MDG's Updates

 

The first Report on Millennium Development Goals (MDG’S) was elaborated in 2003. Through this report Romania set the following objectives:

1.       Reduce severe poverty

2.       Enhance the percent of children graduating primary education

3.       Promote gender equality and sustain women’s and youth’s employability

4.       Reduce children mortality

5.       Improve maternal health

6.       Combat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis

7.       Environmental sustainability

8.       Communications and informational society development

The Government of Romania considered that, after four years since the elaboration of the framework Report, there is the time to elaborate a Progress Report which should include an updated progress of the goals and prior public policies which are to be implemented during the following years.

2004-2007 has been characterized by favorable evolutions in more key development fields, namely:

                Reduction of severe poverty. The first report set as objective that severe poverty should be reduced by half by 2009, respectively from 10, 92 to 5, 4. Severe poverty percentage has declined to 4, 1% even since 2006, so that for 2009 a new target has been set: 3, 5%.

                Combat HIV/AIDS. After the framework report established that the incidence of HIV/AIDS should be maintained in 2007 at the level it reached in 2002, the measures that have been taken, led to a reduction of HIV/AIDS incidence from 1,5 cases for every 100.000 inhabitants to only 0,83 for every 100.000 inhabitants. As a result, the Government will act in order to achieve a new goal, that of maintaining HIV/AIDS’  incidence for 2015 at the low level recorded in 2006.

                Reduction of maternal mortality rate.  The objective set in the Framework Report, of reduction by half the maternal mortality rate between 2001 and 2009 was achieved even since 2005, year in which the incidence of mortality was of 17 maternal deaths every 100.000 alive newborns, compared to 34 cases in 2001; as a result, the new level that has been set is of 10 deaths for every 100.000 alive newborns for the year 2015.

                End the process of tuberculosis growing incidence.  In 2003, the Government assumed that in 2005 the growing incidence of tuberculosis should be stopped and starting with 2006 a regression of the phenomena should be obtained. As a result of the governmental policies, the incidence rate of deaths associated with tuberculosis was significantly reduced even since 2004-2006, when it dropped from 9,6% to 7,9%. As a result, a new target was formulated, namely the regression of tuberculosis incidence with 30% between 2006 and 2015.

For 2008-2015 there is the probability that in certain domains, according to last years’ evolutions, the formulated targets will be met on time.

The report shows also that, out of a total of 21 targets assumed in 2003, two of them registered less significant progress, namely:

                The share of forest (the 16^th target in the 2003 Report) stayed almost the same as in 2002 (27,0% in 2006 opposed to 26, 8% in 2002).

                Unemployment rate among youngsters (the third target in the 2003 Report) is still high (21, 7% in 2002 and 21, 0% in 2006).

Consequently, through this Report, for the eight objectives, the Government sets a number of 22 targets which will be monitored and evaluated using 23 synthetic indicators.

In order for Romania to continually register a significant poverty reduction, public policies will focus on population categories where its incidence is more pronounced, respectively on elderly and those living in rural areas. Taking into account that poverty has a direct impact on children’s health, an important target for the poverty objective is the significant reduction of the incidence of small height of children under five years old.

Even if Romania still registers a deficit in the height of children under five years, during the last years, the rate of children with growing deficit reduced dramatically, respectively from 20% in 2000 to less than 6% in 2005 (the standard for a population without growing deficit or without a systematic slowness of the growing pace involves a prevalence of small height of approximately 2, 3%.

Given the direct relation between the level of physical development and the nutritional status, the public policies focusing on mothers’ and children’s health will take effect in time. This is why the designated target is that in the beginning of 2015 the incidence of small height for children under five would reach the level of less than 5%. The priority in this field for the following period is, therefore, the reduction of existing gap between the prevalence of small height for children under five living in the urban area and rural area under 1, 5 %.

In the meanwhile, the implementation of the Strategic National Plan for Rural Development and the broadening of investments in rural infrastructure will secure an important diminishing of poverty for the population living in rural areas.

In this respect, the Report presents the annual progress of the assistance given to the farmers by the state, its harmony with CE mechanisms and also the organizational and institutional arrangements for the complete absorption of the European funds, of approximately 12 billion Euros.

The same focus on meeting substantial improvement in rural area is highlighted by the second objective, namely the enhancement of the percent of children attending and graduating compulsory education. In this case, the main target is that in the next 5 years the rate of graduating compulsory education by children in rural areas would reach at least 95%.

The percentage of graduating secondary is high, surpassing approximately 90%, but the disparity between rural and urban area is still very pronounced. The main issue within rural area is the success in taking the final examination by the graduates of secondary school.

Therefore, the target which represents a priority is the bridging of the existing gap between urban and rural areas concerning the values of indicators which characterize the attendance and graduation of compulsory education, and the rate of scholar abandon, the rate of covering compulsory education and the graduation rate.

Concerning the participation in compulsory education of Roma people, the government acts through numerous programs and projects developed annually, with funding from the national budget or from external funding, not only to support the access of Roma children to compulsory education, but also to develop a body of Roma professionals (teachers, coachers, inspectors).

In line with the general UN objective that development should be equally distributed in the society, the Government aims through the third objective to promote gender equality and sustain women’s and youngsters’ employment, even if in Romania the differences in occupation, incomes and living standards between men and women are not significant.

The smaller employment rate for women (53% to 64,7% for men) is not primarily the result of the lack of jobs or possibly inequalities in employment, but is related to the fact that women population has not the same participative behavior within labor market as men.

