Govt. committed to achieve MDGs - PM

by Shanika Sriyananda

The country has not lost focus in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, as the government is committed to reduce poverty, improve health, promote peace, human rights and environmental sustainability by 2015.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake launching the on-line database of the Department of Census and Statistics - MDGInfo- assured the government's commitment in achieving the MDGs.

"Some of the challenges facing Sri Lanka in meeting its targets are disparities between rural and urban areas and lack of physical infrastructure to access remote communities", he said adding that the government has implemented several programs to reduce disparities.

Premier Wickramanayake said that the MDGs were a major undertaking and cannot be achieved by the government alone. "It needs the participation of civil society organisations and the private sector. We hope that we could build a strong partnership among civil societies and the private sector to achieve the MDG targets by 2015", he said.

He said the MDGInfo by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) was an important milestone for the country in its efforts to eradicate poverty level and improve the living conditions of the poor. The MDGInfo, the user-friendly web based database, can be accessed by all stakeholders.

It could be used as a tool in presenting the status and trends of MDG indicators for Sri Lanka. The database can be accessed through the website of the DCS: www.statistics.gov.lk.