NEWS FROM THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK JUNE 2004 The Millennium Development Goals Will Asia and the Pacific Achieve Them? www.adb.org/review June 2004 1 Volume 36, Number 3 June 2004 HER FUTURE ADB is well placed to continue its role as a valuable global partner in helping developing member countries achieve the MDGs by 2015 Richie Abrina MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS 26 HEALTH Good 32 Thirst for Change 6 OVERVIEW Staying on Track for 2015 While Health Begins at In 1993 the people of Phnom Penh lacked a not new for ADB, the MDGs represent shared, measurable, Home Battling ingrained and monitorable goals that DMCs are seeking to achieve in and unhealthy lifestyles reliable water supply but partnership with ADB through community all that has changed partnerships with the health 8 ANTICORRUPTION A Black and White Issue establishmentis helping 34 Fatal Attraction Corruption in Asia and the Pacific is often obscured by lower maternal and infant Steps to counter the spread a haze of secrecy and is difficult to measure mortality rates, and reduce of HIV/AIDS are showing disease levels in rural results in the Greater Mekong Subregion 12 NUTRITION Rice Power Trials to gauge the Indonesia effectiveness of boosting the iron content of rice are showing encouraging results that could drastically decrease micronutrient deficiencies Graham Dwyer 14 RURAL DEVELOPMENT A Time for Change Learning innovative ways to manage their environment has created new opportunities for poor rural dwellers in Fujian Province in the People’s Republic of China 20 EDUCATION Back to Basics With decentralization putting the onus on education in Indonesia in the hands Break time at an Indonesian school...........................20 of district offices, schools, and communities, a project is aiming to turn this challenge into an opportunity 29 Fighting Ignorance DEPARTMENTS Traditional medicine 10 LAW MATTERS 23 LEADERSHIP Women Power The Philippines women are key to is one of two Asian countries setting the standards in promoting cleanliness 18 ADB BOOKSTORE women leadership positions and better health 19 WEB WATCH 24 Women Learn to Lead Women in Bangladesh, 30 Healing Cambodia’s Nepal, and Pakistan are overcoming discrimination and Health Care A new 19 NEWS FOR NGOs numerous obstacles to become leaders in their communities program is helping elevate Cambodia’s health care service from disarray into a ADB Review, Office of External Relations, Asian Development Bank, P.O. Box 789, system the community can 0980 Manila, Philippines; E-mail: [email protected]; Fax: (632) 636-2648; afford and trust Web site: http://www.adb.org/review. In this publication, “$” refers to US dollars. Cover photo: Richie Abrina; Photo illustration: Ram Cabrera 2 June 2004 Ram Cabrera ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Realistic, Possible? Local partnership, harmonization, and commitment all critical for success By Graham Dwyer External Relations Specialist How does the Millennium Campaign and your work as UN Special Ambassa- rna Witoelar, the former Indonesian Minis- dor for the MDGs fit within the con- ter for Settlements and Regional Infrastruc- text of the UN system, and what does ture, was named the first United Nations your work entail? (UN) Special Ambassador for the Millennium Within the UN system there are two main Development Goals (MDGs) for Asia and the supporting efforts to enable countries to EPacific in September 2003. UN Secretary-General Kofi reach the MDGs. One is the Millennium Annan expressed the hope that her “talent and pres- Project, which is helping develop the right ence as part of the MDG Campaign will contribute to policies to reach the goals—whether in eco- reach the hearts and minds of people around the nomics, trade, or development. The other world.” is the Millennium Campaign, which is During a visit to ADB, she outlined in an interview Eric Sales facilitating campaigns to make sure that Erna Witoelar for ADB Review the challenges ahead for the Millen- the process is catalyzed. Both units are di- UN Special Ambassador nium Campaign, launched in November 2002 to build for the MDGs for Asia and rectly under the Secretary General. partnerships with stakeholders to mobilize support for the Pacific This is a new global solidarity momen- achieving the MDGs. tum that must go beyond government to June 2004 3 help countries reach the goals and increase commitments to reduce poverty, which in SHARED CONCERN The MDGs are holistic turn will help in achieving the rest of the and interrelated—the process of working together at national, regional, and global goals. together at national, regional, and global levelslevels isis veryvery importantimportant My role is to get top-level commitment and generate public awareness and pres- sure. I am campaigning among govern- ments, civil society, parliaments, uni- versities, the