Regional meet on MDG kicks off in the capital

A regional meeting of South Asia MDG Forum has kicked off in the capital making an urgent call to cut down maternal mortality and reduce poverty.

In the meeting organized by the UN organizations along with ADB, over 100 experts have gathered to build a clear and workable roadmap toward realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).



Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat (File Photo)

Inaugurating the two-day meeting, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat addressed the delegates and outlined the relationship between the decade-long conflict in Nepal and poverty. On a regional scale, he said, "The majority of the world's poor live in South Asia. Although progress has been made recently, this progress has not been accompanied by growth in jobs and opportunities."

The meeting is being participated by high-ranking government ministers, policy makers, representatives of civil society, business leaders, academics and the media of the region.

"South Asia has already managed to lift millions out of extreme poverty, but progress on other important development indicators is too slow," said Kim Hak Su, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP. He added that majority of countries in South Asia are off track for more than one third of their indicators.

Promoting gender equality, improving maternal health and reducing child mortality are some of the areas where South Asia needs to take action to create rapid improvements.

"South Asia has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world. Action must be taken now," said Matthew Kahane, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Nepal. He said that although it will involve greater efforts, Nepal can still hope to attain MDGs as the country is now heading towards peaceful settlement of conflict.

Delegates at the Forum aim to produce a 30-point action plan for South Asia to meet the MDGs by 2015.

The meeting is being jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia- Pacific (UNESCAP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The MDGs are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions– income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion – whilst promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability .

Meanwhile, as part of the Forum, the MDG Media Award was launched at a press conference on 11 October. Open to broadcast producers and journalists in print, radio and television media in the Asia-Pacific region, the Awards carry a US$7,000 winning prize and US$2,000 runners-up prize. The Awards aim to recognize the important role that the media play in creating public awareness of the MDGs and encourage increased reporting on the 'human' story behind the MDGs, states a press release by UNESCAP. nepalnews.com sd Oct 11 06