Guyana, 38 others achieve UN goal on extreme hunger

Oct 20, 2013 News

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…also attain universal primary education

By Zena Henry

Guyana is among 189 countries that adopted the United Nations’ Millennium Declaration which captures the agreement of eight internationally set goals on development to be attained by 2015. Guyana has been recognized for attaining at least two of these goals; universal primary education and the eradication of extreme hunger.

At a discussion seminar at the Georgetown Club on Thursday with representatives of various UN organizations, media workers were called upon to aid in keeping the momentum towards the 2015 goals by reporting the path and progress of the action.
With an 800-day deadline on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Guyana on its own was encouraged to continue its strides towards 2015, while it was also praised for the efforts being put in by the government and civil society to attain the goals and to move closer to attaining the others.
UN representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Angela Alleyne, said, “Guyana has made significant progress in the attainment of MDG 1 (eradication of extreme hunger), particularly in the area of having the proportion of people suffering from hunger. Guyana is among 38 countries that have met the internationally established target in the fight against hunger; meeting the target well ahead of the 2015 target.”
Alleyne said that the UN has been helping Guyana in its endeavours towards reaching this goal, but lauded the country for its initiatives and programmes towards food security and the fight against hunger.
Marianne Flach of UNICEF, told the media workers that in the developed regions, 90 percent of the children go to school; the 10 percent of those out of school represent 61 million children.
“This is just being put into perspective to the good achievements in Guyana, where we can say that all children in a certain point in their lives would go to school.
“That means not all six-year-old children will go at the moment to primary school. They enter later, but all children do at a certain moment go to school.”
The UNICEF representative praised the efforts of the nation’s school feeding programme, the incentives to teachers in remote areas, teacher training programmes and the provision of textbooks.
It was noted, however, that the quality of education generated is still a challenge. The performances in Mathematics and English were prime areas where improvement is needed, Flach mentioned.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s seminar. He discussed the progress that Guyana is making and also highlighted the goals attained.
He spoke about the necessity of attaining the 2015 goals and the global importance of this before directing the media to the Ministry’s website for the documented information on Guyana’s progress towards 2015.
The Minister said that for the last two years, information on the country’s progress has been available on the website. The media representatives were however curious about the validity and accuracy of the information since they would be the ones reporting on the matter.
Finance Ministry Budget Director, Sonya Roopnauth, explained that the MDGs are often measured by formulas separated by a numerator and a denominator which can be verified. That is what makes the process open to whether a goal has been met or not.
Kaieteur News was also told that the gathering of information is not only from the government but also from members of civil society. It was explained that, for example, in the study of Trafficking in Persons (TIP), organizations such as the Women Miners’ Association would also be called in and the information would be weighed and interpreted.
UN workers present at the forum explained that micro information, which speaks about that which comes out of Guyana, is not obtained by one source. It was further explained that the information to the UN would not be the opinion or determination of any source.
Ms. Khadija Musa, the UNDP Resident Representative, on the issue of transparency, said too that the information that is taken from Guyana is not accepted and taken as is. She explained to the media that the organization would conduct its own survey, research and verification on the ground.
She added that for information dissemination, the need may exist for better production of facts and figures and quick summaries in the areas where attention is most needed.
By 2015, the UN is hoping to achieve the eight international goals:   Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality rates, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

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