Millennium Development Goals:

We can end poverty

The MDGs are a set of 8 goals adopted by 189 countries, including Pakistan in 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015.  The MDGs provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions.

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the first-ever Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report at the Planning and Development Department in Peshawar on October 27. The Report tracks Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s progress against each MDG.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Rahim Dad Khan, Senior Minister, Planning & Development and Energy & Power, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stated that, “The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would like to thank UNDP and other UN agencies for extending their support for the compilation of the first-ever provincial MDG report. This Report will serve as a baseline to track progress and inform future programmes and policies of the Province. The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to accelerate progress towards the achievement of MDGs and is the only province which has developed provincial MDG targets.”

“The Government is implementing a Comprehensive Development Strategy which seeks to accelerate development in the province” he added.

Jean Luc Stalon, UNDP Country Director A.i., appreciated the contribution and active involvement of them and the sister UN agencies in the compilation of the report. “The ownership at such a high level shows the commitment of the Government towards the achievement of MDGs” Jean-Luc underlined.

Jean-Luc Stalon stated “The Report provides empirical evidence on the status of MDGs and will help inform development planning and programmes of not only the Provincial Government but also other development partners.”

“UNDP has helped countries develop MDGs Acceleration Frameworks and will be happy to provide similar support to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to fast track progress towards the MDGs” he further added.

The Report uses the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (2008-09) data for most of its analysis.  Poverty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is estimated at 29% (in 2005/06) which is 7% higher than the national average.  However, with sufficient resource allocation, the provincial and federal poverty alleviation programs can play a role in poverty reduction.

The 10+ literacy rates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are 50% and in Abbotabad is 72% whereas the gap in female literacy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 31% and in Abbotabad is 61%.

The Report concludes that, as is the case nationally, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not on track to achieve the MDGs with security problems, conflict and natural disasters (2005 earthquake and 2010 Floods) as contributing factors. Despite these impediments, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has shown resolve and can still bring about significant positive change if the security situation remains at current levels of stability, or improves; and if rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts post-floods go as planned.