Pakistan is lagging behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as progress has only been made on about half of the targeted indicators, while on the remaining half, the country has lagged behind due to less allocation and coordination among the concerned departments.
Ministry of Climate Change informed the Special Committee of the National Assembly on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) here on Friday, which met with Shehnaz Wazir Ali in the chair. "Sufficient progress has only been made on about half of the targeted indicators while on others lag behind," revealed in a presentation given to the standing committee. Availability of adequate funds and increased investment is critical for achieving all MDGs in Pakistan before 2015 deadline; the committee was informed.
The MDGs are an eight-point roadmap with measurable target and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world's poorest people, with major focus on poverty and hunger alleviation, addressing poor health facilities, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water and environmental degradation. In September 2000, leaders from around the world ushered in the new millennium by adopting the millennium declaration. The declaration, endorsed by 189 countries, emerged as a roadmap setting out goals to be reached by 2015. Pakistan also signed on to the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the MDGs.
The eight MDGs include: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. During his presentation on 'progress on MDGs in Pakistan,' Director-General (Environment), Ministry of Climate Change, Jawaid Ali Khan said that out of eight MDGs, Pakistan has succeeded in achieving four important MDGs, namely protected areas, use of energy per unit of GDP, number of vehicles on CNG and Sulphur content in fuel.
Talking about depressing state of forests, Jawaid said, "The country's forest cover enhanced from 4.8 percent to 5.01 percent by 2003-04, whereas, the latest assessment of forest cover is under process at the Pakistan Forest Institute in Peshawar. However, after devolution of the ministry of environment and transfer of mega forestry projects to the provinces with no PSDP allocation, it appears that target fixed for this MDG is less likely to be achieved." Under the environmental sustainability MDG, the forest cover has been targeted to increase from 4.8 percent in 1990-91 to 6.0 percent by 2015.
He told the meeting that Protected Areas (PAs) coverage has been targeted from 11.25 percent to 12 percent by 2015 under the environmental sustainability MDG. The target has also been achieved as now more than 12 percent area of Pakistan is covered including 25 national parks notified by the provincial governments.
The committee on MDGs pressed on the need for promoting watershed management, rainwater harvesting, building up more water reservoirs of different sizes to meeting mounting needs of water of all sectors, particularly agriculture and industry, which is critical for country's overall social, economic and environmental development. Nafeesa Shah Member of the National Assembly's special committee on MDGs urged the ministry to place on record the violations in the PAs like oil and gas and mining so that such issues could be raised in the national assemblies and assemblies for controlling them.
Regarding the third and fourth indicators, which is the use of energy per unit of GDP and number of vehicles running on CNG, DG said that this target has also been achieved. According to the Economic survey of Pakistan 2010-11, Pakistan tops the list of top 10 countries using a maximum number of vehicles on CNG. Presently, there are 2.50 million (21.6 percent) of the total vehicles running on CNG in the country.
He said that as far as access to safe water MDG is concerned, Pakistan is still on track to achieve the goal of halving the population without access to improved water by 2015. The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2010-11 revealed that about 91 percent of the population has access to improved drinking water. The access to improved water MDG target is 93 percent by 2015.
Pakistan is, however, off-track as far as meeting the safe sanitation target of getting 67 percent of the population with access to safe sanitation is concerned, Jawaid Ali Khan said. He said that proportion of safe sanitation has been targeted to rise from 34 in 1990-91 to 67 percent by 2015. However the committee voiced concern over the credibility of figures, saying that the people of Balochistan are running for water, as there is acute shortage of drinking water.
The Federal Secretary of the Ministry of climate Change said that absence of mechanism for coordination on MDGs and other climate change and environmental problems between the federal government and provincial department needs to be plugged for national level environmental development.
Shahnaz Wazir Ali asked the Climate Change Ministry to play its facilitating role in bridging this coordination gap, with major focus on plugging policy and planning level gaps that relates to environment and climate change. Hameed Uullah Jan Afridi said that provinces should make legislation to recover forest areas that are being used for non-forestry uses. For this, lessons can be learnt from the Punjab, which made such legislation and recovered a number of acres of forest land that was being used for purposes other than forestry.