| Beyond the midpoint – achieving the Millennium Development Goals, published in February 2010 With an eye towards the General Assembly's high-level review of advances towards the MDGs in September 2010, UNDP has prepared a forward-looking report Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals , to assess what it will take to accelerate progress towards the goals around the world.
Thirty country-level assessments were undertaken to discern the factors which influence MDG progress in a country, and to understand what has worked, what has not, and why. Lao PDR was one of the countries assessed.
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.
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. To address this, the government has sought support from UNDP to help identify alternative options to ensure the continuity of MDG progress beyond 2015.
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.
Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (Full Report, PDF)
Mid-term MDG Progress Report, published April 2009
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.
The Government and its development partners will build on the findings of the second MDG Progress Report to step up action in support of MDG achievement. The Government, with support from the UN, will soon launch an MDG operational strategy, which proposes how to implement key recommendations of the MDG progress report through concrete, doable and scalable initiatives.
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