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UN expert says meeting MDGs is mixed in European region
Progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals in the European region is mixed, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).
World leaders in 2000 set 2015 as the target date for meeting specific goals to eradicate extreme poverty, provide education, fight disease, achieve gender equality, and ensure environmental sustainability.
In its report, the ECE says the region is quite heterogeneous in its level of development, with a large group of advanced economies, a number of emerging economies and a few of the world's most vulnerable.
Robert Shelburne a Senior Economist at the ECE tells UN Radio that performance in meeting the development goals varies significantly throughout the region.
He says the situation becomes less positive as one goes further east to the new members of the European Union, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and all the way to Central Asia.
"So, for example, the new Member States will achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals, while in South East Europe and the European CIS there has been good progress for a number of them but there are a number of major shortcomings. And when you get to Central Asia, almost all the goals there are problematic."
Robert Shelburne says although it's safe to say that by 2015 not all the Millennium Development Goals will be met in all the countries, much progress has been made.
Diane Bailey, United Nations
Duration: 1'31"
