Riyadh - The Kingdom has set up an "urban observatory" or social monitoring unit in Madinah under the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.
UN Resident Coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told Arab News that two more units would be set up in Hail and Jeddah in the near future. He made the announcement during Millennium Development Goals Roundtable Discussion held at the UN office in the Diplomatic Quarter here.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were outlined at the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000. A review of the progress achieved by the member states will be undertaken at the 2005 World Summit at the same venue in September.
The review will cover eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement in maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; environmental sustainability; and global partnership for development.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman who attended the event commended UNDP's initiative in convening the workshop and said an important element of the Kingdom's development strategy was tourism promotion. He explained how it would stimulate the economy, create job opportunities for Saudis and open up investment channels.
Referring to the "urban observatory," the UN coordinator said it would monitor the Kingdom's progress within the framework of MDGs and create awareness of the millennium goals.
He said that besides MDGs, these observatories would also act as a barometer of social progress, especially of poverty alleviation. This was also a priority for the government.
"We would like to move beyond setting strategies and goals into actually implementing them at the national and local levels with the cooperation and support of the government," he said, adding that one of the areas for development was the Khulwa area in the south of Madinah.
Asked about the future plans, he said they intend working with the Saudi government in identifying its own millennium development goals which would be aside from UN MDGs. "The Saudi MDGs have already been identified by the government. We hope to be partners in this joint endeavor."
He said UNDP was coordinating with the Saudi government in providing technical support or input across a broad spectrum of socio-economic activities and planning. As for MDGs, the Kingdom had either achieved or about to achieve most of the targets.
Ambassador Benlamlih mooted the idea of a presentation at the upcoming UN conference, so that the member states could establish the Kingdom's progress. "Primary education, reduction in child mortality or improvement in maternal health are not issues in Saudi Arabia, which has its own priorities at the national or regional level in order to attain uniform progress in human development," he said.
By Javid Hassan
© Arab News 2005
