ACHIEVEMENTS OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) IN SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL CORPORATIONS (SAARC) COUNTRIES: A CASE OF NEPAL

Abstract

South Asian Association of Regional Cooperative (SAARC) countries   have achieved considerable progress in socio-economic indicators like poverty reduction, educational attainment and improved health facilities. The progress, however, is not uniform across the countries. The aim of this paper is to assess the progress made by SAARC with regard to selected Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its achievement and gap in Nepal. The paper shows; i) Status of SAARC countries with respect to selected   MDGs, ii) Achievements of MDGs in the case of  Nepal and iii) the gaps to achieving the targets. The paper shows that the most SAARC countries including Nepal have performed poorly with MDGs. It is therefore concluded that there is need to prioritize to meet all goals in post MDGs for Nepal.