Launching ceremony of the National Millennium Development Goals report of Syria
Syria, Politics, 6/30/2003

A conference was held on June 29, 2003 at the Damascus al-Sham hotel for launching the National Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGR). The event was held under the patronage of the Prime minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro. The conference was held by Head of State Planning Commission Tawfiq Ismael and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Taoufik Ben Amara.

The Millennium Development Goal MDG's goals comprise eight global targets for 2015 that leaders of 147 countries and governments set at the 2000 UN Millennium Summit. They focus on cutting extreme poverty and hunger by half, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

In their inauguration of the event and press conference, Ismael and Ben Amara presented the MDG national report and called for forging cooperation and mutual work relations between the Syrian government, the private sector, the civil society and organizations to achieve these set goals. The national report also discusses these goals in light of the indicators that are adopted by the countries who signed the Millennium Summit Declaration. It establishes a follow up system to move forward in achieving these goals or the extent reached in its achievement. Also the report presents the achievements realized by the Syrian government and points out to challenges that are facing these goals.

Moreover, the Syrian national report to this end is a tool for awareness and capacity building in the field of following up and measuring how far these goals have been achieved at the national level.

In preparation for this report, the Syrian government has appointed two committees: the steering and technical committees, including representatives from the concerned government institutions, such as the state Planning Commission, the ministry of education, foreign affairs ministry, health ministry and the ministry of the environment, with active contribution and financing from the United National Development Program UNDP.

The indicators included in the report reflected that Syria is moving steadily towards the achievement of the MDG's.

The report, furthermore, highlights that Syria has moved a long way in the health and education sectors and has made significant achievements in the environment sector. Notwithstanding these achievements at the national level, the report focuses on the urban rural disparities for most goals and the gender disparities for the goals related to education, particularly tertiary education.

As for poverty, the report clearly shows that there is a gap in data that allows reporting on the indicators; hence measure the property. Consequently, the report highlights the need to conduct surveys to get a better picture of poverty in Syria and to develop a poverty map for the country.

In his speech at the launching ceremony of the event, Ben Amara said that in 2000, 147 heads of states and governments and representatives for 189 countries met at the Millennium summit at the UN headquarters in New York and signed the Millennium declaration, and thereby stressed the commitment of their nations and the international community to achieve the Millennium developmental goals by the fall of 2015.

Ben Amara outlined the Millennium's eight main goals as eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development.

As for the role of the UNDP in boosting the realization of the Millennium objectives, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan assigned the UNDP to promote for the objectives at the international, regional and national levels, as well as of helping countries to prepare their national reports and then monitoring these countries' progress towards attaining the said 8 goals.

As for the background of completing this report in Syria, Ben Amara said that works started in July 2002 by the Syrian government and UNDO in collaboration with UN organizations concerned. The process was completed in a partnership reciprocator approach, with two supervision and follow up committees. He state that planning commission presided over this committee which had representatives from the foreign ministry, the central bureau for statistics, the ministry of education, the ministry of the environment and the UNDP.

Ben Amara said that Syria is the third state among the Arab states following Saudi Arabia and Egypt which completed the preparation of the national report for the Millennium development goals. This, however, is an evidence on Syria's honoring of her obligations towards the international community.

Ben Amara said that over the past four decades, the Syrian leadership has emphasized the need to provide and ensure the well-being of the people as the guiding principle of many government policies. This has resulted in significant progress towards the MDG, particularly in the areas of health, education, empowerment of women and environment. Nevertheless, there remains considerable work to be done to achieve all MDG goals, particularly in terms of bridging the gap between the urban and rural area, Ben Amara commented.

Forwarding the report, Ismael said that the United Nations Millennium declaration acquires special significance on more than one level. He added that the declaration tackled vital issues including respect for the value and principles upheld by the United Nations: peace, security and disarmament, development, poverty eradication, protecting the environment, human rights, democracy, good governance, protecting vulnerable groups, and enhancing the UN role in international affairs. Ismael indicated that these issues do not only have global and national significance; their impact also touches families and individuals.

He said that the UN Millennium Declaration is multifaceted. It brings together the themes of almost all documents and targets of many specialized international conferences held in the late 20th century.

Taking into account the declaration's principles, Ismael indicated that looking at economic and social development plans in Syria since early 1970s, and considering developmental system achieved in Syria, reveal that the five themes of "reducing differences in living standards, education, health, the role of women, and protecting the environment" have occupied a prominent position in Syria's strategic priorities.

Moreover, the process of modernization and development in Syria, he said, and the reform program it involves, gives an advanced position for these themes among strategic priority targets.

Previous Stories:
  Washington: Syria's wounded soldiers are not war prisoners, will return soon   (6/28/2003)
  Gas well of 250- 300,000 cubic meters capacity discovered east Homs   (6/28/2003)
  Paris hosts symposium about Syria   (6/28/2003)
  Al-Assad inspection visit to Homs, team spirit required for development   (6/27/2003)
  UNHCR: Syrian refugees expelled from their houses in Iraq   (6/27/2003)
  Syrian- Greek agricultural cooperation   (6/26/2003)
  Syrian- Saudi cooperation in IT   (6/25/2003)
  Opening of the Exhibition Artists in town at Maktab Anbar, Damascus   (6/21/2003)
  Syria stress active measures to promote children's rights   (6/7/2003)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search