Malaysia Successes and Challenges in Achieving MDGs

 Malaysia has made substantial advancement toward achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to Tengku Mohd. Dzaraif, one of the Malaysian diplomats to the UN, “Malaysia’s successes in achieving MDGs are remarkable in aggregate terms”. However there are some key areas that need to be focused on such as maternal mortality, universal access to contraception, women participation in executive and government positions, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

For MDG 1 [Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger], Malaysia have been able to achieve the target to reduce the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day by halve, though, there is still huge income inequality between rural and urban population in the country. United Nations Development Programme and Malaysian Economic Planning Unit are currently working together to address this issue by locating and identifying the target group that need to be assist in the rural area. For MDG 2 [Achieve universal primary education]and MDG 3 [Promote gender equality and empower women], the net enrollment ratio in primary education is high (more than 95%) and the number of female outnumbers the number of male students enrolled in school and tertiary education. Nevertheless, the percentage of women in executive and government position remain low and further action by the government and private sectors need to be done to support women empowerment agenda. In terms of MDG 4 [Reduce child mortality], Malaysia has been able to reduce the child mortality rate by two thirds and currently it is on par with developed countries progress on child health issues.

MDG 5 [Improve maternal health]  is one of the troublesome issues in Malaysia developmental progress. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR), which is the main indicator for MDG 5, is a little bit alarming in Malaysia since traditional labor and delivery still widely practice in certain part of Malaysia.

In 2009, the MMR in Malaysia is around 28 per 100,000 births. It is relatively high compared with developed countries where the maternal mortality rate is around 6 per 100,000 births. Also, another MDG 5 target is to provide access to contraception and reproductive health. Malaysia’s contraceptive usage rate has declined 50% over the past 25 years, and this resulted in high cases of unplanned pregnancies and unwanted births, particularly for women with less education.

According to Mr Dzaraif, combating HIV/AIDS is the most problematic issues in Malaysia MDGs progress. The most prevalent spreading of HIV/AIDS is among active drug users and female sex workers. “It is unclear whether this goal can be achieved by 2015”, he adds. For MDG 7[Environmental sustainability], the government has implemented various key strategies and policy to ensure environmental sustainability. Furthermore, Malaysia has achieved the target to halve the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. In terms of MDG 8[Global partnerships for development] , Malaysia is on track to provide basic telecommunications infrastructure.  However, in rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak the penetration rate is poor. This creates a significant digital divide between urban and rural areas population group.

Clearly, the MDGs have become a guiding force for development strategies in Malaysia.  With only three more years to go for the deadline of MDGs, Malaysia is committed to help and encourage development in the country so that it can improve social and economic conditions of the world.