<div>The challenges and way forward apply to other continents as well.</div><div> Claudio</div><div><br></div><br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ruglucia@paho.org">ruglucia@paho.org</a>></span><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font size="3" color="maroon" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:maroon;font-weight:bold">The MDGs in Europe and Central Asia:
<br>
Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward<br>
<br>
</span></font></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Report coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe – 2010 <br>
<br>
</span></font></b><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"></span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">Available online PDF
[142p.] at: <a href="http://bit.ly/b4vZ8f" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="color:navy">http://bit.ly/b4vZ8f</span></font></a> <br>
<br>
</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">This report, prepared
jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the
Regional Offices for Europe and Central Asia
of the United Nations Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies, takes stock
of progress made in reaching the MDG goals and offers decision-makers
policy-oriented, operationally feasible suggestions for bolstering progress
towards fully achieving these goals by 2015. It also identifies and contextualizes
the greatest challenges facing human development, taking into account the
specific characteristics of the UNECE region.</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"> </span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">“……In
addition to the governance issue, the report points to other priority policy
areas which can have a multiplier effect in reaching the MDGs. <br>
The following six should be highlighted. <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">First</span></b>, the design of sustainable
social-protection schemes is critical to ensure a universal access to social
services in a human rights perspective. <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Second,</span></b> extra emphasis should be placed
on promoting gender equality since it has cross-cutting effects on all the
other MDGs. <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Third</span></b>, budget allocation and choice
in public investment must strike the right balance between social
infrastructure and support to the productive capacity,</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">including in the
agricultural sector. <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Fourth,</span></b> reviewing fiscal policies
is decisive for reducing inequalities and for providing more fiscal space to finance
social protection. <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Fifth</span></b>, regional cooperation must
be enhanced to address major MDG transboundary issues such as international
migration, cross-border water management, trade and transport facilitation and
climate change adaptation and mitigation. And <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">sixth</span></b>, donor countries of the
region should at least maintain the existing ODA level for the lower income
countries of the region and intervene for relaxing the conditionality of the
international financial institutions on loans to emerging economies hardly hit
by the economic downturn…..”  from </span></font><i><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-style:italic">Ján Kubi¹</span></font></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-style:italic">U.N. Under-Secretary-General</span></font></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-style:italic"><br>
<br>
</span></font></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">[….] The following
are some cross-cutting considerations for scaling up action towards the three
health MDGs:</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"> </span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">• There is a need to
reinforce all health system functions, with attention to service delivery,
financing, workforce, health information systems, procurement and distribution
of medicines, vaccines and technologies, sexual and reproductive health care
and political will in leadership and governance. Actions should be grounded in
a primary health care approach, involving communities and civil society.
Measures to include the MDGs in national health plans, scale up key targeted
and equity-proofed interventions, and provide appropriate integrated services
are opportune.</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"> </span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">• It is important to
account for health equity in all national policies that address social
determinants of health and gender inequities, and to consider developing and
strengthening universal comprehensive social-protection policies that include
health promotion, infectious and non-communicable disease prevention and health
care, and to promote the availability of and access to goods and services
essential to health and well-being.</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"> </span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">• Accelerating
progress towards the health MDGs will require increasing/maximizing the
benefits of investment in financial and human resources and strengthening
national health information systems to generate accurate, reliable,
disaggregated and timely evidence on achievement of the health MDGs.</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"> </span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">• All efforts should
be made to fulfill commitments regarding official development assistance and
improve donor and aid coordination so that it strengthens national health
systems and brings greater coherence and alignment to the donor response at
country level.</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-style:italic"> </span></font></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">Jointly prepared by:</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe - United Nations
Development Programme - International Labour Organization - Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">World Food Programme - United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - United Nations
Development Fund for Women - World Health Organization</span></font></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="1" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy">United Nations
Children’s Fund - United Nations Population Fund - Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS - United Nations Environment Programme - United Nations
Industrial Development Organization - United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development -International Trade Centre<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000" face="arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000080" face="Arial"><br></font></span></font></span></font></p>
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