International experts and senior government officials from Latin America and the Caribbean have analyzed concrete steps to be taken to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a set of targets agreed upon by world leaders in the context of the United Nations to substantially improve the quality of life of the poor by 2015.

The experts delivered their views during a two-day seminar at the Inter-American Development Bank June 10-11, attended by the head of state of Bolivia and other senior international and national officials.

Titled “Facing the Challenges for Achieving the Latin America and the Caribbean Millennium Development Goals,” the conference at IDB headquarters in Washington, D.C., was organized in conjunction with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The signing of a letter of intent committing the participating multilateral organizations to work together was scheduled at the conclusion of the seminar.

Speakers and panelists analyzed the situation in the region in the context of the MDG, adopted by heads of state in the Millennium Summit held by the United Nations in September 2000.

The MDG include: reducing extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equity; reducing infant mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and undertaking a worldwide effort to benefit development.

“In general, the great goals proposed at the beginning of the millennium, for instance in education and health, are realistic and achievable, but the problem of poverty is a challenge of great dimensions,” commented IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias upon inaugurating the meeting. Fighting poverty brings with it issues such as a country’s growth rate, investment levels, production, commerce, debt, governance, corruption, policy focus and the participation of civil society, he added.

Iglesias urged conference participants to gather ideas under the auspices of the Consensus of Monterrey, the result of a summit in Mexico last March, to promote a world alliance for development and bring up the issue for discussion in the governments of Latin America. “Growth of production and financial aspects are crucial, but success in the fight against poverty will also depend on the establishment of clear social goals to achieve a better quality of life for the population,” he said.

Also participating in the opening of the seminar were the vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank, David de Ferranti; the executive secretary of ECLAC, José Antonio Ocampo; and the principal advisor on poverty for the United Nations Development Programme, Enrique Ganuza.

De Ferranti highlighted the importance of dialogue with teams in the countries on the new MDG perspective and the need to act with greater coordination and focus.

Ocampo emphasized the issues of equity, globalization, the impact of economic measures and the environment. The panelists agreed on the importance of measuring the effectiveness of actions.

The UNDP has begun several initiatives with other organizations, both within and outside of the United Nations system, to analyze how countries can advance to achieve the MDG and help them identify policies and the necessary resources.

Discussion at the seminar centered on identifying strategies, policies and means to improve institutional capacity and the necessary coordination in the countries and in international organizations to achieve the development goals. The priority areas of discussion centered on poverty, education, health, gender equality and the environment.

Bolivia’s President Jorge Quiroga, in an address examined the differing roles of the donor and developing countries. The former, he said, should respect the priorities of the latter, as well as coordinate aid and base it on results. The developing countries, he said, should design participatory policies, manage resources in a decentralized and progressive way and establish clear objectives controlled by civil society. He discussed the issue of the digital divide that exists even inside nations themselves and emphasized the need to open markets of the developed countries to agricultural and industrial products that are labor intensive.

The minister of education of El Salvador, Evelyn Jacir de Lovo, who is also coordinator of the Social Cabinet, discussed the challenges of MDG and the conditions under which these goals can lead to true development: educational policies converted into state policy; access and equity, which require educational quality; the need for education in the context of globalization and constant change, with a view toward meeting employment demand in the labor market.

“If developing countries want to close the gap that separates them from developed countries, they must support world quality education,” she said.

At the conclusion of the seminar, authorities of the four multilateral organizations that participated in the conference - the IDB, the World Bank, the UNDP and ECLAC - were scheduled to sign a letter of intent to work together to support countries in the region in following up and achieving the MDG.

Among the activities that may be supported are research, preparation of reports, cooperation on development projects and assistance in evaluation and monitoring on the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the definition of steps to achieve these purposes and the strengthening of the structures in charge of leading this process.