§ Ms DrownTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made against the target of reducing the number of child deaths under the fourth millennium development goal; and what assessment his Department has made of whether the target will be met. [138904]
§ Hilary BennGlobally child mortality is declining, and between 1990 and 2000 the under-five mortality rate was reduced from 92 to 82 deaths per 1,000 live births. On 943W current trends, however, the Millennium Development Goal target of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 will not be met.
DFID works with international partners to monitor global trends in progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and their associated targets. Latest United Nations reports suggest considerable regional variation in the rates of progress being made towards the under-five mortality target. Latin America is expected to meet the target, but there has been much slower progress in South Asia, and virtually no progress in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for over half of all under-five deaths.
DFID has put the achievement of the MDGs at the heart of its work, and is working with its partners to accelerate progress towards the MDG targets. The targets for both child and maternal mortality in Africa and Asia form part of DFID's Public Service Agreement. Supporting progress in sub- Saharan Africa is a particular priority for DFID.
An assessment of progress towards all of the MDGs is provided in the UN Secretary General's 2003 report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration: http://ods-dds- nv.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/NO3/481/ 57/PDF/NO348157. pdf?OpenElement.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if he will list the mortality rates of children under five for(a) girls and (b) boys in Asia in each of the last 10 years; [139540]
(2) what the mortality rates of children under five for (a) girls and (b) boys were in sub-Saharan Africa in each of the last 10 years. [139542]
§ Hilary BennEstimates for under-five mortality by region are published by the UN Statistics Division on the Millennium Development Goals database. This provides information for 1990 and 2000 but not for intervening years. A gender disaggregation is not available. Details are as follows:
Under-five mortality rates (deaths per 1,000 live births) 1990 2000 Sub-Saharan Africa 176 172 Eastern Asia 44 36 South-central Asia 125 95 South-eastern Asia 77 51 Western Asia 70 62 These figures were published in the report of the Secretary-General on the MDGs to the UN General Assembly in September 2003 and can be accessed via: http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/mi/pdf/ a_58_323e.pdf.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on child mortality in developing countries in(a) 1980, (b) 1990 and (c) 2000. [139622]
§ Hilary BennGlobally, child mortality was significantly reduced in the late twentieth century. The number of child deaths fell from over 13 million in 1980 to an estimated 10.8million in 2000. The following table gives the United Nations estimates of under-five944W mortality rates (the probability of a child dying before his or her fifth birthday expressed per 1,000 live births) over this period globally and in developing countries:
Under-five mortality: the world
Under-five mortality: developing regions
(a) 1980 117 132 (b) 1990 92 102 (c) 2000 82 90 While this decline in child deaths is encouraging, current progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 is too slow and uneven across regions. A significant challenge remains, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
DFID has put the achievement of the MDGs at the heart of its work, and is working with its partners to accelerate progress towards the MDG targets. The targets for both child and maternal mortality in Africa and Asia form part of DFID's Public Service Agreement.