MDG Targets: Nepal's Uphill Task

By Yuba Nath LamsalNepal is committed to meeting the millennium development goals (MDGs) that the United Nations Millennium Summit has set in a solemn declaration to free the people from the shackles of poverty, hunger and disease by 2015. It is a groundbreaking declaration and decision ever made by the world body for the cause of lesser fortunate humanity, to which each member country is committed. The Millennium Development Goals have been categorized into eight main areas that include eradication of extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality, improvement in maternity health, fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development. If these goals are met in the stipulated timeframe, it will be a great achievement of the 21st century. However, the trends have shown mixed results in several Third World countries. Nepal has been working hard in achieving these goals. It has been more than six years since Nepal accepted the challenge to meet the MDG targets. Poverty Reduction Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. As poverty is a process of dehumanizing human beings, the government's sole economic strategy for the last couple of decades has been poverty alleviation. Accordingly, all development plans and programmes have been linked and integrated with the poverty reduction strategy. However, the intensity of poverty continues to afflict the people despite official claims of achievement in this front. The National Planning Commission has claimed that overall poverty has declined to 31 per cent. According to another claim, the incidence of poverty has come down to 23 per cent. If these statistics are at all true, Nepal is moving close to achieving the goal of reducing poverty. However, independent economists claim that the official figures are highly inflated and poverty in Nepal is quite high, which is almost close to 50 per cent. Faster economic growth is a key to reducing poverty. However, economic growth alone does not reduce or alleviate poverty which has been the case in several Asian and African countries. The fair and judicious distribution of wealth and guarantee of equal access to resources for all along with people-focused policies are necessary for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Above all, a strong political will to implement these polices for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden alone would succeed in the struggle against poverty, which seems to be glaringly lacking in Nepal's case. Nepal's economic growth has neither been fast nor high. The growth rate is less than the population growth, which in economic terms is described as negative growth. This is attributed to the ten years of Maoist insurgency and other factors like rugged topography, poor infrastructure and resources, weak governance, high population growth and political instability. The other symptom of slow and poor economic performance is the high migration of Nepali workforce because of scarce employment opportunities and growing number of unemployed people. About 500 Nepali youths leave Nepal every day in search of job abroad. According to the National Planning Commission, household income rose due to remittances from the Nepalese working abroad. Although the remittance has helped in raising household income and foreign currency reserve, the migration of youth is not a healthy symptom for sustainable development.Agriculture is the backbone of Nepal's economy. Over 80 per cent people depend on agriculture for survival. An obvious need for Nepal is to raise agricultural production and productivity for economic growth. However, majority of farmers are poor, who are often vulnerable in terms of food security and suffer from hunger and malnutrition. About 25 per cent people in about 40 districts of Nepal suffer from hunger. The number is growing every year. Agricultural productivity is declining, while population is increasing rapidly. Nepal used to be a food exporter until a couple of decades ago. But it has now been a food deficit country and its demands are met by importing food items and nothing can be a bigger irony than this in an agricultural country. The overall trends are not encouraging. But we still have eight years. If more concerted efforts were made with strong political will and effective mobilization of resources through active people's participation and greater transparency, poverty can be halved. But the current snail's pace will lead us nowhere in reducing poverty and meeting other goals. Primary Education Providing basic and primary education to all children of school-going age by 2015 is another important goal under MDGs. Nepal has made some significant achievements in this front. Literacy rate has jumped significantly to 54.1 per cent. But almost 46 per cent people are still illiterate, which poses a big challenge to eradicate illiteracy by 2015. The government has launched several campaigns and schemes to encourage parents and relatives to send their children to school, which has considerably increased the enrollment of children in primary education. The primary school's net enrollment has increased to 72 per cent, which is an encouraging achievement considering the low level of awareness of rural people. However, there is still a challenge to make it 100 per cent. While 28 per cent children of school-going age are still out of schools, about half of the pupils who are enrolled in grade one drop out before completing primary levels. Enrollment alone is not all. The retention level should be high. The authorities need to seriously think over the causes behind the high rate of dropout and work concertedly for the retention of students once they are enrolled. Due to poverty and ignorance, many poor parents living in the rural areas prefer to send their children to work rather than sending them to schools. It has been estimated that more than 2.6 million children in Nepal are child workers, who toil blood and sweat just for their survival or to support their poverty-stricken families. These child workers have often been denied their rights to education and other rights for their healthy physical and mental growth and development. The case of girl children is even worse. However, the situation is slowly changing as the government has adopted several measures like scholarships and incentives to increase the number of girl children in school. Given the present trends, the goal of achieving universal primary education is less likely to be met, which the National Planning Commission has also admitted. Gender Equality And EmpowermentOne of the millennium development goals is the elimination of gender equality and empowerment of women. Women constitute half of the country's population and sustainable development is not possible without the equal development of women. In Nepal, majority of women are illiterate, exploited and discriminated. Nepal's low level of development is partly attributed to the exclusion of women from political, social and economic spheres. Nepalese women are often treated as the second-class citizens in practice if not in principles. The female literacy rate is lower than the male literacy. The participation of women in politics and other spheres is insignificant. Until a few years ago, women did not have equal rights in the parental properties. But things have started to change slowly as Nepal has taken a number of steps and decisions on this issue for ensuring gender equality and empowering women. The number of girls in secondary and higher education is also going up. Nepal has already signed several international human rights and humanitarian instruments including UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Now women have equal rights as men. All discriminatory laws have been scrapped to ensure equal rights to women. Recently, the interim constitution has incorporated a provision that guarantees at least one third share to women in all sectors. It is a historic decision in the process of