Sri Lanka, together with UNDP, has undertaken a leadership training program for women. 23 of the 30 participants have managed to hold office in local government. And while 80.8% of countries and include policies on equality, we still need to overcome major barriers and advance gender equality. Women account for two thirds of the world’s illiterates.

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Sudan, with UNDP support, has built a dam in Kordofan state that benefits more than 10.000 people in the region. Initiatives like this have assured that today, 89% of the population worldwide (6.1 billion people) have access to potable water. Together we will get the percentage to reach 92%, in 2015.

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The Philippines, together with the National Nutrition Council and the MDG Fund, has launched a program to improve breastfeeding and nutrition of children under two years. Improved nutrition education has been one of the key factors to prevent 12,000 deaths a year worldwide. Programs like this are needed to combat 13 million children who die each year from causes related to malnutrition.

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The Tanzanian government has made great progress in education achieving a 99.6% enrollment in primary education, eliminating school fees and building schools in every village. Exemplary measures have contributed to the education of 39 million children around the world in the past decade and we need to continue putting these measures in place to ensure universal primary education.

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The Bangladesh government, with international assistance, has carried out the largest vaccination campaign against measles in the world which immunized 33.5 million children between 9 and 10 years in only 20 days. Thanks to such initiatives, we have saved more than 4 million lives in the last 20 years.

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Bangladesh prepares to conduct the world’s largest-ever measles immunization campaign

Measles and polio immunization campaign targets 20 million children in Bangladesh

Pakistan has installed mobile clinics in remote areas of the country to ensure the health of mothers and children, attending to 43% of pregnant women. Since 1990, births attended by skilled health personnel increased from 55% to 65% worldwide thanks to initiatives like this, but we need to continue to expand health coverage to reduce maternal mortality.

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