Thursday, September 16, 2010

[EQ] The MDGs in Europe and Central Asia: Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward

The MDGs in Europe and Central Asia:
Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward

Report coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe – 2010

Available online PDF [142p.] at: http://bit.ly/b4vZ8f

This report, prepared jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Regional Offices for Europe and Central Asia of the United Nations Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies, takes stock of progress made in reaching the MDG goals and offers decision-makers policy-oriented, operationally feasible suggestions for bolstering progress towards fully achieving these goals by 2015. It also identifies and contextualizes the greatest challenges facing human development, taking into account the specific characteristics of the UNECE region.

 

“……In addition to the governance issue, the report points to other priority policy areas which can have a multiplier effect in reaching the MDGs.
The following six should be highlighted.
First, the design of sustainable social-protection schemes is critical to ensure a universal access to social services in a human rights perspective.
Second, extra emphasis should be placed on promoting gender equality since it has cross-cutting effects on all the other MDGs.
Third, budget allocation and choice in public investment must strike the right balance between social infrastructure and support to the productive capacity,

including in the agricultural sector.
Fourth, reviewing fiscal policies is decisive for reducing inequalities and for providing more fiscal space to finance social protection.
Fifth, regional cooperation must be enhanced to address major MDG transboundary issues such as international migration, cross-border water management, trade and transport facilitation and climate change adaptation and mitigation. And
sixth, donor countries of the region should at least maintain the existing ODA level for the lower income countries of the region and intervene for relaxing the conditionality of the international financial institutions on loans to emerging economies hardly hit by the economic downturn…..”  from
Ján Kubiš

U.N. Under-Secretary-General



[….] The following are some cross-cutting considerations for scaling up action towards the three health MDGs:

 

• There is a need to reinforce all health system functions, with attention to service delivery, financing, workforce, health information systems, procurement and distribution of medicines, vaccines and technologies, sexual and reproductive health care and political will in leadership and governance. Actions should be grounded in a primary health care approach, involving communities and civil society. Measures to include the MDGs in national health plans, scale up key targeted and equity-proofed interventions, and provide appropriate integrated services are opportune.

 

• It is important to account for health equity in all national policies that address social determinants of health and gender inequities, and to consider developing and strengthening universal comprehensive social-protection policies that include health promotion, infectious and non-communicable disease prevention and health care, and to promote the availability of and access to goods and services essential to health and well-being.

 

• Accelerating progress towards the health MDGs will require increasing/maximizing the benefits of investment in financial and human resources and strengthening national health information systems to generate accurate, reliable, disaggregated and timely evidence on achievement of the health MDGs.

 

• All efforts should be made to fulfill commitments regarding official development assistance and improve donor and aid coordination so that it strengthens national health systems and brings greater coherence and alignment to the donor response at country level.

 


Jointly prepared by:

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - United Nations Development Programme - International Labour Organization - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

World Food Programme - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - United Nations Development Fund for Women - World Health Organization

United Nations Children’s Fund - United Nations Population Fund - Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - United Nations Environment Programme - United Nations Industrial Development Organization - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development -International Trade Centre

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