UNDP Eritrea | MDGS :::..

The Millennium Development Goals in Eritrea :

In September 2000, the Millennium Summit, comprising all 189-member countries of the United Nations, including Eritrea , adopted the UN Millennium Declaration. The objective of the Declaration was to improve the livelihoods of humanity in the Twenty-First century. The Millennium Declaration incorporated the earlier International Development Goals (IDGs) and other objectives for socio-economic development to constitute the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Eritrea signed its first Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGR) on 23 November 2006 and is already distributed. The Ministry of National Development (MND) as owner of the process guided and managed the preparation of the report, and the UN Country Team (UNCT) provided the Government the necessary support. Despite Eritrea’s independence was in 1991 and lack of data on the major indicators, the available data has been, with qualifications made whenever appropriate, sufficient for assessing Eritrea’s progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. The MDGR; therefore, succeeded in (a) providing a road map leading to the achievement of the targets by the target date of 2015; and (b) indicating, in broad terms, the resources required for achieving the MDG targets.

By the year 2015, all 191 United Nations Member States have pledged to meet these 8 goals:

	GOAL ONE ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER Tarets: 1-Halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day 2-Reduce by half those who suffer from hunger through rapid and sustainedeconomic growth and development.

Progress In Eritrea:	The proportion of the populations living below the national poverty line was 53 percent during 1993-95. The comparable figure for 2001-03 was 66 percent. These figures take into account food and non-food aid. On the face of it, the incidence of poverty has increased. But this increase has to be seen in context; that is, in light of the adverse consequences of the border war and the severe drought that hit Eritrea during 2002.

	GOAL TWO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION Targets: 3-Ensure that, by 2015, boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling

Progress In Eritrea:	The net primary school enrollment ratio raised from 30 percent in 1993-95 to 44 percent in 2001-03, an increase of 47 percent. These figures show that progress has been made in increasing primary school enrollments but they also show that a lot remains to be done.

	GOAL THREE PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN Targets: 4-Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels of education by 2015

Progress In Eritrea:	During the 1993-95 periods, the ratios of girls to boys at the primary, middle and secondary school levels were quite high: 80, 84 and 65 percent, respectively. Data for the 2001-03 period show that the gender ratios have stagnated or deteriorated. In particular, the ratio of girls to boys in secondary school dropped from 65 percent in the earlier period to 57 percent in 2001-03. This could be partly due to the unsettling situation created by the border war and its consequences.

	GOAL FOUR REDUCE CHILD MORTALLITY Targets: 5-Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

Progress In Eritrea:	The under-five mortality rate fell from 136 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1993-95 to 93 in 2001-03, a decline of 46 percent. The infant mortality rate declined from 72 deaths per 1,000 live births to 48 over the same period. These figures show that progress has been made in reducing child mortality.

	GOAL FIVE IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH Targets: 6- Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio

Progress In Eritrea:	Based on the 1995 DHS, maternal deaths per 100,000 live births were estimated at 985 during 1993-95. Projecting the 1993-95 figure so as to achieve the 2015 global target yields a rough maternal mortality ratio of 581 during 2001-03. But health facility data for the period 2001-03 give a maternal mortality ratio of 230.

	GOAL SIX COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES Targets: 7- Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. 8- Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015.

Progress In Eritrea	Reliable data on HIV prevalence are not available for 1993-95. For the 2001-03 period the adult prevalence rate, based on an expanded ante-natal clinic sentinel surveillance program, is estimated at 2.4 percent. This is low when compared to the prevalence rates in some of the worst-affected countries in Africa. With regard to tuberculosis, health facility-based data show that in 2003 the smear positive detection rate was 70 percent while the cure rate was 85 percent.

	GOAL SEVEN ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY Targets: 9- Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources. 10- Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. 11- Achieve by 2020 significant improvement in lives slum dwellers.

Progress In Eritrea:	In recognition of the importance of environmental sustainability, the Government established the Ministry of Land, Water and Environment (MLWE) in 1997. The MLWE is being strengthened so that it can play the lead role in integrating the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs. Since independence, efforts have been underway to halt and begin to reverse environmental degradation through afforestation programs, soil and water conservation and management programs, protected area programs, etc. According to the 2003 Human Development Report, land area covered by forest was 13.9 percent in 1990. Based on DHS data, the proportion of households without access to safe drinking water declined from 83.6 percent in 1993-1995 to 32.5 percent in 2001-03 (see Table 3.9). In the urban areas, apparently only 3 percent of households were without clean water in 2001-03 while 51.7 percent of rural households were without clean water. DHS data show that the proportion of households without flush toilets or ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines declined from 87.2 percent in 1993-95 to 74.4 percent in 2001-03.

	GOAL Eight DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT Targets: Issue 1: Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. This includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction - nationally and internationally. Issue 2: Address the least developed countries’ special needs. This includes tariff and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction. Issue 3: Address the special needs of landlocked and small island develop in states. Issue 4: Deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems through national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the long term; Issue 5: In cooperation with developing countries, develop decent and productive work for the youth; Issue 6: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.Issue 7: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies–especially information and communications technologies.

Progress In Eritrea:	No quantitative targets were set in respect of the above-mentioned issues. However, the issues highlight the crucial point that while the responsibility for achieving the MDGs rests with the Government and people of Eritrea, the country cannot go it alone. It needs a significant level of support from its development partners. The costs presented in Chapter 4 give an indication of the resources needed to achieve the MDGs and provide a basis for discussions concerning the required level of MDGs-related support from development partners.