Senior UN official lauds China's contribution to global MDGs
22/9/2008 16:20
China has made enormous achievements in realizing its Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), rendering an important contribution to the global
endeavor to meet the targets, United Nations Under-Secretary-General Sha Zukang
has said.
"China is the country that has been the most successful and most
effective in realizing its Millennium Development Goals, and as an important
player and the most populous developing nation, made significant contributions
to the global efforts in achieving MDGs," Sha told Xinhua in an interview on the
eve of a high-level meeting at the United Nations on the
MDGs.
Representatives from more than 150 countries, including about 90 heads
of state and government, are expected to take part in the one-day gathering
scheduled for Sept. 25.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will deliver a keynote
speech at the opening session.
"It is known to all that the Chinese
government and people have exerted arduous efforts and made great achievements
in realizing the MDGs," Sha said. "China has met the target of halving the
number of people living on less than a dollar a day well ahead of
schedule."
In 2001-2006, the central government spent a total of 70.9 billion
yuan (about US$10.37 billion) in poverty reduction efforts, Sha said in the
interview, which was conducted in Chinese.
China has also fulfilled the
target of ensuring all boys and girls complete a full course of primary
schooling. Since 2007, tuition and miscellaneous fees have all been waivered for
the country's 148 million pupils in rural areas, a measure being extended to
urban areas this fall.
Steady progress has also been reported in reducing by
two thirds the mortality rate among children under five and in improving
maternal health.
China faces grave challenges in checking the spread of
HIV/AIDS and in ensuring environmental sustainability, and the government is
beefing up policy measures and increasing input in these respects.
Globally,
Sha said, the picture has been mixed in meeting the MDGs -- eight goals to be
achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development
challenges.
While the number of people in abject poverty has been falling,
progress has been slow in some countries, especially those in Sub-Sahara Africa.
It appears likely that some countries would miss the 2015 deadline in reducing
by half the poverty-stricken population, he said.
Though the mortality rate
among children under five has dropped somewhat worldwide, more than 60 countries
have not met present targets, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where child
deaths account for half of the global total.
The MDGs are drawn from the
actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by
189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN
Millennium Summit in September 2000.
The eight goals involve eradicating
extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting
gender equality and empower women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal
health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental
sustainability; and developing a Global Partnership for Development.
"We have
now reached the mid-point in realizing the MDGs before 2015," Sha said.
"Although many developing countries have made due progress in meeting some of
the MDGs, there have been great disparities among countries and between
different areas within some countries."
"The overall situation brooks no
optimism, which makes the upcoming high-level meeting all the more timely and
important," Sha said.
The event, which includes three roundtables, will
provide a forum for world leaders, the civil society, the private sector and
other players to review progress, identify gaps, seek consensus, and come up
with new measures to honor pledges aimed at facilitating the realization of the
eight development goals, Sha said.
Xinhua
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