IT would perhaps be embarrassing for Pakistan to sell ‘environmental sustainability,’ as the only achievable goal by 2015 to the United Nations, at a time when the international media is flashing images of death and destruction caused by the flash floods.

The 69th UN General Assembly session in New York (September 21-October 1) will monitor the progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and set the direction of global development efforts beyond 2015, when the 15-year targeted period expires.

The Planning Commission’s ‘Pakistan Millennium Development Goals Report 2013’ considers the progress on goal seven — sustainable development — on track. It has the mandate to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, which brings about a significant improvement in the lives of slum dwellers.

The report states that “Of the seven indicators, Pakistan is on track to achieve four: protecting areas for wildlife conservation (11.6pc against the target of 12pc), reducing sulphur content in high speed diesel, improving GDP per unit energy (measure of energy efficiency), and the access to safe drinking water (89pc against the target of 93pc).

However, it is lagging on access to sanitation (72pc against the target of 90pc) and forest cover (5.2pc against the 6pc target). Overall, with four out of seven indicators on track, Pakistan is likely to achieve MDG7 with continued efforts”.

As the countdown starts, the country’s progress on other development goals — which include eradication of extreme poverty, achieving universal education, realising gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating communicable diseases and forging an effective global partnership for development — has been assessed to be off-track.

Arguing that the MDGs did not get the attention it merited by the government and the society, a leading economist said, “We did not ever adopt it seriously. Development is not at the heart of Pakistan’s economic policy thrust”.

Talking about the recent floods, an expert in Lahore said, “It is not a bolt from the sky, as environmentalists have warned of emerging new weather cycles because of climate change. The government can’t blame the destruction on nature to absolve itself.

“The fact is that it did not pay heed to warnings. The nation paid dearly for their leaders’ misplaced priorities. Had the government diverted resources from big-ticket trophy projects to improving its preparedness for floods, the situation could have been different,” he said.

He was mocking the PC’s current report on MDGs, which counted many internal and external factors for the country’s laggard performance but failed to mention the lack of will on the part of successive governments.

Under the head ‘MDG status summary,’ the PC report reads: “Pakistan has adopted 16 targets and 41 indicators against which progress towards achieving the eight goals of the MDGs is measured. Time series data, available for 34 indicators, reveal that Pakistan is on track to achieve the targets on nine indicators, whereas progress on 25 indicators is off-track”.

“Pakistan, in collaboration with its peers, would like to play a more active role in determination of the post-2015 global development agenda at the UN assembly,” Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs — who is representing the country at the UN Annual Session 2014 — told Dawn over phone from Islamabad on Thursday.

Earlier on, the consultative exercise carried out in Pakistan identified peace and security, governance, equitable economic growth, inclusive social development, population growth, engaging expanding youth population in positive activities and gender equity as priority areas for future development agenda.

Sartaj Aziz, in his brief conversation, did not focus on the reasons for Pakistan’s weak performance on the MDGs, but elaborated on how he intends to ensure the country’s participation in the formulation of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Pakistan was among the first few to formulate the MDGs’ country-specific strategy, with clearly identified indicators and benchmarks.

“The actionable plan did qualify it to access funds to support poverty reduction programmes as donors made adjustments in their lending priorities after 2000. The review of the distance covered since the launch of the MDGs reveals that the plan might be necessary but not sufficient to ensure the realisation of the targets,” an insider in the Planning Commission commented.

However, more vigorous action is required to achieve the goals.

“There is some progress on the Millennium Development Goals, but the pace and the quality of the change leaves much to be desired,” Mr Aziz admitted when pressed.

“We are prone to natural disasters and are facing a heady combination of politico-economic challenges. Our focus at the UN will, therefore, be on stronger global partnership for development,” he said. PM Nawaz Sharif, he told this writer, is expected to join him in New York on the 24th. The official delegation this year is the smallest and comprises just three members, he added.

Despite its failings, Pakistan has not been bracketed with the 10 worst MDGs performers in a current UN report. The group includes India, China and Bangladesh, beside African countries.

“Perpetual inequalities, ineffective delivery of social services and utilities, weak accountability systems and weak implementation of pro-poor initiatives are bottlenecks, rendering development efforts futile,” commented an economist.

Most local businessmen and senior executives of foreign companies, anxiously awaiting the Islamabad sit-in to end, did not know much about the MDGs and saw it as something alien to their business interest. Abdul Aleem, the OICCI general secretary, told this scribe that his group was not engaged by the government on the MDGs.

Senior officials in the relevant ministries were also reluctant to speak on the subject.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, September 22nd, 2014