Some good news on the millenium goals front

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.