The regional partnership of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) forged since 2004 to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Asia and the Pacific region is jointly launching its latest report on 17 February in Manila, the Philippines.

The adverse impact of current global financial, food and fuel crisis on economic growth of countries in the Asia-Pacific could seriously undermine the progress they have made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although many countries have achieved significant progress in reaching some MDGs, the South Asia region faces great challenges in addressing the issues related to health, environment (water and sanitation) and nutrition.

The Asia Pacific MDG Community of Practice (AP-MDG-CoP) was launched jointly by Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Director of UNESCAP, Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, the Vice President of ADB, and Omar Noman, Chief, Policies and Programmes, UNDP RCC, at the 64th Ministerial Conference of ESCAP on Monday 28 April.

The report, entitled A Future Within Reach 2008, was launched today, at a high-level panel meeting on the MDGs, during the annual session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). It is the third regional report on MDGs produced by ESCAP, ADB and the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Millennium Development Goals Initiative team, based in Colombo.

 

Bangkok (UN Information Services) - Speaking in New Delhi, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said that considerable progress had been achieved by India on many fronts, but much more needed to be done if India was to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Dr. Heyzer was a special guest speaker at a roundtable, entitled "Taking India to the level" and organized by The Economist. Among the speakers were several senior government ministers and around a dozen business leaders from India and abroad.