United Nations (UN) Country Coordinator Macleod Nyirongo says the global financial meltdown has negatively affected Zambia’s chances of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets by 2015.
Mr. Nyirongo said the global financial crisis has seriously affected the country’s economic growth and has resulted in massive job losses.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today, Mr. Nyirongo said the financial crunch has not only had a negative effect on Zambia’s quest to attain the MDGs but on other African countries as well.
Mr. Nyirongo said the attainment of the MDGs has also been affected by the low global economic growth of the economy which he said has not grown as expected.
He said there was a lot that needed to be done to change the rate at which Zambia and Africa in general were moving in order to enhance the prospect of meeting the MDGs by 2015.
Mr. Nyirongo attributed the low pace towards attaining the MDGs to government policies, the external environment and the internal capacities.
The UN Country Coordinator said meeting the MDGs was not just a question of having resources but allocating these resources to key sectors of development such as health, education and infrastructure development as opposed to investing in minor sectors.
He however hoped that with the introduction of proper policies and intervention, the country could turn around and improve on its chances of meeting the MDGs.
And speaking earlier, UN MDGs Advocate Marsha Moyo said citizens’ participation in the quest to meet the MDGs by 2015 was critical as their involvement would help brighten the country’s prospect of attaining the goals.
Ms Moyo said although resources were available, there was need for dedication, proper allocation of resources and desire for the country to meet the MDGs.
ZANIS
Just find another excuse naimwe
These are useless goals and a pretext for global government.
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Promote youth empowerment & activism
Reduce child mortality & improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
Ms Moyo said although resources were available, there was need for dedication, proper allocation of resources and desire for the country to meet the MDGs.
This is the only point NOT what ba Nyirongo is babbling about.
The Subject line itself is a joke. Ati “likely” LMFAO
No. 2 Chapwa, dont make empty noise. See the MDG’s forwhat they are worth. In otherwords dont critisise for the sake of it. Whether or not they will be met is something you may wish to apply your energies to and help to achive them in whatever way possible. Some1 has to start trying to achive these things. Why not suggest better ways of achieving the same things or better things if you can rather than just arm chair criticing.
Global melt down or not Zambia can not attain MDGs. With this crop of leaders, Zambia will continue to record a negative economic growth.
Before you criticise, please learn to understand what is said. MDGs themselves are well intended and if pursued with seriousness and commitment, they can be strong drivers to long term sustainable development. The problem however is that it is impossible to achieve even the the first one (cutting hunger in half by 2015) when you have such a serious breakdown of good governance structures built on the tenets of transparency, accountability, fairness and responsibility. How can you allocate and manage public resources equitably when you have corrupt and in many cases unqualified people running key institutions of govt? The truth is, even though we have a market economy, it needs proper oversight provided by various corruption free gvt institutions and seriously engage the private sector
What is sustainable development?
C’mon man! # Chapwa…why do you have to be so negative? you know what Sustainable development is…otherwise you would not have commented on the article under discussion.
How about corruption. This is probably the biggest threat to MDG than global crisis. Kapoko et al were stealing even before the recession.
Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This innocent sounding phrase came to carry with it the implication that there are too many people living and working in an environment of finite resources to permit “unsustainable” economic freedoms. Behind the idea of sustainable development is the idea that we have a choice: adopt “voluntary” central planning (with the UN at the helm) to integrate economics and ecology within a globalist perspective or face ecological disaster a few decades down the pike.
zambia will attain MDGs.i believe in our country