Accra: Wrapping up a three-day official visit to Ghana, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said Africa can meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if African countries adopt a breakthrough strategy to extend services to more people coupled with a combination of investment in agriculture, social protection, and job creation.

The UN Development chief met with Ghanaian officials, including President John Evans Atta Mills, and several Government Ministers. Throughout her discussions, Helen Clark praised Ghana's advances towards the MDGs, discussing the prospects for continued growth and development, and the nation's expected graduation to middle-income country status.

Citing Ghana's impending oil and gas exploitation, Helen Clark said, "Ghana has a great story to tell about how investing in agriculture drove down poverty, and there are many blessings to share: a successful democratic transition, the establishment of solid institutions, legal reforms, etc. We are prepared to help Ghana put a framework in place to ensure oil becomes part of those blessings, with robust planning and budgeting."

By 2006, Ghana became the first African country to have almost halved the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. The country has implemented several flagship programmes that helped to accelerate the country's MDG achievement - including a school feeding programme that covers over half a million pupils and a national youth employment programme employing an average of 100,000 youths annually.

Ghana also improved the delivery of public services, such as the police and the health care system, and it has increased the number of women in decision-making positions.

On the first day of her visit to Ghana, Helen Clark met with women leaders to discuss their contribution to Ghana's impressive progress towards women's empowerment and gender equality. The women leaders present at the meeting included the Minister for Trade and Industry, the Deputy Minister for Women and Children Affairs, the former Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization, the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and the Government Statistician.

Helen Clark lauded the "tremendous amount of activity on the legal framework for women," including the adoption of the Domestic Violence Legislation in 2007, a UNDP supported initiative, and the creation of a domestic violence victims support unit within local police departments. Clark added "the law can lead change, and examples abound in the world of legislation paving the way for profound social progress."

The African Moment

While on official visit to Ghana, Helen Clark was also able to attend UNDP's annual meeting with the UN Resident Coordinators in Africa, examining Africa's recent economic and development progress.

Speaking at the meeting opened by Ghana's Vice President John Mahama, Clark said that Africa's economic prospects are encouraging, citing the IMF's recent economic outlook projecting that Sub-Saharan Africa will be the second-fastest growing region in the world this year and next with double digit growth rates.

Clark said Africa is "an important contributor to the global economy. Africa is not part of the problem. Africa is part of the solution." She warned that while robust growth is required to meet the MDGs, growth must serve to create jobs and make investments that can benefit long-term human development.

"Halving the number of people living with extreme hunger is achievable, and so are our targets on education, but as we meet the basic benchmarks, we will also need to tackle the next generation of goals". The UNDP Administrator cited maternal mortality as an area of concern, and applauded the fact that the African Union Summit in Kampala later this month will feature it in its agenda.

Challenges remain

Over the past ten years, Africa has achieved significant economic and development gains, often spurred by a favorable global economic situation and relatively high growth rates but also stemming from sound macro-economic policies and improvements in governance. Although Africa remains the region with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty, poverty rates have dropped rapidly since 1990, hovering around an estimated 46 percent in 2008.

Despite progress in areas such as the fight against HIV/AIDS, primary education and the representation of women in parliament, Africa remains vulnerable to development setbacks. The global economic downturn, coming on the heels of the food and fuel crises, has slowed economic and social progress. Additionally, demographic pressure and climate change pose serious threats to the region's development prospects. Helen Clark and the participants at UNDP meeting examined intra-regional and intra-South trade, as a potential for increased development and economic stability in Africa.