Middle East / North Africa and the Millennium Development Goals ...

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Markus Loewe
limited number of MDGs. Like countries in other regions of the world, the
MENA countries are faced with problems in implementing MDG1 and
MDG7. But – unlike the situation e.g. in Latin America – the most serious
deficits encountered here have to do with the quality of primary education
(MDG2), economic and legal gender equality (MDG3), and improvement
of economic and political governance (a sub-aspect of MDG8).
One country that has proven relatively successful is Tunisia, which is
likely to reach five to seven of the eight MDGs. It is having difficulties in
implementing MDG5 and MDG7, but also, and in particular, in meeting
the call for good governance set out under MDG8. Egypt, Libya, Qatar,
and Kuwait are likely to reach at least four to five of the MDGs, although
these countries also have very serious deficits in good governance. Major
problems have been noted for Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, and the
Palestinian Territories – and in particular for Iran, Lebanon, the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Oman. The situation looks very
bad for the three low-income counties Yemen, Sudan, and Mauritania as
well as for Iraq. Iraq and Yemen may possibly fail to reach all eight
MDGs, while Mauritania and Sudan are likely to miss six.
Alleviation of income poverty and hunger (MDG1)
The majority of the MENA countries will not reach MDG1 if they do not
step up their efforts substantially. While the proportion of those that are affected
by hunger or live on less then 1 US$ per day is lower than in other
world regions, the figure has not declined since 1990, indeed it has risen.
In the past 15 years, only Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritania have
made any progress in reducing income poverty. At the same time, the proportion
of people affected by income poverty has risen drastically in Algeria,
Iraq, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, and, above all, Yemen. The
proportion of undernourished persons has declined in Tunisia, Egypt, and
Mauritania, while it has risen in Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco.
Universal primary education (MDG2)
Since 1990, the MENA countries have failed to make sufficient progress
in the field of education, and accordingly they are highly unlikely to reach
German Development Institute