Eight goals for 2015

1. LAOS AND KENYA Eight goals for 2015 By: Britten Ellis and Loretta Lepley

2. KEY: Laos is written in red Kenya is written in blue

3. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

4. Where our countries are at… • Poverty rate is at 45.5% • The proportion of stunted children aged 6-59 months declined from 36.9% in 1997 to 34.7% by 2006, while a similar decrease from 22.3% to 20.9% of underweight children was noted within the same period. • To sustain this progress there is need for Kenya to fast track interventions geared towards enhancing food availability through increased agricultural productivity so as to boost household access to food in sufficient quantity and quality as well as surplus for sale • Poverty rate is at 37.4%. The poverty rate has dropped nearly 40% since 1992 • The country’s economic growth has been beneficial and aided in decreasing the poverty rate • Remoteness, exclusion, and lack of education are some of the factors that a keeping the poverty rate from getting where it needs to be by 2015 • I think that Laos can reach the 2015 goal, but it is going to take quite a bit of work because getting out of poverty is hard and there is only a year left

5. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day • Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people • Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger • Increase the poverty rate in the rural areas by providing basic infrastructure and services in remote areas. • There needs to be full and productive employment in order to improve prospects and reduce poverty • Children need to go to school to gain skills so that in the future they will be able to get decent jobs and get out of poverty

6. Achieve Universal Primary Education

7. Where our countries are at… • Enrollment in both public and private schools increased by 2.3% • The gross enrollment rate (GER) rose from 109.8% in 2008 to 110% in the year 2009. • This is attributed to the introduction of the Free Primary Education which enabled children to begin schooling at the right school going age. • Enrollment, retention, completion and progression rates are a major challenge and a concern of the millennium goal on education. • The GER is at 121.8% and is continuing to rise • The drop out rates are really bad. The rate for primary school is 95.2% and the rate for secondary school is 45.8% • The efficiency of the education system is low and so there are lots of under-aged and over-aged pupils. • Financing for education is poorly distributed • I think that Laos will definitely reach the 2015 goal because they are already extremely close in some areas of education

8. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling • The Lao Government needs to fund and budget the education money better so that the teachers are regularly paid and paid in the right amount • There needs to be more secondary schools in the rural and remote areas so they won’t have to walk extremely far away anymore and it will encourage them to go and not drop out • Scholarships are being awarded to poor students in order to help them go to school

9. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

10. Where our countries are at… • The new constitution inaugurated in 2010 provides for 30% representation of women in all elected and public offices • The latest gender gap index report ranked Kenya women poorly compared to their counterparts in East Africa. Kenya ranked 72, behind Tanzania (46), Uganda (28) and Burundi (24) in a study of 135 countries globally • Throughout Kenya's history, women have been subjugated to consistent rights abuses while shouldering an overwhelming amount of responsibilities. • Currently, women in Kenya do the vast majority of agricultural work and produce/market the majority of food. Yet they earn only a fraction of the income generated and own a nominal percentage of assets. • Gender parity has improved in all 3 levels of education • Women in wage employment has increased 34% from 1990 • Lao has one of the highest proportions of women in national parliaments in the region • Women and me account for equal proportions of the total workforce, but are distributed unequally between different sectors • Laos is almost to the 2015 goal, but they aren’t quite there yet. They will probably reach the goal because they have been doing a lot to promote gender equality

11. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Offer vocational trainings, hold group therapy sessions, and cultivate various self-help groups that support the emotional and economic stability of households run by children, widows, and single parents. • Educate young women on their rights, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive health concerns through direct school visits and participatory educational theater. • Aid the development of microenterprises by offering basic business skills workshops and helping to cultivate lending and savings programs for potential borrowers. • Train female students to be peer educators at their schools and within their communities to disseminate information about rights, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and other social/health issues. • Provide counseling, nursing, and activities (such as craft and art making) at a hospice for elderly and infirmed nuns who have dedicated their lives to serving the local community and have few resources or family to support themselves. • The country has enacted or revised some laws and policies to guarantee women’s rights such as the Law on Development and Protection of Women and these are helping to improve gender equality • Women need attend school regularly so that they can get a good education because without it they won’t be able to get as good of jobs as the men and gender equality can’t improve

