UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (UPI) -- The United Nations called on governments in East and Southeast Asia to do more to "reach the un-reached" poor.
The call came at the end of a two-day U.N. regional forum ending Friday in Hanoi. The countries were asked to provide improved schools and hospitals, as well as to protect the environment.
More than 100 people from 12 countries met to discuss barriers to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, a set of time-bound targets aimed at eliminating a host of social ills by 2015.
"I have no doubt in my mind that, together, we can not only achieve the MDGs in time, but also go beyond the targets," said Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Participants discussed obstacles to development in the areas of education, child and maternal health care, women's rights, forests and the environment, and financing and human capital needs.
Kim also laid out a UNESCAP, U.N. Development Program and Asian Development Bank initiative, a plan pinpointing significant areas that must be addressed immediately, which will assist in creating a strategic roadmap to meet the goals.
Working towards development goals "is a collective goal for all of us -- governments, international community, the private sector and civil society," said Ayumi Konishi, the ADB Country Director for Viet Nam.
A South Asia regional forum was held last October in Nepal, and a similar forum for Central Asia will be held later this year.
