Government, UNDP launch Millennium Development Goals - District Progress Reports

The government of Nepal and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today jointly launched the Millennium Development Goals Progress Report for five districts of Nepal - Chitwan, Kanchanpur, Morang, Bhaktapur and Banke. Also, the report entitled ' Voices of the People on Development ', jointly produced by the Government of Nepal, UNDP and UNICEF was launched on the same occasion.

Launching the report, Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said," The purpose of producing these reports is to localize the Millennium Development Goals at the district level, and internalizing the thrust of the MDGs among the concerned stakeholders."

Dr Pokharel said MDG District Progress Reports will immensely help in producing realistic district level periodic plans as well as will also be a guiding document for the government while formulating the interim plan thereby moving towards achieving the nation's Millennium Development Goals.

UNDP Resident Representative Matthew Kahane said," human security has two interrelated components: freedom from want and freedom from fear. In order to address the freedom from want, attaining Millennium Development Goals is a must."

Kahane further said it is important for the progress reports to be taken further at the district level to stir debates and discussions among the local people.

The reports confirm the mid and far west being the most deprived regions. For example, the proportion of population below national poverty line in Kanchanpur district is seen four times as high as that of Bhaktapur district. Similarly, the proportion of underweight children in Kanchanpur is two times as high as that of Bhaktapur district.

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 and highest again in Bhaktapur district. On the whole, from the view point of the MDGs the situation of the districts of the mid-and far-west development regions is worse than the districts of the other regions, and Bhaktapur is ranked as the best of all the five districts in terms of the most of the MDGs indicators.

Also launched the report entitled" Voices of the People on Development" is a collection of case studies aimed at helping the policy makers and public at large to understand the benefits, problems, challenges and issues regarding the status and achievements made in the areas of the MDGs through the experiences and voices of the ordinary people.