U.N. Chief Praises Development Outreach Centers For South-East Asia

Bangkok, Thailand (AHN) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed a proposal for outreach centers throughout South-East Asia to promote international targets to slash a raft of global ills by the year 2015, generally known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"The new centre, and its local and regional affiliates, will provide continuity for your initiatives," he said in a video address to a meeting on achieving the MDGs held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Praising the proposed centers, based at the Regional Center of Excellence at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, he added, "I hope that they will help step up the pace, and ensure that all South East Asia reaches the MGDs in full, and on time." In reaching the MDGs, he said South-East Asia has made progress in reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty and the number of children who die of preventable causes. It had also raised primary school enrolment.

However, he continued, progress is uneven, both between countries and across indicators. Income disparities have grown, too many young children are underweight and the environment is threatened.

Such initiatives as the current meeting and the Center for Excellence could help close the gaps, he said, by bringing together policymakers, experts and representatives of civil society to formulate fresh approaches to existing challenges and to broaden MDG awareness and outreach.