private sector, and all other players; meeting government poverty reduction teams and national planning boards; talking at universities; giving interviews; and appearing on talk shows. What commitments are you looking for from the region’s developing coun- tries to further their MDG agenda? As the goals are holistic and interrelated, the process of working together in partner- ships at the national, regional, and global levels is very important. To achieve the MDGs, all stakeholders have to participate actively—not just governments. If we con- tinue to conduct our development work in a business-as-usual way, many of us [de- veloping countries] won’t be able to reach the goals. Governments need to be constantly re- minded of the commitments they have al- ready made to achieve the goals and that they should be really serious and main- stream them in existing work. But the real implementation has to happen at the lo- cal level. The better local governments are able to target and develop the right inter- ventions, the better will be the results on poverty reduction, health, sustainable de- velopment, and education. Many countries actually have money to reach the goals, it is just that we have Ram Cabrera not been using it in an effective way. So “ good governance is important, like account- Aid is not effective if every donor has its own ability, participation, transparency, and minimizing corruption. strategy, each accompanied by complex procedures that “overburden poor countries’ institutional capacity What progress have you seen in the region toward achieving the goals? Some countries are more advanced in the velopment of the environment. In these faster we can reach them. MDG process than others. Some have al- cases, they need to go beyond the goals to What needs to be sharpened is our ca- ready reached certain goals in a short pe- develop “MDG plus.” pacity to benchmark and note progress. riod. But they have not viewed them in a On Goal 3, gender and empowerment There has been little work on this in the holistic way that could then be used to of women, the target in the Philippines is past because many of our countries have reach the other goals. not only to eliminate gender disparity at weak statistical capacities. Countries like Malaysia, for instance, school level but also in terms of reproduc- have already reached many of the goals and tive rights, so the country can develop its The Millennium Compact in Monterrey will be able to reach all of them by 2005, own targets based on the MDGs. The bet- stated that international finance insti- except probably Goal 7 on sustainable de- ter we are able to define our targets, the tutions (IFIs) should put the MDGs at 4 June 2004 THE INTERVIEW the center of their country strategies a big turnover of policymakers in these What kind of reception have you and programs. Is this happening? countries, so there is a constant need to received from governments and the I don’t think so. People know the theory, involve them again in understanding all public in your first six months of work people know the concept, but it is still at this knowledge, instead of reinventing the on the MDG issue? the conceptual level. In theory we know wheel. ADB at the regional level could co- I’m pleasantly surprised to see how fast that to reach the MDGs we have to be ordinate better with other regional players people can be “MDG-ized.” As soon as more holistic. But support from IFIs is to be able to catalyze peer-to-peer learn- people realized how the MDGs are linked still sectoral. So the international com- ing of countries in this region. with their work, concerns, campaigns, they munity needs to coordinate better among usually become interested and enthusias- itself. Have you encountered much official tic, despite some initial skepticism. The better the partnerships between cynicism about achieving the MDGs? Governments’ reactions vary, especially re- IFIs and multilateral and bilateral donors, There is skepticism in developing coun- garding the need to be more participatory the better will be the use of resources. We tries of Asia and the Pacific that it is all in making the MDG reports. Some are have to be able to improve the use of exist- just a way of packaging old stuff so that quite reluctant to involve civil society from ing resources, loans, and grants to make the UN, the international community, the beginning for several reasons. Some are them more effective. World Bank, and other IFIs can make more still coordinated by the foreign ministry— Creditors of ADB, donors, IFIs, and the business for themselves. maybe they don’t realize that the MDGs UN are increasingly reforming their pro- There is also skepticism [in the devel- are not just the governments’ pledges to grams and processes toward achieving the oped world] that national governments in the international community, but, most MDGs.