Nepal to host regional meeting on poverty eradication

The United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are organizing a regional meeting in Nepali capital Kathmandu to develop roadmap on eradication of extreme poverty and attainment of other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"More than 100 delegates from eight South Asian countries meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, next week are expected to develop a ' roadmap' to eradicate extreme poverty in South Asia by 2015," a news release issued here on Thursday by the organizers said.

High-ranking government officials, policy makers, representatives of civil society, business leaders, academics and the media will gather at the South Asian MDG Forum, scheduled for October 11-12, to discuss how South Asia can put an end to development problems and work towards meeting the UN MDGs by 2015.

The meeting is being jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific, the United Nations Development Program, and the ADB.

"South Asia, one of the world's dynamic regions, has made good progress towards achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. According to the UN, none of the countries in South Asia is on track to meet all the goals by 2015 and the MDG clock is ticking," the press release added.

The MDGs are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions -- income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion - - whilst promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability.

Source: Xinhua