More efforts needed for MDGs

UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta has urged Vietnam to make greater efforts to fulfill the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as there are only 1,000 days as of April 5 to go before the MDGs expire.
UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta has urged Vietnam to make greater efforts to fulfill the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as there are only 1,000 days as of April 5 to go before the MDGs expire.

Pratibha Mehta said after ten years of committing to realise the MDGs (2000-2010), Vietnam is one of a handful of countries to have made significant progress towards achieving the goals.

This progress was recognised by the international community at the 2010 Global Summit on the MDGs, where Vietnam ranked sixth in terms of both absolute and relative progress, she added.

She praised Vietnam ’s important achievements in reducing the level of poverty, which fell from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 14.5 percent in 2008.

She also commented on the country’s performance in the areas of gender equality, education and children’s health.

While Vietnam has indeed made impressive national progress on the MDGs, efforts are still needed to see that they are achieved in every village, city and province, she said, noting that the milestone of 1,000 days is seen as an appeal to accelerate action on the basis of achieved success.

Thirteen years ago, President Tran Duoc Luong gathered with 188 world leaders at the UN headquarters in New York to sign the UN Millennium Declaration.

The leaders committed to cut the rate of poverty in half, fight against climate change and diseases, address issues regarding water shortage, environmental sanitation and education, as well as create more opportunities for girls and women.-VNA

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