Sunyani (B/A), Nov. 14, GNA - Mr Ignatius Baffour 0wuah, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, has lauded the achievements of the government's Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) within its eight year term in office. He noted that it was part of the government's strategic measures to lead the country into a middle income status by the year 2015. Mr Baffour Awuah said this in a speech read for him by Mr Akwasi Annan Frimpong, Brong-Ahafo Regional Coordinator of NADMO at a regional youth dialogue in Sunyani, organized for youth groups and associations in the region. The dialogue was aimed at providing a platform for the Regional Coordinating Council and the youth associations to share knowledge and information on the government's implementation of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy and MDG's prospects for poverty reduction and wealth creation for the youth.

The Regional Minister noted that through the achievements of the MDG's, the proportion of children underweight, which was 25 per cent in 1999 had been reduced to 20 per cent and an increase in the net primary school education from 50 per cent to 82.8 per cent. On child mortality and improving maternal health, Mr Baffour Awuah said under-five child mortality had been reduced from 155 per 1,000 births to 100 per 1,000 births. Maternal mortality has also declined from 250 per 100,000 to 54 per 100,000 live births, adding that, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases have also been reduced significantly Mr Prosper Yaw Nkrumah, Senior Programme Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the GPRS acknowledged the causal link that exists between the state of the environment and poverty and "makes reference to the need for Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental audits to ensure that the economic growth arising from the GPRS is sustainable".

He said successive reviews of the document had however indicated that the strategy could be made much more sustainable by "giving greater weight to cross-cutting environmental issues, rather than treating environment as a separate topic or sector". Mr Nkrumah said about 50 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product was generated by exploiting the natural resources, but current methods of development led to resource depletion, land degradation, pollution of water and consequential ill-health. "These trends are damaging the country's economic future and adversely affecting the livelihoods and health of the poor and vulnerable", he stated. Mr Nkrumah appealed to teachers and heads of other institutions to help make the youth more environmentally alert and to develop positive attitudes, skills and motivation for active participation in helping to solve environmental problems. Mr Kobina Afena-Sam, Brong-Ahafo Regional Coordinator of the Youth Council advised the youth not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to engage in any activity that could disturb the nation's peace. 14 Nov. 08