Millennium Development Goals

The Millenium Development Goals provide challenges and opportunities for the following regions:

• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Middle East and North Africa
• East Europe and Central Asia
• South Asia
• East Asia and Pacific

Latin America and the Caribbean
36 countries · Population: 566.1 million

The Latin America and the Caribbean region as a whole has the highest income per capita and life expectancy among developing regions. Growth prospects have improved recently, but governments need to strengthen their economic management to be able to sustain this reduction in poverty. Since the economic crisis, the share of working poor – employed workers living in households with members subsisting on less than $1.25 a day – increased slightly from 7% in 2008 to 8% in 2009, after dropping by nearly half from 13% in 1998.. South America also continues to show the largest net losses of forests among all regions, at just under 4 million hectares per year over the period 2000-2010.

The region has already met the target of gender parity in school enrolment,according to the report, with a ratio ranging from 97 girls per 100 boys in primary school to over 100 girls per 100 boys in secondary and tertiary education. School enrolment, however, increased only marginally, from 94% in 1999 to 95%  in 2008, dimming hopes for universal primary education by 2015.

While 97% of the urban population in Latin America and the Caribbean uses an improved water source, only 80% of people living in rural areas has the same access. And while 86% of people living in cities have access to improved sanitation – meaning toilets or latrines – only 55% of the rural population does.

Sub-Saharan Africa
48 countries · Population: 819.3 million

With the resurgence of growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of Africans living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 58 percent in 1990 to 51 percent in 2005—but the absolute number of poor people rose from 296 million to 388 million. A number of new challenges to meeting the MDGs in Africa have emerged, mainly the fuel crisis, the food crisis, and the global economic and financial crisis. The global financial and economic crisis presents major obstacles to achievement of the MDGs in Africa, threatening to stall, erode, or reverse hard-won gains in the region. Also, 41 million primary-school-age children are still out of school in the region.

Health is another serious challenge, particularly for child and maternal mortality rates. However,  immunization coverage is approaching universality and is thus reducing infant mortality rates significantly in many countries. Reduction in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is also being achieved, but not at a rate to reverse the spread of the disease.

Middle East and North Africa
14 countries · Population: 355 million

The Middle East and North Africa's rapid population growth—the second fastest in the world after Sub-Saharan Africa—has coincided with an increase in poverty. Absolute poverty is low with around 4% of the population living under $1.25 a day.

The region has well-developed public infrastructure services, but sustainable water management is a significant challenge. Reforming economic instruments and service delivery is critical—the region's annual per capita water availability two decades ahead is projected to be just over 500 cubic meters. The current world average for annual internal freshwater resources per capita is 7, 000 cubic meters.

Progress in expanding primary school enrolment and reducing the gender gap in education has been strong, and the region also made impressive strides towards reducing child mortality, increasing birth deliveries by skilled health personnel, and expanding access to sanitation..

The region now faces an unprecedented labor challenge. Its labor forces, currently totaling 112 million, are expected to increase to 146 million in 2010, and 185 million in 2020. Millions of new jobs are required to absorb these new entrants, who are increasingly educated, young, and female.


East Europe And Central Asia
30 countries · Population: 443.26 million

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region was hit harder than any other region in the world by the global financial and economic crisis and will be the slowest to recover. In 2009, economic growth fell more than in any other developing region. The number of poor and vulnerable rose by about 13 million in 2009, and 40 million people in the region live below $2.50 per day, and about 160 million below $5 per day.

The health MDGS present the greatest challenge. The region is facing rapidly rising HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis cases. Denial, stigma, and the institutional challenges of providing services to marginalized and vulnerable groups remain serious obstacles to progress in stemming the numbers of people living with—and dying of—AIDS. Child mortality rates of 36 per thousand births across the region also, remain a stubborn challenge, especially as progress may be blocked because many people shun hospitals due to concerns about quality and costs. Major progress has been achieved on gender equity in schools because of this region's tradition of equal access to education. Despite the high enrolment rates in primary and secondary schooling, a decline in quality of education is of particular concern.

South Asia
8 countries · Population: 1.5 billion

South Asia has the largest concentration of poor people, with over 1 billion living under $2/day. But it has had high growth of 6% average annual rate in the last 20 years, despite its poverty, conflict, and instability. Child mortality rates in South Asia have fallen sharply too, from 130 per thousand births in 1990 to 59 per thousand births in 2007. In Bangladesh, child mortality has been halved, from 144 to 69 per thousand births during the same period.

Primary and secondary school enrollments have risen, but 31.5 million pimary-school-age children are still out of school in the region. There are also still many challenges in child malnutrition, maternal mortality and gender balance in education and health.

Nearly half of all children under 5 are malnourished. Youth illiteracy is high—23% for males and 38% for females. Tuberculosis has resurfaced as a threat, as has HIV/AIDS. With a maternal mortality ratio of 500 per 100,000 live births, mothers' deaths in childbirths in South Asia remain tragically frequent.

East Asia and Pacific
24 countries · Population: 1.9 billion

Rapid economic growth in East Asia and the Pacific—the faster among the world's developing regions in recent years—has quickened progress toward the Millennium Development Goals. Over 200 million people have climbed out of extreme poverty in the region since 1990, and the proportion of those living under $1 a day has dropped by half, from 30% to 15%.

Education has been a key to East Asia's growth. 10 countries—China, Fiji, Indonesia, Mongolia, Palau, the Philippines, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Viet Nam—have already achieved universal primary school completion, but 14 others will need to increase efforts to enroll and keep children in school.

Progress has been slower in health. Despite significant progress made in middle-income countries including Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, based on the current trend the region is not on track to achieve the goal of reducing under-five mortality rates by two thirds. In Myanmar under-five mortality rate only decreased from 130 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 104 in 2006.

Get more details on each region’s progress.