bringing the women into mainstream and ensuring gender equality as well as women's empowerment. Due to stricter laws and activism of women themselves, the rate of discrimination and violence against women has considerably decreased. These are legal and theoretical aspects. When it comes to practical field, women often face several hurdles in realising the constitutional and legal rights. The focus now needs to be made on empowering women in the rural areas and among women of dalits and janajatis as literacy and education level in these communities is very low. Nepal is, now, more likely to achieve this goal by translating the constitutional and legal provisions into action.Reduction Of Child MortalityChild mortality rate in Nepal is one of the highest in the world. Nepal has been able to reduce child mortality significantly due to various efforts like national immunisation campaign and Vitamin A programme. It has been able to eliminate neo-natal tetanus. The rate of child mortality has been reduced from 118 to 91 per 1000 births. The death of children due to measles and other diseases has also remarkably declined. However, much still needs to be done in achieving the MDG in reduction of child mortality. About 65,000 children under five years of age still die every year in Nepal at the absence of proper health care facilities. Child mortality is high in Dalit communities with 171.2 per thousand population followed by 158.3 of Muslim communities per thousand population. But the progress is good and if this trend continues without any hurdles, Nepal is more likely to meet this goal by 2015. Reproductive HealthThe rate of maternal death and the state of reproductive health in Nepal are not satisfactory. Accurate statistics are not available on maternal death and reproductive health-related complications. It is because most women in the rural areas and some even in the urban areas do not go to hospitals or health posts for regular check-up during pregnancy and delivery period. It is estimated that more than 80 per cent delivery cases take place at home in Nepal without the assistance from doctors and trained health workers. Most births are assisted by family members and neighbours, who are not necessarily skilled. It is estimated that over 4,500 Nepalese women die every year due to pregnancy-related complications. Less than 20 per cent women alone are assisted by trained health workers during childbirth. As a result, women often become victims of complications and infections like severe bleeding, sepsis, toxemia and obstructed labour. As a result, many women and infant die during delivery or immediately after delivery. Lack of awareness on reproductive health and family planning has also affected many women in rural Nepal. The poor maternal and reproductive health is not only the cause of maternal death but also the cause of infant and child mortality. The government has now launched a scheme to encourage women to go to hospitals and health posts for check ups during pregnancy and delivery. For this, incentives have also been given. Community mobilization and education on reproductive health have been intensified in order to reduce maternal health and improve reproductive health of women. As a result of these efforts, the situation has improved. But performance is still lukewarm. Given the present trend, Nepal is not likely to achieve the millennium development goal on reduction of maternal death and improvement in reproductive health. Combating HIV/AIDS And Other DiseasesHIV/AIDS is a global killer disease. The speed with which this disease has been spreading has posed a threat to human civilization. Although the situation is not yet alarming in Nepal, the cases of HIV/AIDS are on the rise, which one day is likely become a big threat. Since there is no cure of AIDS, the main way to remain safe from this disease is prevention. Safe sex and safe blood transfusion are the ways to be safe from this disease. But many Nepalese people especially in the rural areas are not aware of the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS. The government in coordination and cooperation with donors and non-governmental organizations has been launching programmes against HIV/AIDS, which include campaign for safe sex, use of contraceptives and family planning. However, the progress is yet to be satisfactory. Since the number of AIDS cases is relatively low in Nepal, attention and efforts are not serious, which poses risk of further spread of HIV/AIDS.Environmental SustainabilityAlthough environmental sustainability is one of the eight millennium goals, it has not yet been taken as a serious problem in Nepal. Environment has a direct impact on human health, agricultural growth, poverty reduction and several other social, economic and cultural issues. The natural environment in Nepal is fast deteriorating causing several problems. The sources of water have dried; underground water level gone down, agricultural production declined and human health is seriously affected. The forest resource is fast dwindling, the rivers are drying and snow in the Himalayan is fast melting. As a result, the country suffers from natural calamities like floods and landslides. But concrete efforts have not yet been initiated for the conservation of natural environment. If development efforts have to be made sustainable, the issue of environment conservation must be given high priority, which is lacking in Nepal at present. Since it is not in priority in Nepal, this goal is not going to be met at all. Partnership For DevelopmentThis is yet another important goal for development. As the world has become a small global village, there is the need for common approach for development, strong and meaningful cooperation and exchange of experiences and ideas for uplifting the humanity from the clutches of poverty and disease. People in the developing countries are lacking basic human needs and the developed nations can help in uplifting the economic and social conditions of the poor people in the world. Without the support from the developed countries, the Third World governments cannot meet the basic needs of the people. Thus, meaningful cooperation between the developed and developing countries as well as cooperation among the countries of the South on various fronts is highly needed. In this connection, Nepal is a success story as many bilateral and multi-lateral donors as well as international non-governmental organizations are supporting Nepal in its development endeavours. However, the result is far from satisfactory. This is mainly due to the lack of proper utilization of the resources and cooperation. There is no dearth of resources as the international community and donors are willing to help Nepal. But rampant corruption and bureaucratic red tape have eaten up development budget. Strong political commitment, greater transparency and good governance are, thus, needed if the millennium development goals are to be met. Development is not only an economic activity but a social and political process that empowers people economically, socially, politically and culturally and ensures equal access to country's resources and opportunities and participation in decision making level. Democracy is a prescription for people's participation in political and other processes. The previous regimes talked loud on democracy and development but failed to bring the secluded and under-privileged sections into political and economic mainstream. As a result, our development model failed. Now the concept of inclusiveness has emerged in the political spectrum strongly. If the inclusiveness is guaranteed in all sectors, all Nepalese, irrespective of their castes, ethnicity, language and cultural identity, will have equal and equitable share in national resources, political process and decision making level. It would guarantee genuine participation of the people, which would help expedite the development process in a more sustainable way and achieve the millennium development goals.