NSCB bares MDG progress report for Eastern Visayas

By NEIL D. LOPIDO
October 5, 2010

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) in Eastern Visayas through its regional head, Ms. Evangeline M. Paran, presented the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Progress Report for Eastern Visayas during the 21st National Statistics Month kick-off program held last October 1, 2010 at the Robinsons Mall activity area this city.

The goals include: to 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; and ensure environmental sustainability.

For goal 1, which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, the probability of attainment is medium-paced and the international target is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer hunger.

For goal 2, which is to achieve universal primary education, the target is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and the probability of attainment is low.

Goal 3 is to promote gender equality and empower women has a low probability of attainment. The target is to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education to all levels of education not later than 2015.

Goal 4 target is to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate and the probability of attainment based on NSCB’s statistical analysis is medium-paced.

Goal 5 has a low probability of attainment in the improvement of maternal health which targets to reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

A medium probability of attainment was noted in Goal 6 which targets to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other diseases. Indicators in this goal include the prevalence associated with dengue and death rate associated with tuberculosis.

Only Goal 7 has the high probability of attainment which targets to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and to have achieved, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Paran emphasized that the statistical data she presented is important as it will serve as a guide which of the Millennium Development Goals will be given more attention and focus.