MDG #1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Poverty eradication target in Africa remains

unmet: UN
Only seven countries have met the target, according to latest report
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By Addis Getachew
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Only seven of the 54 African countries were able to meet the Millennium Development
Goal of eradicating poverty, according to a UN report Friday.
A UN initiative launched in 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
range from eradicating extreme poverty and hunger to combating HIV/AIDS and
providing universal primary education by the end of 2015.

"With the latest data available at the publication of this report, 7 countries have met the
poverty target, 12 were close to the target while 11 other countries had seen reversals
in their poverty reduction efforts," said the report issued by The United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
"Africa remains the region in the world with the largest share of poor people. []
Progress remains below the desirable 28.45 per cent MDG end target with mixed
achievements at country level," it said.
According to the report, in many countries poverty reduction was "hampered by
overreliance on a few sectors for growth, high unemployment rates particularly for youth
and women and a lack of industries to absorb the continents existing large labor
supply."
"Africas rapid population growth means that there are now close to 110 million more
poor people in Africa excluding North Africa than there were in 1990," it noted.
Since 2015, Africa has been transitioning towards the enforcement of 17 Sustainable
Development Goals --which replaced the MDGs--, but the continent, according to the
report, faces three challenges: putting in place stronger institutional arrangements,
follow up and periodic review to remain on track, and gap in access to relevant data.
The report illustrated the level of performance of the MDGs, indicating the imperative for
African countries to integrate SDGs with Agenda 2063, Africas long-term development
blueprint.
"Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia
and Ugandaare at a more advanced stage of the integration process," it said.