2005/9

IRAN’S FIRST MDGs REPORT LAUNCHED

TEHRAN, 10 January 2005 (UNIC) – Iran’s first Millennium Development Goals Report 2004: Achievments and Challenges was launched here today by the Vice President and Head of Management and Planning Organization (MPO) Dr. Hamid Reza Shoraka at the MPO building.

 In September 2000, the world's leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to achieving eight major goals better known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. These goals are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

 Speaking on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Frederick Lyons, the deputy Resident Representative Yuxue Xue said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has signed the Millennium Declaration, which urges states to pay close attention to their governance, human rights and democratization. He expressed hope that this baseline report will be followed by practical measures to make real and positive changes in Iranian people’s lives.

 “The UN system in Iran remains committed to assisting the Iranian Government in its work towards achieving these goals,” he said adding that in this respect, the UN system in Iran has established a UN MDG Theme Group through which the system expects to work closely with the Government and civil society organizations, and provide technical support.

 According to the report, which was prepared and published jointly by the MPO and the UN system in Iran, Iran’s achievements in meeting targets set by the MDGs included in the report are: a considerable decrease in population under extreme poverty and those under the national poverty line; a notable reduction in infant and child mortality rates and maternal mortality ratio; a substantial increase in the net enrolment rate for primary schooling and in the ratio of female to male in tertiary education; the number of childbirth attended by skilled personnel; the ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity; the proportion of population with increased access to safe drinking water, telephone lines and personal computers.

 Despite the achievements cited above, the report says, there are notable challenges in attaining the targets of the MDGs by 2015, demanding systematic efforts in the coming years. The most important challenges include: reducing both the population under the national poverty line and the poverty gap; providing facilities needed for universal primary education in the deprived provinces; creating job opportunities for women, particularly the educated ones, and their increased participation in the country’s decision-making system; improving qualitatively the maternal health programmes; seriously confronting the spread of HIV/AIDS, eliminating malaria and controlling tuberculosis; preventing environmental degradation and increasing access to information and communication technologies (ICT).

***