Millennium Development Goals Republic of Mauritius 03 March 2006

GOAL 1 ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY   As at 2002, less than 1% of the population live below than $1 per day Relative pocket of poverty exist in some sub-urban and coastal region  Estimated at 12.4% of the population is estimated as relatively poor based on the Median Household Expenditure

GOAL 1 ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY  Government has set up a Trust Find for Social Integration for Vulnerable Groups   No of Target people : 95,000 (over 4 years) Fund: Rs 365Mn (USD 120 Mn)

Category of Malnutrition

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1995 2002 Stunting (Low Height to Age) Underweight (Low Weight for Age) Wasting (Low weight for Height)

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Education   Primary Education is free and compulsory in Mauritius Retention rate at the end of primary education is around 98% because of automatic promotion

Government Commitment    To improve the quality of education Has taken the initiative to provide special education need Pay special attention to Low Achieving School by  Provide an additional hour of teaching per day  Educational social workers visit families in case of persistent absenteeism

 Government also ensure that all children:   Who do not complete primary education are given special training to meet future economic needs of the country Who do not complete secondary schooling are given special training

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women   Two important policy marked the milestones in making gender parity a reality:   In 1977- the provision of free secondary and tertiary education In 1991 – Compulsory education for both and girls Gender parity stands at 1

Women Empowerment   Government in 1999 set up the National Women Entrepreneur Council to foster the development and economic growth for women entrepreneur.

It provides the right framework, a conducive business environment and a package of incentives to enhance enterprise competitiveness and promote economic independence of women

Representation of women in parliament   In the SADC region Mauritius remain one of the countries with the lowest representation in National Assembly.

However considerable has been made

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1991 2000 % Represe ntation

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality  The Infant mortality has reduced through the target set by the National Programme of Action for the Survival, Development and protection of Children

25 20 15 10 5 0 1990 Under 5 Mortality 2015

Goal 5:Improve Maternal Health  The Maternal Mortality rate is reduced significantly and the target to reduce by three quarters by 2015 will be reached

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0 1990 2000 2015 MMR

Attainment of the Goal 5    Past investment in health have been an important factor in reducing maternal mortality The provision of maternity care through an extended network of Community Health Centres The Adoption of a primary health Care Strategy

Goals 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases  The prevalence of HIV /Aids is increasing rapidly because there is a change of prevalence of the disease- previously by Commercial sex worker now by injecting drug user

1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1990 2001 2004 Cummu lative No of HIV

Government Intervention for HIV/AIDS  The National AIDS Committee gives guidance on policy formulation to prevent new HIV infections and to continue caring and support people affected by the disease

Other Diseases  Tuberculosis   The incidence of Tuberculosis has remain fairly stable between 1990 to 2005 with an average rate of 12.1 per 100,0000.

Death rate due to Tuberculosis over the same period has declined from 2.4 to 1.2 %

Malaria Mauritius has eradicated malaria through sustained set of measures namely:  Population sensitization through media   Control of potential breeding grounds Strict testing of returning residents from malaria zones

Ongoing Measures for Malaria     Encouraging the population to eliminate opportunities for mosquito breeding Performing house to house visit by surveillance officers in high risks regions Undertaking surveillance of all passengers originating or have transited through malarial countries Encouraging diagnosis of suspected malaria cases by doctors in the private sector

Other Diseases  However the cause of concern for Mauritius is more for Non-Communable Diseases as it is a greater cause of death than Malaria and Tuberculosis

Goal 7: Ensure Enviromental Sustainability  The Second National Environmental Strategies (NES2) 2000-2010 provide for the protection and the preservation of the environment and deal with the effect of economic growth on the environment

NES 2 aims at    Controlling the level of pollution in the country namely air, noise and water pollution Promote the use of clean technology by business community Sensitize and educate the public in general to be more environmentally friendly

Proportion of Land Covered by forest

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1990 1995 2000 2004 % Land covered

Land area protected to maintain biological diversity  Area under protected about 7.5 % of the total area as at 2004 which constitute of national reserve, mountain reserve and research reserve

Carbon Dioxide Emission  Carbon dioxide per ton per capita has increased slightly partly due to the increase on the number of vehicle on the roads

2 1.5

1 0.5

0 1990 1995 2000 2004 Co2 Emmission

Proportion of people with access with improved sanitation

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1990 2000 2004 % with Flush Toilet

Percentage distribution of Housing units by tenure Owner Tenant Sub Tenant Free Other Total 1990 Number % 179,700 76.0

35,100 14.8

900 0.4

20,700 200 8.7

0.1

236,600 100 2000 Number % 257,700 86.5

27,800 9.3

0 0 12,300 0 4.1

0 297,800 100

Government Measures  The Government realize that there is a pressing need to provide housing for the low-income groups and the homeless and address the problem of squatters.

Initiatives of the Government   The construction of houses on a large scale for the very low income group and the homeless and The provision of fully serviced sites to very low income households who prefer to build their own houses.

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development   The Vulnerability of Small islands to external shocks may jeopardize the long term economic development. SIDS Conference 2005 has provided some initiative in the form of capacity building among SIDS.

Mauritius has a sustainable level of external debt with a debt service ratio of about 9.0% in 1995/1996 down to 6.4% in 2004

Unemployment   Unemployment is still a matter of concern for Mauritius.

As at 1990 the rate of unemployment for the age group 15-24 was 14 % and in 2000 the rate is 25%

Some Cross Cutting Issues         Government is investing massively in Waste Water Management. An amount of USD 100 Mn is being invested in that sector Energy Saving Campaign- Mass sensitization campaign on energy saving is being carried out An Amount of USD 95 Mn will be spent in the next three years to reduce water losses, to guarantee the quality of drinking water and to improve delivery and efficiency An Amount of USD 3.5 Mn will be spent on e-government Project and USD 1 Mn on School IT Project The Development Bank of Mauritius will set up and emerging entrepreneur loan scheme in the fight of long term unemployment Government is investing massively in Training Schemes Some 200 housing unit will be constructed over the next year and government will provide site infrastructure An amount of USD 1 Mn to National Agency for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Substance Abuse (NATReSA) (HIV/AIDS, alcoholism)

Mauritius  Far From being a reason for self congratulation and complacency, these achievements set challenges for the achievement of Human development that are correlate with the country’s level of development and ambition for reaching higher

Participants : Mr D Bahadoor, Ms N Nayeck Ramloll Ms R Goolamamode Mr R Alcindor Thank you