On June 23, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Vietnam said UNICEF recently announced "Progress for Children" report, which highlights the lessons learnt from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This eleventh edition of Progress for Children is UNICEF’s final report on the child-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It presents latest data that show while the MDGs helped drive tremendous advances in the lives of the world’s children, development efforts in the past 15 years failed to reach millions of the most disadvantaged.
The report spotlights where the international community must now focus attention and action to reach the most vulnerable children and achieve sustainable growth.
It also praises the important achievements of children worldwide from 1990 to present: Child deaths have been almost halved thanks to better nutrition, health care, and standards of living.
Vietnam has achieved remarkable progress. Since 2000, mortality rates of children under five reduced from 39 to 20 children per 1,000 live births, the number of malnourished and stunted children fell to 25% from 36% while the proportion of people getting access to clean water increased from 78% to 92%.
According to the UNICEF, world leaders need to pay greater attention to disadvantaged children in working out sustainable development goals (SDGs). Improved health care system, education and social welfare will help children develop more comprehensively. These projects should also be tailored to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children.
UNICEF Vietnam Chief Representative Youssouf Abdel-Jelil said the MDG implementation process shows that countries can achieve progress on an equal basis.
Vietnam has obtained gender parity at the primary school level and the percentage difference between the number of stunted children in urban and rural areas also dropped significantly, he noted.
In the time to come, world leaders will continue to build SDGs towards a better world of equality, prosperity and peace. The MDGs have helped shape the new development objectives, helping disadvantaged children have benefited from MDGs.
The UNICEF will also work closely with Vietnamese partners to implement SDGs particularly in child support activities, he added.
VOV
