Kathmandu: Recalling to the UN secretary General Kofi Annan’s remarks on the issue of achieving Millenium Development Goals by 2015, what is required is an urgent need for every member states to act fast and be really determined to proceed on achieving the agenda set by the MDG.

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It would be worth recalling that various heads of the states and governments of 189 nations had signed the famous United Nations Millenium Declaration in New York on September 2000, which, among other things, outlined peace, security and development concerns, including areas of environment, human rights and governance.

But studies conducted recently by the National Planning Commission, NPC, and UNDP/Nepal, for attaining four targets related to education, health and drinking water shows the need to mobilize additional resources, especially from foreign assistance otherwise the targets set by the MDGs by 2015 would be an utopia. This clearly shows the lack of commitment made by the Nepalese concerned officials in this pertinent issue.

The recently released World Bank’s report, on the poverty issue between hills and mountains of Nepal says there is a wide variation in the poverty incidence. This, says the WB report, ranges from 41 percent in the hills and 56 percent in the mountains and overall 44 percent in rural and 23 percent in the urban areas. Due to the lack of consistent poverty trend data, it is difficult to infer the change in poverty incidence, but there is some sort of consensus that the absolute number of poor has increased in Nepal, adds the WB report.

The report on MDG: Nepal says in the field of education and health noticeable progress has been made during the 1990s, as NER (Net Enrollment Ratio) has increased slightly, but ensuring girls and boys every where be able to complete primary education by 2015 is highly unlikely.

Though reducing the under-five mortality by two-third by 2015 will be “potentially” acheived but reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters is “unlikely”.

The Asia-Pacific evaluation report on Promoting the Millenium Development Goals emphasizes that our immediate neighbors, China (has reached target) and India (close to target) shows good performance for the proportion of population below $1 per day to attain the goal (half the proportion of people) set for 2015. But Nepal on the other hand does not know where it will be by then; speculations are it is highly unlikely. Thanks to Nepali politics!

On the occasion of launching the report “Asia-Pacific evaluation on Promoting the Millenium Development Goals”, on 28th February 2004, SAARC secretary general Q.A.M.A. Rahim said “ The most important MDG is halving the poverty by 2015”, and declared that “the poverty alleviation would be the overarching goal of all the SAARC activities”.

Dr Hafiz Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Asia-Pacific bureau of the UNDP pointed that South Asia needs to perform in reducing human poverty, increasing enrolment in primary education, reduction of infant and maternal mortality, containment of HIV/AIDS. In the future the need for global partnership in these issues will be of greater importance, if we are to achieve the target within the allocated timeframe, Pasha added.

The absence of Minster Kamal Thapa as the chief guest at the function was felt very seriously by the attending participants and it became a matter of “whisper” when Kim Hak-Su, the UN under Secretary general and the Executive Secretary UNESCAP unknowingly thanked him for the minister’s “august presence”.

Nepal’s commitments to the development issues were apparently made clear by Minister Thapa’s unexplained absence.

Nepal’s Ambassador at large, Dr. Bekh Bahadur Thapa, questioned as to why he had been invited and provided answers himself saying that it could have been the recognition of his wide and vast knowledge over decades and decades.

Unwarranted as it was, Dr. Thapa, used the platform to justify His Majesty’s recently concluded visit to the far-western region of Nepal.

Erna Witoelar, UN special ambassador for MDGs in Asia and Pacific said “the leaders of the Asia and Pacific need to be more proactive for developing partnership within the region”. She said “Not enough has been done to achieve the Goal 8 (Global Partnership for Development), which is the real cause of underdevelopment”