12. Reduce Child Mortality

13. Where our countries are at… • Existing data reveals that in the 1990s, infant and childhood mortality declined rapidly in Kenya as a result of various global initiatives to improve child health. • the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) improved to 52 from 77 per 1000 live births and the Under Five Mortality Rate improving to 74 from 115 per 1000 live births. • There has been a significant decline in infant and under-five mortality rates. So much that Laos has achieved the previously set national MDG target for under-five mortality rate • An increasing number of children have access to high-impact survival interventions known to be effective in reducing child deaths and diseases • Laos has already met the 2015 goal so it happened

14. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • To accelerate the achievement of MDG 4, the Government launched a Child Survival and development Strategy that is budgeted in 2009 as an effort to accelerate child survival and provide a framework to improve indicators for children. • Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five • The Malezi Bora Strategy initiated in 2007 has provided a comprehensive package of services that includes child immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, de-worming of under fives and pregnant women, treatment of childhood illnesses, HIV Counseling & Testing, ITNs use in Malaria prevention and improved ANC & FP Services • They need to reach the poorer areas of Laos with health and other services • Implement high impact low-cost interventions could reduce child deaths • There are out-of-pocket payments that leave a heavy burden on the poor people. It gets them in worse poverty, and so the government needs to increase domestic funding

15. Improve Maternal Health

16. Where our countries are at… • Maternal mortality in Kenya has remained unacceptably high at 488 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births • Most maternal deaths are due to causes directly related to pregnancy and childbirth unsafe abortion and obstetric complications • The contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods among married women increased from 32% to 39% between 2003 and 2008 • The adolescent birth rate reduced from 114 per 1,000 women to 103 per 1,000 women between 2003 and 2008/09. • Laos has one of the highest maternal mortality ratio too. There a 357 deaths per 100,000 live births • The high mortality rate has to do with the poverty, poor maternal health, and a high rate of home births • To be honest, I sadly think that Laos won’t be able to reach the 2015 goal because they are way behind and it would take a miracle to get to where they need to be

17. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • The Government has prepared the Contraceptive Security Strategy 2007-2012 with the aim of ensuring uninterrupted and affordable supply of contraceptives. • More rural women are receiving skilled assistance during delivery, reducing long-standing disparities between urban and rural areas. • Laos is increasing trained health personnel to assist births • The Prime Minister has issued a Decree on free delivery and free health care for all children under the age of 5 • The health workforce capacity needs to be strengthened because the existing staff are low level and mainly in urban areas

18. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases

19. Where our countries are at… • One out of every eight adults in rural Kenya and almost one out of every five adults in urban areas are infected with HIV. • There have been higher infection rates among married couples bringing a new challenge • The HIV prevalence is 6.3% for women and men aged 15-49, compared with 6.7% in the 2003 KDHS and 7.4% in the 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey • Current HIV prevalence is low, but the number of new HIV cases has steadily increased at an estimated rate of 3 new infections a day • For malaria, Laos has almost achieved the 2015 goal. Nearly all children with confirmed malaria were treated • There is a problem with tuberculosis, but has been steadily declining over the years. The detection and cure rates have surpassed the earlier targets set for 2015 • I’m not quite sure whether or not Laos will meet the 2015 goal even though they aren’t as bad as Kenya

20. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Provide human and financial resources to rural medical clinics that supply primary care, family planning, counseling, and voluntary testing. • Conduct home visits for HIV-positive clients, supplying them with antiretroviral medications, general care, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission services during deliveries. • Promote HIV/AIDS awareness and education in rural communities through various outreach programs. • Provide home visits that offer holistic, psychosocial services to people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, and those suffering from chronic illnesses. Counseling, education, sensitization, and general medical assistance are also offered to these populations. • Support a 24 hour-hospital that makes use of an operating theater, an intensive care unit, a variety of inpatient and outpatient services and wards, a lab with an X-ray machine, pediatric services, and an on-site nursery school. Volunteers and interns supply treatment, counseling, research, outreach, and/or administrative duties, depending upon experience. • Provide health education and counseling to members of microfinance groups to ensure the stability of their microenterprises through proper health practices for themselves and their families. • Train community members who do not have access to conventional medicines on the use of local herbs to alleviate symptoms of HIV/AIDS. The program also provides home-based care, income-generating activities, group support sessions, and other activities for people living with HIV/AIDS. • Ensure universal access to quality tuberculosis control services for all types of it • Build on the momentum created by the health reforms and secure access to treatment for all people

