In a preparation for the Vietnam’s presentation at the United Nations Summit to be held in New York from September 14 to 16, 2005, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) cooperated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to open an international conference on the national report 2005 on the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Hanoi on August 9.
In 2000, Vietnam and 118 countries in the world signed the Millennium Declaration to pledge the fulfilment of the MDGs by 2015. Entitled “Achieving the Millennium Development Goals”, the report evaluates progresses of Vietnam in fulfilling eight millennium development goals, which include poverty reduction; education popularisation; gender equality improvement and rights handover to women; child fatality rate reduction; mothers’ health enhancement, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other disease prevention; stable environment guarantee and global relation development.
The national report on the Millennium Development Goals details all steps that Vietnam has experienced in such fields as poverty reduction, education popularisation, reduction in fatality rate of child of less than five years old and forest coverage expansion. The report also specifies that major challenges to realise the above goals, such as filling the gap between the rich and the poor, between the urban and suburban areas and between the Kinh (or Viet) people and ethnic minorities, are becoming greater and greater. In education, the report confessed that although the number of students is on the rise but the quality of education still needs improving. In the meantime, Vietnam also encounters big difficulties in maintaining its significant progresses when 62 per cent of new HIV carriers are people of 20-29 years old.
According to Mr. Subinay Nandy, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, this is a wonderful chance for Vietnam to show up her achievements and experiences to the world at the impending United Nations Summit 2005 in order to highlight efforts Vietnam should make to reach all Millennium Development Goals by 2015 for all Vietnamese people.
This international conference is the last steps of Vietnam before presenting the report before world leaders at the United Nations Summit 2005, which is set to be held at the United Nations headquarter in New York. The summit will gather most world leaders, the largest-ever number in the UN history. Principal decisions about development, security, human rights and MDGs achievements will be also passed at the summit.
The report (draft version) has been revised by four regional conferences, some of which have been held. Representatives of these conferences have contributed their ideas to the Millennium Development Goals as well as the national socio-economic development plan (SEDP 2006-2010) (draft version). The close combination of compiling the 5-year development plan and the Millennium Development Goals report reaffirms strong commitments of the Vietnamese Government in achieving the Millennium Development Goals through its periodical five-year plans.
Lan Anh
Vietnamese
