SKEWED PROGRESS IN MDGs
The progress report on the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the time-bound development targets that have to be met by 2015 as per the commitments made by the leaders of the world – has shown sharp disparity in terms of various regions in Nepal.
The MDGs Progress Report has said that mid-western and far-western development regions are the most deprived regions of the country. The MDGs Progress Report for 5 districts of Nepal jointly prepared by the government of Nepal and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said the proportion of population below national poverty line in Kanchanpur district in far-western region is 36 percent, four times as high as that of Bhaktapur district (9 percent) of the central region. The report covers five districts - Chitwan, Kanchanpur, Morang, Bhaktapur and Banke.
The report further said the percentage of underweight children in Kanchanpur is 50%, two times higher than that of Bhaktapur district. The report added that youth literacy rate is only 76 percent in Banke, whereas it is 95 percent in Bhaktapur district.
"Moreover, ratio of literate women to men is about one in Bhaktapur whereas it is just 0.8 percent in Kanchanpur district. The ratio of girls to boys in primary schooling is the lowest in Banke district (0.78) and highest again in Bhaktapur district (0.96)," the report said.
On the whole, from the view point of the MDGs, the situation of the districts of the mid and far-western development regions is worse than the districts of other regions, and Bhaktapur is ranked as the best of all the five districts in terms of the most of the MDGs indicators.
Speaking at a program organized to launch the report, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, informed that the purpose of producing these reports is to localize the MDGs at the district level, and internalizing the thrust of the MDGs among the concerned stakeholders. “It is expected that the district level indicators reported in the MDG District Progress Reports will immensely help in producing realistic district level periodic plans. The reports will also be a guiding document for the government while formulating the interim plan thereby moving towards achieving the nation's Millennium Development Goals," he added.
Resident Representative of UNDP Matthew Kahane said, "The MDGs district progress reports are a basis to analyze whether the districts are really on track to meet the MDG targets and what issues need to be addressed in each district."
