The country is almost certain to miss on the target of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, says a latest report disseminated by the Millennium Campaign of United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Of the major dismal pictures, the report notes the population of people living below a dollar a day stands well above 21 percent, income gap between different social clusters have widened, agricultural yields have gone down and the rise in food prices have exposed more people to hunger and health risks.
"Some 48 percent of children are malnourished and stunted, pushing Nepal as one of the countries with poorest children nourishment records," states the report.
The reports further adds that average life expectancy of Nepalis is lowest among all Asian countries, child malnutrition is among the highest and the country serious lags behind in raising the standard of social life of the people. “In general, the country is gradually progressing on all key economic and social indicators. But it is not enough to meet the targets," states the report.
The country, however, is doing well on the target of universal primary education, as instance of enrollment at primary level has increased to 90 percent from 64 percent of 1990. "The country is set to achieve this target," states the report, but cautions the government to concentrate on raising the quality of education and also plugging the dropout rate.
Nepal has also managed to halve below five child mortality rate (CMR), which is the fourth target of the MDGs. But as the existing child death rate is still high as compared to other countries in the region, the report has suggested the government to give special emphasis to cut infant mortality rate. Compared to mid 1990s, maternal mortality rate (MMR) has presently dropped by half to 281 per 100,000 live births. Drawing the government´s attention to the fact that only 20 percent of total deliveries are attended by the health workers, the report has suggested the government to improve the situation to post better performances on CMR and MMR.
Nepal is also progressing on the fronts like sanitation, access to drinking water, environmental conservation and the reduction of malaria and tuberculosis. However, poor tracking and reporting has left the country´s status on fight against HIV/AIDS unknown, even though the government has launched various programs for the rehabilitation of the victims.
Likewise, Nepal has also not received enough overseas assistance required to fulfill the MDGs.
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