Some good news on the millenium goals front

Ivy Susanti and Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

It's not all bad news on the "millennium goals" front. There has also been progress, albeit far from enough, a new report from the United Nations says.

There are fewer underweight children in the Asia Pacific, with a decline from 35 percent to 31 percent, the report on the poorest countries in the region said. Released on Wednesday at the regional ministerial meeting on reaching shared Millennium Development Goals, it also noted the "highly effective" implementation of health and nutrition programs in Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Regarding access of all children to primary education, "Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Maldives and Vanuatu appear to be on track to achieving the target of 100 percent enrollment," the report said.

Titled Voices of the Least Developed Countries of Asia and the Pacific, the report contains recommendations for the global community to help 14 countries in Asia and the Pacific to end poverty through debt relief, aid and trade facilitation.

It was drawn up by the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Highlighting "huge contrasts" in the region, Minh H. Pham, the regional manager of the Colombo-based UNDP Asia-Pacific regional center, pointed to China, India and the "East Asian tigers" of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

"On the other hand we have small islands, landlocked areas that have been struggling with sizable development challenges. So the very specific details of the overall good performance of Asia Pacific tends not to reflect many actual conditions of the region," Pham said.

The 14 poorest nations -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu -- have a per capita income of only one-fourth of that in the region, and almost half their population lives below national poverty lines, the report said.

While it lauds the US$40 billion debt cancellation for Africa by the Group of Eight industrialized countries, the report recommends the developed countries expand debt relief to the poorest nations of the Asia Pacific. It also urges tripling official development assistance from less than $4 billion to more than $12 billion by 2006.

The recommendations will be brought to the plenary meeting at the 60th UN General Assembly Summit in September.

The report said that the development aid and debt relief to Asia Pacific's poorest nations had been disproportionately low and must be increased so these countries could accomplish their development goals.

"Of the 27 countries receiving the debt relief initiatives, none of them were Asia Pacific least developed countries," said Hafiz Pasha, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific.

The UN also recommends trade facilitation and greater market access, particularly through preferential schemes, removing quotas or tariffs on exports, supporting investment in infrastructure and facilitating entry into the World Trade Organization.

However the report also pushes for better governance in the poorest countries, including greater accountability and transparency, along with better aid coordination, to boost conditions for scaled-up and more effective use of aid.