implies that almost half of the students enrolled in primary schools do not complete their education; the interim target for 2009-10 was set at 80% and could not be achieved. iii) Pakistan’s literacy rate remains considerably short of the MDG target of 88% by 2015, although it has marginally improved to 57% by 2008-09. With regard to the four indicators for Goal-3, ‘Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment’ the status of Pakistan is: i) Pakistan has made steady though slow progress with regard to the Gender Parity Index (GPI) for primary and secondary education. Despite the fact that Pakistan has missed the MDG target of gender parity in primary and secondary education in 2005, with the current pace, the MDG target of gender parity is likely to be unachievable by 2015. ii) Youth literacy GPI improved during 2004-09. With the existing pace, the MDG target of 1.00 by 2015 is likely to be unachievable. iii) Women’s share in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector has increased but Pakistan is making slow progress towards achieving the target. iv) With regard to number of women seats in the national parliament, Pakistan has shown substantial improvement over the years. The proportion of seats in the present National Assembly is among the highest in the world. Pakistan’s status on Goal 4 ‘Reduce Child Mortality’ shows that out of six indicators, Pakistan’s performance in achieving the desired MDG targets by 2015 is unsatisfactory particularly in case the first two indicators i.e. the under-five mortality rate and infant mortality rate. Though, Pakistan has managed to lower the under-five mortality rate, there is still a need to reduce it by 42 percentage points by 2015, a high improbable outcome. The target for 2015 for the proportion of under-five years suffering from diarrhoea was achieved ahead of time. Similarly, the coverage of households Lady Health Workers (LHW) increased from 38% in 2001-02 to 83% in 2008-09 in the first nine years of the MDGs; hence, the attainment of 100% coverage by 2015 seems to be on track. In terms of the first indicator of Goal 5 ‘the Maternal Mortality Ratio’, Pakistan has a considerable distance to go to meet the MDG targets by 2015. For the maternal mortality ratio, the MDG target for 2015 still requires almost a halving of the ratio. The 2015 target for skilled birth attendants is still more than twice of the proportion achieved in 2008-09. A third indicator relating antenatal care also shows low progress. In terms of family planning indicators, the contraceptive prevalence rate is considerably short of the 2015 MDG target. Goal 6 ‘Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases’, covers five indicators. Recent trend shows that HIV/AIDS spread is increasing; however, Pakistan is still classified as a low prevalence country. The government is giving special attention to the situation and with commitment shown to this disease it seems possible that Pakistan will achieve the target by 2015. The percentage of TB cases detected and cured under DOTS has increased from 79% in 2001-02 to 85% in 2008-09 and the MDG target has been met before time. Malaria related issues need attentions as the proportion of population in malaria risk areas using effective malaria prevention treatment and measure has increased slightly by ten points (from 20to 30) during 2001 to 2009. Pakistan’s status on Goal 7 ‘Ensure Environment Sustainability’ shows that the land area under forest cover has marginally increased from 4.9% in 2004-05 to 5.02% in 2008-09. Pakistan has become one of the largest users of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the world and the MDG target for this indicator has already been achieved. Water supply coverage increased from 53% in 1990 to 65% in 2008-09; however, it still has a long way to go in reaching the MDG target pf 93% by 2015. The sanitation coverage in the country has increased from 30% in 1990 to 63% in 2008-09 according to the PSLM survey 2008-09. However, it is still a long way to go in reaching the MDG target of 90% by 2015. Pakistan’s location, both in terms of geography and in terms of development has become and can remain a focal point requiring help and assistance to achieve all seven of its MDGs by means of the Goal 8, which 16
Page 1 and 2: Training Course on Millennium Devel
Page 3 and 4: Contents Contents Foreword Executiv
Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary Executive Summary
Page 7 and 8: Introduction policy initiatives as
Page 9 and 10: Introductory Session Introductory S
Page 11 and 12: Working Sessions She opined that pr
Page 13 and 14: Working Sessions India’s trend of
Page 15 and 16: Working Sessions secondary educatio
Page 17 and 18: Working Sessions Dr. Aurang Zeb, Gr
Page 19: Working Sessions Dr. Baikunta Aryal
Page 23 and 24: Working Sessions resulted in a sign
Page 25 and 26: Recommendations of Working Groups R
Page 27 and 28: Recommendations of Working Groups D
Page 29 and 30: List of Participants 6. Mr. Muhamma
Page 31 and 32: List of Participants 27. Mr. Muhamm
Page 33 and 34: Working Programme Day 3: Wednesday,
Page 35 and 36: Annex-III Power Point Presentations
Page 37 and 38: 31 Power Point Presentations
Page 43 and 44: Power Point Presentations PROGRAMME
Page 47 and 48: Power Point Presentations THREATS 4
Page 49 and 50: Power Point Presentations FOOD SECU
Page 59 and 60: Power Point Presentations EFA DEVEL
Page 61 and 62: Power Point Presentations Millenniu
Page 63 and 64: Power Point Presentations Did you k
Page 65 and 66: Power Point Presentations Goal # 7
Page 67 and 68: Country Reports Country Report Mald
Page 69 and 70: Country Reports Government efforts:
Page 71 and 72:
Country Reports 65
Page 73 and 74:
Country Reports Poverty profile HCR
Page 75 and 76:
Country Reports Achievement: MGD Go
Page 77 and 78:
Country Reports Goal 7: Ensure Envi
Page 79:
Country Reports 73
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Training Report: Millennium Development Goals in the SAARC Region

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