This feature is sustained by the fact that even if the employment rate among women is way under the one among men, the incidence of unemployment among women is low.  The BIM unemployment rate among women -which includes individuals who are personally looking for a job- was, between 2002-2006 with more that 1% under the one of men’s, the difference growing bigger, reaching 2% in 2006.

A priority in promoting the equality among men and women is represented by the prevention and fighting domestic violence. The number of domestic violence registered grew from 8.104 in 2004 to 9.372 in 2006 and the number of deaths, from 84 events to 151 events. According to the report, there is possible to cut by half the number of serious occurrences of violence and implicitly that of deaths caused by domestic violence by 2015. This would equal a number of maximum 30 deaths a year, resulted from domestic violence.

After 2004, when the monitoring process was improved, under the law number 217/2003, the number of declared incidents of domestic violence also grew. Even if, from a statistical point of view, the results would show that domestic violence has increased during 2004-2006, this evolution is due rather to a increase in the declarations of incidents and also due to the fact that population has begun to better address the qualified institutions.

In Romania, gender violence cuts through all social classes and is aimed at persons of different age and social condition. In this context, in 2005, the national Strategy in the domain of prevention and fighting the domestic violence phenomena was approved, including the measures of implementations plan for 2005-2007.

Giving the fact that the socio-economic development needs to be reflected in the growing of living standards, the objectives and policies of improvement of health play a very important role. The framework of this Report intends to:

-          Reduce children’s mortality

-          Improvement of maternal health

-          The reduction of the incidence of serious diseases: tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

The objective of reducing children’s mortality refers to the reduction of infant mortality as well as to the eradication of measles by 2010.

All public policies configured by the Minister of Public Health and sustained by the more significant resources allocated to this sector would make possible the reduction by 2015 of infant mortality, so that the number of deaths in children under one year old for every 1000 newborns drop to 10,3 incidents to 17,3 in 2002, respectively 13,9 incidents in 2006.

Out of the public policies with effects on infant mortality mentioned by the Report, those regarding the improvement of medical services offered to women, mothers and children and those of family planning play and will continue to play an important role.

The better health of children and also the already implemented policies, made possible for Romania to be able to assume in the case of measles, the same objective as the one the International Health Organization has assumed for the entire Europe, respectively that this disease would be eradicated by 2010.

The fifth objective aims at improving the maternal health. Even if the state of maternal health is not yet at the level of that in other European countries, the last years’ progresses showed that we are entitled to aim at the gaps recovery. Only during 2005-2006 the mortality maternal rate has dropped from 24 maternal deaths for every 100.000alive newborns to 15 maternal deaths. For comparison, in 2003, the target was to reduce to 17 maternal deaths in 2009.

The reduction of deaths at delivery is directly influenced by the improved access to services of reproductive health. In order to achieve an improved access to reproductive health, the National Programme of Family planning is in progress and also there has been an intensification of actions dedicated to young population in schools and rural areas.

In order to evaluate the health of reproduction as an indicator for the newly introduced target regarding the assurance of universal access at reproductive health services, there are four partial indicators which can contribute to a better focus of public policies that are a priority in this direction.

The incidence of HIV/AIDS (the number of annual cases discovered to the number of population) has dropped in Romania starting with 2004. In 2006, the situation of HIV/AIDS in Romania has not suffered dramatic changes regarding the level of incidence.  The epidemic’s level is small and there are no signs of concentration among vulnerable groups, despite the high rate of risk behavior identified among them. The number of new cases registered in 2006 was smaller than the one registered in 2002 and there are no signs that this descending tendency would change in the following years.

The target of maintaining the incidence of HIV/AIDS in 2015 at the level of that registered in 2006 can be reached, the more that the National Strategy HIV/AIDS for 2008-2013 focuses on this objective. Also, the enhancement of prevention programmes which focus on vulnerable groups, especially young people and already infected persons, will contribute to the maintenance and probably the reduction of HIV/AIDS.

Concerning the fight against tuberculosis, a drop by 30% is achievable by 2015. The morbidity and mortality due to tuberculosis have grown dramatically during the 90’s in Romania, having as a result notification rates of tuberculosis which, in 2004, were placing Romania on the second place in Europe and were ten times bigger that within EU. Starting with 2003, for the first time in the last 20 years, Romania began to record a decrease of tuberculosis incidence, so that in 2005 the incidence reach a level of 126, 4 new cases for every 100.000 inhabitants. This decrease is a sign that recent efforts had positive results. Among the favoring factors is the application at national level of the treatment under direct medical supervision, the use of standardized therapeutic schemes recommended by the OMS, as well as the existence of diverse financing sources for the programmes unwind in this field. The evolution of deaths rate associated to the tuberculosis is favorable, from 10, 7% to 7,9% in 2006.

The development of communications and informational society as well as the environmental endurance, which insure continuity and modernity of the development process, constitute targets of the last two objectives.

The priorities regarding the assurance of environmental endurance are the growth of the share of forest, of the percentage of natural protected areas, the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and the access to drink water sources from the public network.

Development of communications and informational society is evaluated and projected through the growth in the number of broad band Internet connections and in the number of PC’s. Public policies meant to assist people on ICT use can contribute to an annual growth of at least 10% of PC’s number and also to the assurance of information access through usage of new technologies for every citizen by 2015, no matter the living area.

The report presents for each target the perspectives of reaching the intended levels, possible risks or obstacles which could interfere or which have already interfered, as well as the factors which have a favorable impact.

In the presentation of priority public policies it’s been preferred the presentation of the most representative measures, which will have a significant impact in achieving the objectives.

RB/09.02.09