Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Nepalese Perspective

- eight goals to be achieved by 2015

- world's main development challenges
- Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of
state and governments
- UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
- 21 quantifiable targets measured by 60 indicators.

MDGs

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

 Target 1A: Halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day
 Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People
 Target 1C: Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

 Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and
boys

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

 Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by
2005, and at all levels by 2015

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rate

 Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

 Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal
mortality ratio
 Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

 Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
 Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those
who need it
 Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other
major diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

 Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and
programs; reverse loss of environmental resources
 Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the
rate of loss
 Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation (for more information see the entry on water supply)
 Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least
100 million slum-dwellers

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

 Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading

and financial system
 Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDC)
 Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small
island developing States
 Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries
through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long
term
 Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable,
essential drugs in developing countries
 Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and communications
Where Nepal stands in terms of achieving the MDGs?

The road towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Nepal

Despite contextual difficulties and constraints, Nepal is on track to achieve most of its MDG
targets, with a few exceptions, if prevailing trends persist and efforts are continued or
improved.

 Goals likely to meet:

 Achieve universal primary education
- net enrolment rate is increasing and, with some additional effort, the target could be
met
 Reduce child mortality
- under-five mortality rate has decreased significantly in recent years

 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

- poverty has fallen by about five percentage points in the last five years
- Both the chronic and transitory food-security situation has improved

 Improve maternal health

- Maternal mortality ratio also has dropped significantly, pointing to a reduction by three-
quarters by 2015

 Goals potentially likely to meet:

 Combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- target for reversal of HIV/AIDS and other diseases is likely to be met

 Ensure environmental sustainability

- Environmental sustainability is not being addressed adequately, and will require much
more effort and resources to achieve the targets
- Nepal is highly vulnerable to the risks of climate change, although its contribution to
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is very low

 Promote gender equality and empower women

- Gender equality in education has improved substantially over the past five years
- Women’s participation in public life has also improved

 Goals unlikely to meet:

 Develop a global partnership for development

 - The economy is not performing satisfactorily in terms of growth, exports and foreign
exchange earnings
Challenges

 Geographic limitations
 Current political context
- Governments changed frequently, affecting the consistency of economic policy and
reducing confidence in government policies.

 Poverty and inequality

 Persistent level of economic disparity
 Employment generation
 Lack of security and stability
- Security and the presence of the state are still limited to accessible areas and major
urban centres.

 Poor transport network and limited electrification

- Peak demand for electricity is more than 800 MW, whereas production is only about
300 MW during the dry season.

 Unfavorable investment environment

- The rate of private-sector investment has declined.

Responsibility

 Sustaining peace in the country

 Exploit opportunities from two large economies

 Rural electrification, improved transport system

 Effective utilization of foreign aid

 People’s representatives in local governance bodies

 Better environment for private-sector investment

 Concrete plans for mitigating the effects of climate change

 Improving water supply and sanitation

Conclusion

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the most broadly supported, comprehensive
and specific development goals the world has ever agreed upon.

 MDGs includes 8 goals on world challenges

 Assist poor countries to be more competitive

 Channelize worldwide grants to certain objective

 Nepal is on track to achieve most of its MDGs targets

 Role of UNDP and the other UN agencies

 Still challenges from various sector

 Need more inputs from government