The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mission in China yesterday encouraged the nation to make more efforts to tackle challenges specified in its list of Millennium Development Goals. 

Despite widely praised achievements made in the past few years, China still faces tough challenges in checking the spread of HIV and AIDS, as well as protecting the environment and promoting equality between men and women.

This was according to Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in China. He made the comments when meeting with the press yesterday.

As a major outcome of the UN Millennium Summit in September, 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were set out to improve the lives of millions by outlining goals in eight aspects governments worldwide should have achieved by 2015.

The goals range from halving the number of people living in dire poverty to halting the spread of HIV and AIDS.

A UNDP global report last summer singled out China as demonstrating dramatic success in eradicating poverty. UN figures indicate that key economic and policy reforms in the world's largest developing country have brought the percentage of people living on less than US$1 a day from 33 percent in 1990 to 16 percent in 2000.

"China has made a lot of progress ... on many of the key goals," said Malik, particularly citing its achievements in reducing poverty, cutting child mortality rates and promoting primary education.

Meanwhile, the UNDP China mission is planning a campaign in the country to incorporate partners from the government, the private sector, the media and non-governmental organizations into a partnership for achieving these goals.

It has also come up with projects to help the country to further improve "in particular HIV/AIDS measures and environmental protection, where more still needs to be done.

Jia Lusheng, UNDP assistant resident representative in China in charge of the HIV/AIDS program, said that a project in Wenxi and Xiaxian counties in north China's Shanxi Province are helping individuals living with HIV, along with efforts nationwide to educate local officials about the afflictions. By giving these patients economic assistance through micro-financing, the project aims to "ensure their rights to making a living and restore their personal dignity," Jia said.

(China Daily January 15, 2004)