21. Ensure Environmental Sustainability

22. Where our countries are at… • Between 1990 and 2005 the proportion of forested land in sub-Saharan Africa dropped by 3% from 29% to 26% • The environment is an increasingly important issue in Kenya as those living below the poverty line directly and heavily rely on agriculture for sustenance. • With only 8 percent of the land capable of being cultivated for crops and 75 percent of the Kenyan workforce engaged in agriculture, Kenyan farmers face growing problems of soil erosion, deforestation, water pollution, and desertification. • Forest cover in 2012 was at an estimated 40% of the area of the country, but since then the forest cover has declined • There are some main contributors to deforestation; agricultural expansion, hydropower, mining, infrastructure and urban expansion • Laos has increased their access to safe drinking water, but still need to progress in order to achieve the 2015 target • Illegal logging and harvesting at a rate greater than recovery • Laos is quite a bit away from the 2015 goal and I don’t think they will make with the amount of time that is left

23. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Protect the Kakamega forest, Kenya's only mid-altitude rainforest and home to rare species of birds, reptiles, insects, and monkeys. Initiatives involve educating farmers to co-exist with the forest and offering lessons to local schools on ecology, agroforestry, beekeeping, and/or horticulture. Students are often taken on nature walks through the forest so they can experientially understand their environment. • Research various environmental issues and solutions significant to marginalized communities such as the effective removal of genetically modified organisms and the cultivation of alternative recycling methods that may be integrated with existing systems. • Teach community members to cultivate organic gardens at their homes to ensure proper nutrition for their families. • Research and develop methods for rural communities to access clean water and manage waste disposal. • Sustainable forest management plans are being promoted which is helping immensely. The government has also committed to bringing all 51 Production Forest Areas to sustainable forest management plans • The communities and districts that have a high stake in protecting ecologically fragile areas need to be empowered to to play an active role in safeguarding the environment and benefit from it

24. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

25. Where our countries are at • Trade has increasingly become the cornerstone of the Kenya's economic development in the 21st century • Kenya's trade share of GDP in 2007 stood at about 55.4%. • In 2007, services accounted for about 60% of Kenya's GDP with leading contributors being Transport and communication, postal and telecommunications, and wholesale and retail trade. • The export-import cover ratio declined from 45.4% in 2007 to 44.8% in 2008 showing that imports are increasing more rapidly than exports • Kenya's exports are mainly primary products from the agriculture sector • A year ago Laos became a member of the World Trade Organization. • 99.9% of agricultural products, 85.7% of clothing, and 89.7% of textiles from Laos were admitted into developed market economies free of duty • There has been improvement in access to information communication technologies. Expansion of internet access has been rapid; 51% annually, up to 9% of the population in 2011 • Trade needs to mainstreamed further into the national development plans • There external debt, but it is because of viable large projects which are expected to generate high economic returns upon completion • Even though Laos is doing a whole lot better than they were years ago, they are still a ways from reaching the 2015 and unfortunately I don’t think they will get it

26. What our countries need to do in order to reach the goal… • Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system • Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing States • In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications • The government is making improvements to facilitate the movement of goods into and out of the country • Lower the costs for import to and export from Laos • The government is also trying to enhance the overall business-enabling environment

27. Sources Cited http://allafrica.com/stories/201211010116.html http://www.fsdinternational.org/country/kenya/weissues http://www.ke.undp.org/content/kenya/en/home/mdgoverview/ http://www.us.undp.org/content/dam/laopdr/docs/Reports%20and%20publications/2013/MDGR_2013.pdf