(a khan) mdgs and post - 2015 development agenda - escap

8/10/2019 (a Khan) MDGs and Post - 2015 Development Agenda - ESCAP

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Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan

Principal & Dean

NUST Business School

National University of Sciences & TechnologyIslamabad/Pakistan

Presentat ion

On

MDGs and Post - 2015 Development

Agenda

by

at: ESCAP/ADB/UNDP South Asia sub-regional workshop

on MDGs and the Post -2015 developmentt agenda, 9-11

Febru ary 2013, Dhaka, Bang ladesh


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Brief Overview of the MDGs

Progress on MDGs in the Region

Additional Efforts Required During 2013-2015

- Some Suggestions

Post2015 Development Agenda

Outline of Presentation


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Brief Overview of the MDGs

In 2000, the global community under the umbrella of the UN, adopted

the Millennium Declaration

In 2001, a team of UN experts created a set of Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) with indicators

Inter-governmental processes did not play any part in the creation of

these goals and indicators

Many governments and NGOs for the first five years of the millennium

treated the latter with skepticism and opposition

During the second half of the decade, the MDGs gained traction in

many developing countries and development partners


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Eight MDGs are

Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1)

Achievement of universal primary education (Goal 2)

Promotion of gender equality and women empowerment (Goal 3)

Reduction of child mortality (Goal 4)

Improvement of maternal health (Goal 5)

Combating HIV/AIDS malaria, tuberculosis and Polio (Goal 6)

Promotion of environmental sustainability (Goal 7)

Developing a global partnership for development (Goal 8)


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These MDGs are to be achieved by 2015

Looking back to 2000, the achievement of MDGs by 2015

appeared a difficult proposition for most of the countries Notwithstanding many headwinds that interrupted and even

retarded progress in developing countries (especially the 2007-10 food, fuel and financial crisis) towards achieving the MDGs,the region nevertheless made remarkable progress owing to its

growth dynamism

Ach ievements on MDGs

- Between 1990 (the benchmark year for all the targets of theMDGs) and 2009, the Asia-Pacific region had succeeded in

reducing poverty ($1.25 day) by more than one half, that is, from50% to 22%.

- In other words, the region succeeded in taking 700 million poorout of poverty in almost two decades, thus surpassing thepoverty reduction good (Goal 1)


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The region also achieved the

- Targets for reducing gender disparities in primary, secondary andtertiary education (Goal 3)

- Preventing a rise in HIV prevalence, stopping the spread totuberculosis (Goal 6)

- Reducing the consumption of ozone depleting substances(Goal 7) and

- Halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking

water (Goal 7)


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Desp ite these success, the region is lagging behind in

achieving th e MDGs in several areas

- The region has yet to ensure that all children complete primaryeducation

- People do not go hungry

- Children do not die before their fifth birthday

- Mothers do not die from causes related to childbirth

-

The region still has a long way to go towards empoweringwomen and girls, promoting sustainable development, protectingthe most vulnerable from the devastating effects of multiplecrisis, be they conflict, natural disasters, volatility in prices forfood and energy


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The prog ress towards achieving the MDGs has been uneven as

wel l . Even in cou ntr ies where good p rogress h as been made

towards the MDGs, there are glar ing d ispar i t ies b etween

- Rural and urban areas

-Rich and poor

- Men and women

- Boys and girls


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Althoug h the region has made impressive progress on many

MDGs indicators , the prog ress nevertheless has been uneven.

The chances are that not al l the countr ies in the region w i l lachieve all the targets of the MDGs by 2015

There are countries still lagging far behind, some of them aremaking slow progress and yet some of them are off-track and

may not achieve the targets by 2015

Realizing th e Challenges, the th ree insti tu t ion s, UNESCAP,

UNDP and ADB under developing as one worked coherently

and col lect ive ly in help ing many countr ies in the region to

achieve the MDGs. Because of their effor ts, many countr ies inthe region have made considerable progress.


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Addit ional Effor ts Required du r ing 2013-15

While many countries in the region have made impressive gains,still more needs to be done in order to achieve the MDGs

We must realize that no other development agenda can lay claim

to having such broad-based global support as that enjoyed bythe MDGs

It is, therefore, important to reassert commitment to the goals inthe remaining three years.


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What Needs To be Done in the Remaining th ree years?

-Given the importance of economic growth in achieving theMDGs, the countries must undertake growth-critical reforms andmaintain macroeconomic stability

- Growth critical reforms include

- Improvement in physical infrastructure

-Investment in education and health

- Improvement in governance and rule of law

- Strengthen social protection program

- Greater investments in programs for women and girls

-Improving financial access to the poor

- promoting regional economic cooperation


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The idea is to make grow th a pro-poor o r inclusive grow th

grow th that reaches everyone and that w i l l enable al l people,

especial ly poo r and m arginal ized, to benefi t from econom icoppor tun i t ies

- Building capacity of the countries lagging behind, particularly foroff-track countries and late entrants (Afghanistan) to cover more

ground

- Localization of MDGs: Local level planning plays a critical role indelivery of basic services that are crucial for MDGsachievements. Hence, more capacity building at sub-nationallevel

- Statistical Capacity Building: Given the strong need to improvecapacities to produce and monitor MDG related statistics it isrecommended that the national statistical capacity be enhanced


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Post-2015 Development Agenda

There will be many countries which will fail to achieve MDGs. Should weabandon the MDG efforts? Will there be life beyond 2015? Targets so nearto achieve and yet will remain a distant dream if efforts to pursue the MDG,are abandoned after 2015

MDGs gained traction in developing countries because these were a limitednumbers of goals and targets on which there was global consensus.

Post 2015 development agenda must include the unfinished agenda of

the MDGs, but, at the same time, must supplement the agenda withchanged global context

Post 2015 development agenda must be universally applicable but flexibleto meet specific needs of countries and people.


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Post-2015 development agenda must be prepared with wide-ranging consultation at the country level as well as at inter-governmental level

Emphasis should be given not on growth per se but on inclusive

growth Reducing income inequal ity should be the prime focus of the

Post-2015 development agenda. If we succeed in reducinginequality or even keeping it constant, the development goals couldbe achieved more rapidly

Growth must offer greater opportunities for the poor and deprived.This involves greater employment generation and mo re resourcesdevoted to in vestment in educat ion, health and o ther basic

services

Enabl ing g reater female labou r forc e part ic ipat ion should also

form an element of the 2015 development agenda Ensur ing food secur i ty in developing world should be another

post-2015 development agenda for preventing extremism, violenceand lawlessness

Imp roving go vernance, that is, transparency, accountability, rule of

law is yet another item to be included in the Agenda


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Concluding Remarks

Post-2015 development agenda should include the targets assignedto the MDGs

Over and above, emphasis should be given to:

-reducing inequality,

- promoting productive employment and decent work,

- food security,

- human capital development,

-

promoting female labour force participation and- improving governance.

Developing countries on their part must concentrate on institutionbuilding and enhancing the role of private sector


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Thank You

(a khan) mdgs and post - 2015 development agenda - escap

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