Millennium Development Goals
Almost a decade ago, world leaders adopted a blueprint for a better world – the Millennium Development Goals. The date for achieving these Goals is 2015. The 2010 Millennium Development Goals Report showed that while the world has made major advances—especially in the fight against poverty—the recent economic downturn has slowed, or even reversed, progress towards some areas of the eight goals. Today, more than ever, the world needs to come together to take action towards the Goals.
Find out more about global progress at: http://www.undp.org/mdg/
Along with 188 other countries, the Government of FYR Macedonia pledged to reach the Goals. The first national MDG baseline report was prepared jointly by the United Nations and the Government. This Report provided a consensus on the development priorities of the country. These priorities included: accelerating economic growth, reducing unemployment, reducing poverty and integrating with the European Union.
The 2009 MDG Progress Report showed progress, for example a reduction in unemployment, but problems still persist, especially in the areas social disparities. Here is a summary of FYR Macedonia’s Goals and progress to date.
Status of Progress in FYR Macedonia:
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GOAL:
Reduce the proportion of the population living below the poverty line to 9.5% by 2015.
PROGRESS:
It is realistic to expect that by 2015 the current poverty rate (29.4%) would drop to 27%.
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GOAL:
Ensure that, by 2015, all children will be able to complete a full course of primary and secondary schooling; eliminate gender disparities in both primary and secondary education, in all level by 2015.
PROGRESS:
Over 30% of students drop out of school before graduation from high school, with 11% dropping out by the end of primary school. Roma, Turkish and Albanian ethnic communities have higher drop-out rates. Gender disparities in primary education have been almost eliminated.
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GOAL:
Halving, by 2015, the proportion of women as unpaid family workers and reducing their inactivity rate by one third; double the proportion of women in governance.
PROGRESS:
Employment rates among women have increased slightly and the country is likely to miss this target. Meanwhile, the number of women in Parliament and in municipal councils has doubled or tripled. However, the number of women in ministerial and mayor positions is still low.
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GOAL:
Further reduce the infant and under-five mortality rate; eliminate measles by 2015.
PROGRESS:
The infant mortality rate has reduced from 31.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 11.3 in 2003 and 10.3 in 2007. There has been a significant drop in measles to a single reported case in 2007, which is lower than the incidence rate in the EU. Immunization rates against measles exceeded the recommended rates and reached over 95%.
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GOAL:
Reduce by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 the maternal mortality ratio.
PROGRESS:
The maternal death rate has been decreasing, from 11.5 per 100,000 live births in 1991 to 3.7 in 2003, and 4.4 in 2006, whereas no cases were reported in 2007. The downward maternal mortality rate between 1990 and 2007 is positively correlated with the upward trend of births attended by skilled healthcare personnel.
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GOAL:
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of tuberculosis and other major diseases
PROGRESS:
FYR Macedonia is among the countries with the lowest incidence rate of clinically diagnosed AIDS in the region and in Europe. Downward trends of tuberculosis indicate that the target will be reached by 2015. Malaria was eradicated in the country in 1972.
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GOAL:
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into national policies and programmes and reverse the losses of environmental resources; halve by 2015 the proporion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; have achieved by 2020 significant improvements in the lives of people in terms of safety of their dwellings.
PROGRESS:
Deforestation has increased and it is hoped that the newly adopted Strategy on Sustainable Development of Forestry will stem this trend. The number of protected territories has been steadily increasing: in 2006 the number of protected areas was 16. CO2 emissions per capita in the country are lower than in other transition countries. Between 1997 and 2007, over 97% of the total ODS consumption were eliminated. The proportion of the population (households) using solid fuels has increased. 88.9% of all households get drinking water from public supply systems, while 59.9% have access to public sewage.
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GOAL:
Create an environment conducive to increase the inflow of FDI up to 7% of GDP by 2015; increase the share of foreign trade on the world markets up to 60% of the GDP and reduce the trade deficit to 12% of the GDP by 2015.
PROGRESS:
Should the Government’s assumptions materialize, FYR Macedonia will have fully achieved the goal of increasing the Foreign Direct Investment to 7% of GDP by 2015. By then, the country will have largely managed to exceed the benchmark concerning the share of foreign trade in the GDP. Meanwhile, it is estimated that the share of the foreign trade deficit will exceed 12% of the GD
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