Millennium Development Goals in jeopardy

A critical lack of resources is jeopardising Malawi's efforts to achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, according to a joint report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the government. The assessment showed that while progress had been made in reducing child mortality and improving access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, the country lagged behind on all the other development targets. "Progress is being made towards the achievement of some goals ... on the other hand, there are goals for which there is serious retrogression," the report noted. At the UN's Millennium Summit in 2000, Malawi and 189 other countries made a commitment to achieving eight development goals by 2015, including halving poverty and hunger, providing universal access to primary education, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, and the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters. The report highlighted that poverty could only be halved by 2015 if the economy grew between 3.8 and 6 percent per annum. An estimated 65 percent of Malawi's 11.5 million people live below the poverty line, and over 80 percent depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Part of the solution would be to direct a larger portion of resources to rural areas, to trigger more "sustainable" and "equitable" growth. Gains in school enrolment, achieved by the provision of universal primary education, had been countered by high dropout rates. This was mainly due to the "negative attitudes of certain communities towards education, especially for girls, the long distances covered by pupils when going to school, early pregnancies, lack of food and clothes, and general levels of poverty". Although the current education policy addressed problems of access, not enough was being done to ensure that all children stayed in school, regardless of the regressive attitudes of parents. There was a need for a "massive civic education" programme, the report suggested. One of the most encouraging developments noted in the assessment had been a decline in the under-five mortality rate over the past decade, which fell from 234 per 1,000 live births in 1992 to 189 per 1,000 in 2000. "If this trend is maintained, then the target of reducing the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds will be achieved." However, an ongoing challenge was the high incidence of malaria among children and pregnant women, while the proper staffing of health centres and district hospitals was critical to ensuring that the gains made in recent years were not reversed. The high incidence of maternal mortality was "worrisome", and had increased by 80 percent since 1992, from 620 to 1,120 deaths per 100,000 live births. This was mainly due to haemorrhage, sepsis, pregnancy-induced hypertension, obstructed labour, and abortion complications. Other factors influencing the high mortality ratio were poor diet among pregnant women, low access to general and maternal health care services, and a high level of HIV/AIDS. The assessment acknowledged that Malawi's ability to attain the MDGs rested primarily on fiscal revenue, macroeconomic targets, and access to external funding. Easing fiscal limitation would necessitate improved tax administration. However, given the restrictions faced by the public sector, major efforts should be made to involve the private sector in the financing and provision of social services, the report concluded.