LEARNING FROM THE MDG EXPERIENCE IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Shiladitya Chatterjee
Regional Advisor on the MDGs Asian Development Bank

Main Messages
Despite progress social deprivations remain massive and must remain central to future development efforts Wide disparities in attainments require more attention to those falling behind Ensuring ownership of process critical Information and data deficiencies must be urgently tackled Omissions relating to all aspects of capability deprivations must be addressed
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Mixed performance on MDG targets

Income poverty Underweight children Primary enrollment rate Primary completion rate Gender parity, primary Gender parity, secondary Gender parity, tertiary Women in non-agricultural wage employment Maternal mortality rate Child mortality rate Access to clean water, urban
Latest

Access to clean water, rural Access to improved sanitation, urban Access to improved sanitation, rural
20 40 60 80 100 120 140

2015 Forecast 2015 Target

160

180

200

220

Distance to goal achieved by ADB developing member countries since 1990, %

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Despite progress, massive deprivations continue

Number (millions)

Asia-Pacifics share of developing worlds deprived people (%)

Without basic sanitation Underweight children

Latest

2015 Projected

1,863 83

1,783 69 8 701 19 367 3 11 0.10

Infected with TB Living below $1.25/day Births without skilled attendance Without safe drinking water
Child deaths

9 871 22 466 3 15 0.14 7

Out of primary school Maternal deaths Living with HIV

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Source: UNESCAP, ADB and UNDP. Accelerating Equitable Achievement of the MDGs: Closing Gaps in Health and Nutrition Outcomes, Asia-Pacific Regional MDG Report . February 2012.

Implications
Continuance of such large scale deprivations in Asia-Pacific and the world imply
Eliminating them must be at the heart of any post 2015 development agenda

Even if goals are uniform, indicators and targets must reflect regional differences
E.g. priority in education is quality not enrolment
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Wide disparities exist in MDG attainments between countries

60 40 20

Income Poverty (%)

East and Northeast Asia North and Central Asia South and Southwest Asia Southeast Asia

100 80 60 40 20 0

103.00

Infant Mortality
(per 1,000 live births)
East and Northeast Asia North and Central Asia South and Southwest Asia Southeast Asia The Pacific

50 40 30 20 10 0

Underweight Children
(% of under age 5)

East and Northeast Asia

North and Central Asia

South and Southwest Asia

Southeast Asia

The Pacific

In many cases, disparities are widening

Gini indices of inter-country distribution of income and selected MDG indicators Ealier Gini Later Gini Indicator Year coefficient Year coefficient 1 GDP per capita (2000$) 1990 0.739 2010 0.753 2 $1.25 per day poverty 3 Underweight children 4 Under-5 mortality 5 Maternal mortality 6 TB incidence 1997 1995 1990 1990 1990 0.426 0.296 0.378 0.579 0.405 2004 2005 2009 2008 2008 0.452 0.454 0.387 0.593 0.447

Sources : Staff calculation based on the United Nations MDG database.

Country aggregates hide sub-national regional variations

Child (under 5) mortality, Nepal 2006 (by development region)
Eastern

Central

Western

Far-western

Mid-western
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Rate per 1,000 live births

Sources : Ministry of Health and Population, New Era, and Macro International Inc,. 2007. Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2006.

Country aggregates hide attainments by rich and poor

Children under 5 underweight , India 2005-06 (by wealth quintiles)
Highest

Fourth

Middle

Second

Lowest
0 10 20 30
Percent

40

50

60

Sources : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2009. Nutrition in India: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) India 2005-06. 9

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Implications for SDGs

Uniform effort and targets for all countries, as currently in the MDGs, cannot be the norm
MDGs require reducing deprivations by half, two thirds etc. for all countries In countries falling behind, targets should be more ambitious and efforts stronger

Targets need disaggregation beyond national level to address deprivations arising from
Gender Sub-national differences Income and wealth differences
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Insufficient ownership of MDGs

Proportion of DMCs with national MDG Reports

Around 30 % of ADB developing member countries do not have national MDG Reports Most do not integrate MDGs in planning and budgeting
12

Sources : United Nations Development Group (http://www.undg.org/index.cfm?P=87).

Example: Health needs and actual expenditures

Share of total health expenditures to GDP, 2009

Sources : World Health Organization (2011). National Health Accounts . Geneva.

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Lessons for SDGs

Efforts to ensure greater ownership are critical for success Close involvement of appropriate government agencies and country stakeholders in developing the SDGs is essential

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Data Challenges
Number of countries with data from 1990-2011, by indicator
Access to improved sanitation, urban Access to clean water, urban ODP substance consumption Protected area Forest cover TB prevalence TB incidence Antenatal care (at least once) Skilled birth attendance Infant mortality Child mortality CO2 emissions Gender secondary Gender primary Access to improved sanitation, rural Access to clean water, rural Women wage employment Primary completion Gender tertiary Primary enrolment Underweight children Reaching Last Grade Maternal mortality rate Malnourished population Income poverty HIV prevalence 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Only 1 year

2-3 years

4-9 years

With 10 or more years

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Data Challenges
Number of MDG indicators with data from 1990-2011, by country
Uzbekistan Sri Lanka Pakistan Mongolia Kyrgyzstan Indonesia Georgia Cambodia Azerbaijan Thailand Malaysia Vanuatu Samoa Myanmar Fiji Marshall Islands Afghanistan Cook Islands Turkmenistan Nauru

With 1 year 2-3 years 4-9 years 10 or more years

10

15

20

25

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Implications
MDGs have suffered from
Low frequency of reporting of data in most countries Many countries without any data Data usually outdated losing relevance for policy

Insufficient translation of data into information for policy planners and general public

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Major omissions
MDGs focus primarily on performance of some social sectors such as
Nutrition, education, health, water and sanitation

They leave out important aspects of capability deprivation (a la A.K. Sen) such as
voice, participation, and good governance elements of environment that impact on human welfare

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Thank You

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