Achieving the MDGs in Lao PDR
Lao PDR has shown consistent improvement in the
UNDP Human Development Index (HDI), being ranked 141st out of
173 countries in 1993, and climbing to 133rd by 2009.
While Lao PDR has made improvements in several
areas and is on track to achieve some MDGs, there is concern about
the sustainability of MDG gains given the country's reliance on ODA.
Effective coordination both within the United Nations system and among donors in the Lao
PDR has been a key achievement of UNDP. Alignment of external aid with
MDG-based national plan and development priorities and capacity development for ODA management has been undertaken through the
Round Table Process.
Lao PDR plans to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2020, meaning that it needs to ensure sustained and inclusive economic growth over the coming years. To this end, the government has prioritized the MDGs in its 7th National Socio- Economic Plan and is carrying out key interventions in such areas as basic education, healthcare, inequality, agriculture and rural and infrastructure development.
With support from donor partners and the
UXO Trust Fund, it is also continuing mine-clearance efforts in affected northern and southern regions where poverty and deprivation levels are disproportionate.
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Measuring MDG progress
In 2004, the Government set up its localized targets and relevant indicators within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals and published its first
National Millennium Development Goals Progress Report, which established solid baselines to track the country's progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The latest analysis of progress towards achieving the MDGs was published in the National Millennium Development Goals Progress Report (Executive Summary, Full Report) in April 2009, launched during the visit to Vientiane by the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon.
The 2008 progress report shows a mixed picture: while significant progress was made on a number of targets since release of the first MDG report in 2004, other targets require urgent attention and investments in order for them to be met by 2015.
The reduction of income poverty; increase in primary net enrolment; reduction in child mortality; action against tuberculosis and malaria; and access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in urban areas count among the greatest achievements to date.
On the other hand, the most critical remaining challenges include lack of progress in reducing child malnutrition; persistent and strong disparities in people's access to opportunities and social services according to sex, geography and mother tongue; women's limited participation in decision-making at the sub-national level; high maternal mortality; the quick rate of loss of environmental resources. One underlying problem is the persistent under-funding of the social sectors over the past two decades.
Both progress reports, 2004 and 2009, contain statistical indicator trends for the MDG goals and targets, the key issues and the likelihood of each MDG being met by the target year(s).
In 2010, global UNDP launched
Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals,
a report to assess what it will take to accelerate progress towards the goals around the world. Thirty country-level assessments,
including Lao PDR, were undertaken to discern the factors which
influence MDG progress in a country, and to understand what has
worked, what has not, and why. The report found that there are generally four key areas which shape MDG achievement at the country level: policy choices and their coherence; governance and capacity deficits; fiscal constraints; and political will.
According to the global MDG report 2010 , progress has been made, but it remains uneven. Without a major push forward, many of the MDG targets are likely to be missed in most regions. However, according to UNDP's recent synthesis report
The Path to achieving the Millennium Development Goals: A synthesis of evidence from around the world, analyzing 34 most recent national MDG reports, there are a number of proven interventions that show progress can be accelerated if appropriate resources and partnerships are leveraged with good policy, the right programmes
and commitment.
Government commitment to achieving the MDGs
The Government's 6th five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP 2006-2010) integrated the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (localized PRSP)
was approved in 2003.
The MDGs form an integral part of the Plan, in overall poverty reduction and in sector strategies, especially in the four key sectors (agriculture and forestry; education; health; infrastructure). The plan resources requirements were built on costs of sector programmes and targeted interventions that address MDGs. This pro-poor and Millennium Development Goals-based plan formed the basis of future alignment of official development assistance (ODA) to the country.
The 2005 UNDP report
Voices of the Least Developed Countries of Asia and the Pacific: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals Through a Global Partnership revealed that Lao PDR was making solid progress towards halving the proportion of people living below the national poverty line by 2015.
The achievement of the MDGs is one of the
critical strategic areas of the forthcoming Seventh National Socio
Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) 2011-2015. The 7th NSEDP provides
a major opportunity for further poverty reduction, achieving the
other MDGs as well as making substantial progress towards promoting
equitable sustainable growth, ultimately helping the country
graduate from the LDC status.
Background to the MDGs
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Member States adopted the Millennium Declaration and pledged to reach the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest.
In September 2005, the UN World Summit resoundingly endorsed the MDGs. It was agreed that by 2006, all developing countries would prepare bold national strategies to achieve the MDGs, and that developed countries would increase their assistance to developing countries, particularly through higher levels of ODA.
In September 2010, the world leaders will gather to New York for
the MDG Review
Summit, to re-energise the global MDG effort and agree on a
conrete action plan to accelerate progress towards meeting the Goals
by their target date of 2015.
Useful links
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Lao PDR
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