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Wed, 1 Sep 2010
MELBOURNE, Australia (RADIO AUSTRALIA) ---- Concern is mounting that the deadline to implement the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) will not be met across the Pacific.
The goals, which are expected to be achieved by 2015, include reducing extreme poverty, child mortality rates and fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS.
A major UN summit on advancing global health is currently underway in Melbourne, to discuss the world's progress towards reaching the eight development goals.
But Australia’s Permanent Secretary for Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, said more needs to be done in the Pacific.
“Some of the most vulnerable and fragile countries in the world are in our neighbourhood. Their progress towards the Millennium Development Goals is mixed.”
“We've made great progress for example in reducing malaria in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands and reducing maternal mortality in Nepal. But while this is welcome we all know it's not enough,” he said.
International aid group World Vision is also warning that the Pacific is being largely overlooked by international donors.
World Vision chief Tim Costello, said while the lives of at least three million children have been saved across the world since the inception of the MDGs ten years ago, the Pacific is lagging behind.
“For every dollar of program you deliver in the Pacific, it's almost a dollar of overhead for such small populations,” he said.
“So when you're investing in MDG dollar, Asia and Africa has a much bigger bang for the buck so you have a particular challenge to have the world say the Pacific really is falling behind and we have to focus.”
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