By NNN-KUNA
United Nations : Kuwait has achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the lapse of half the time period allocated to reach this aim, said Consul Jassem Al-Najem, member of the Gulf state’s permanent mission to the UN, late Wednesday.
The Kuwaiti diplomat was speaking at a three-day debate at the UN General Assembly to review the progress made so far to achieve the MDGs and to identify the challenges as well as the methods to address them.
“The State of Kuwait has gone a long way in realizing pledges and resolutions of the 2005 World Summit, and is in a position to achieve most of the MDGs by the specified date. In fact, some of these goals were reached long before the designated year of 2015,” he said.
Of the goals achieved, he said, was the elimination of severe poverty and famine, compulsory elementary education, gender equality in all educational levels, reducing the percentage of deaths of children and infants, improving the general health of mothers and children, as well as combating AIDS, malaria, and other contagious diseases.
Al-Najem said the time had come for the international community to change the way it dealt with these challenges and to move on from the phase of discussion to one of achieving results and realizing the pledges it made.
Increasing the chances of realizing MDGs, he noted, required that the highly developed world provide more financial resources and support for projects and programs to achieve these goals, as well as for donor countries to honor their financial obligations and present official assistance of no less that 0.7 percent of national revenue.
The Kuwaiti diplomat said past experiences in combating poverty and famine indicate that there was “a link between realized results and the positive impact of MDGs. For instance, combating poverty and famine noticeably boosts achievements in other MDGs, such as providing drinking water or improving health and education services.”
He said the adoption of the MDGs was a decisive point in the history of the UN and an unprecedented pledge by the leaders of the world to face issues of peace, security, development, human rights, and basic rights in one package.
However, he said it was unfortunate that more than half of the population of the world suffered from poverty, famine, and disease, and was living on less than two dollars a day.
This, he stressed, required “a serious review” as to developmental challenges in the developing world, calling for a stand against new challenges such as the rise in price of basic foodstuff, climate change, and the subsequent increase in risks of drought, floods, and desertification.
Moreover, the diplomat said the situation required greater efforts in developing the agricultural sector because of its important role in the economies of most of the developing countries, especially in villages and rural areas where most of the poor people lived, thus boosting their commercial capabilities.
He also said developed countries needed to provide more technical assistance to these countries, noting that developing countries had in fact boosted their ability to successfully enter international markets.
Al-Najem said Kuwait was fully aware of the importance of developmental partnership in achieving MDGs and was doing its utmost to contribute to their realization through facilitated loans by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) for projects in the fields of agriculture, energy, water, sewage systems, transportation, communication, education, and health in developing countries.
KFAED, over the past 46 years, has also supported social funds and national development banks with some USD 14 billion, and a total of 101 countries benefited from this assistance, he added, noting that the Kuwaiti fund had intensified its operations since the declaration of the MDGs in 2000.
Furthermore, he said Kuwait was committed to voluntary contributions to many specialized international organizations and agencies aimed at achieving development goals, including its allocation last year of USD 300 million to the Islamic Development Bank’s fund for the elimination of poverty in Africa, alongside humanitarian assistance for countries stricken by natural disasters.
Kuwait also places great emphasis on the preservation of the environment, particularly climate change, he said, noting its implementation of projects related to curbing gas emissions, and allocating USD 150 million for supporting environment and energy research.
Al-Najem concluded that Kuwait would continue to exert efforts to achieve the MDGs.
KFAED representatives Dr. Abdulkareem Sadeq and Mustafa Bushihri were present for the discussion.