Press Release.............................. UNESCAP News Services

Date 4 February 2004
Press Release No: G/01/2004

Poor more subject to communicable diseases

MORE ACTION, RESOURCES NEEDED FOR ASIA TO REACH DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Manila (UN Information Services) -- While considerable progress has been made to reach the Millennium Development Goals, there are still 766 million people in the region who live below 1US$ a day.

The prevalence of underweight children and the proportion of people below minimum level of dietary energy consumption show a "disturbing picture," said UNESCAP Executive Secretary, Mr Kim Hak-Su, when he opened a two-day sub regional workshop in Manila today.

Some 106 million children are undernourished and some 122 million people are below the minimum level of dietary energy requirement, said Mr Kim.

The poor and malnourished tend to be concentrated in built-up areas in densely populated countries, increasing their vulnerability to communicable diseases, Mr Kim told participants from10 countries in the region.

The sub regional workshop on dissemination of the first UNDP--UNESCAP regional report on the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific is being organized by UNESCAP, UNDP and the Philippine Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS), an independent think-tank.

"While the Philippines is generally on track in meeting the MDGs, we are beset with a number of problems and challenges ahead mainly from the persistence of extreme poverty and income in equality," said Mr Romulo L. Neri, Secretary, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of the Philippines.

"What is needed therefore is that we in the Asia Pacific region should demonstrate the political will to carry out the MDG commitments. It is clear that additional efforts and resources are required if we are to meet the goals," said Mr Neri.

"All over the world, the cause to achieve the MDGs is gaining momentum. A world-wide MDG movement is evolving to create awareness, initiate policy reforms, mobilize resources and motivate governments and civil society to forge a coalition to meet the goals," said UNDP resident
Representative for the Philippines, Ms Deborah Landey. Quoting United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, she said: "A world mired in poverty cannot be a world at peace."

In welcoming the participants to the workshop, Mr Noel M. Morada, Executive Director of ISDS, hoped the participants will examine the strategic role of government, civil society and media in meeting and facing the challenges the MDGs pose.

The Millennium Declaration was signed by 189 countries at a special session of the General Assembly in 2000 committing them to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to halve poverty by 2015.

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