Our traditions and social protection networks have cushioned Samoa from the impact of poverty, a senior United Nations (UN) official said. Minar Pimple, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific on the UN Millennium Campaign, said while poverty affects all countries, it’s not that bad in Samoa. “I don’t see malnutrition in Samoa,” he said.
Samoa is among the least developed countries doing extremely well, he said. Mr Pimple said it is because Samoa has strong community and support systems in place. “So what we are looking at now is the gains Samoa already has and how we can improve it further,” he said. Mr Pimple arrived on Thursday. He was here for an exploratory meeting with the UNDP Samoa Resident Coordinator’s office on the work of the campaign and MDGs here.
Minar Pimple, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, is impressed with Samoa’s progress. Mr. Minar Pimple told the Weekend Observer “Samoa is not suffering from (food) poverty and is doing very well compared to other countries. “We, Pacific countries, have a completely different way of looking at poverty, a very different perspective. ”Poverty can take on many forms, he said.
“It’s not (always about) hunger, it’s different in all countries,” he said. “You can’t take one sort of poverty and think it will fit for all countries. Just like our (MDG) goals, we have eight because it’s different all over the world. ”Mr Pimple said poverty is one of the challenges many countries grapple with.
This is why the United Nations came up with Millennium Development Goals and initiated a campaign called ‘End Poverty 2015. ’The campaign started in 2000. Since then, 189 world leaders have signed the declaration to end poverty by 2015.“All men, women and children should live a life of dignity and peace,” he said. There are eight goals under the MDGs.
“These were the most concrete eight goals that came up in the declaration. They were chosen because they were the most monitorable. ”
The goals are:
1. End Hunger – Reduce the hunger and poverty by half.
2. Universal Education – Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
3. Gender Equality – Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education.
4. Child Health – Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate of children under five.
5. Maternal Health – Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS – Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
7. Environment Sustainability – Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs.
8. Global Partnership – Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs
“These are all outcome driven,” said Mr Pimple. “Not some wishful thinking.”
