A report entitled Promoting the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting the Challenges of Poverty Reduction was first released in June 2003. It reviews the progress and challenges faced by Asia Pacific countries in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed to by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2000.

Definition of "poverty line":An income level that is considered minimumly sufficient to sustain a family in terms of food, housing, clothing, medical needs, and so on. (Jae K. Shim, Joel G. Siegel. Dictionary of Economics. Business Dictionary Series. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1995. )

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) As agreed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council:The General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy, decides on the countries to be included in the list of the least developed countries.

List of least developed countries: Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, D. R. of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, U.R. of Tanzania, Zambia; Asia and the Pacific: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Yemen; Latin America and the Caribbean: Haiti. (United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS))

Millennium indicators data providers and sources Click on a listed source to view source information and data series list.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), FAOSTAT
FAO, Food Insecurity in the World(annual)
International Labour Organisation (ILO), Key Labour Market Indicators 2001-2002
ILO, Labour Statistics Yearbook Database (LABORSTA)
International Monetary Fund (MF), HIPC decision and completion point documents
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
OECD, Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries (annual)
OECD, Development Assistance Database
UN/DESA/Population Division, World Population Monitoring 2002 (ESA/P/WP.171, Preliminary)
UNAIDS, Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic (biennial)
UNCTAD-World Trade Organization
UNEP, Ozone Secretariat, Ozone Depleting Substances (1999)
UNEP-WCMC Protected Areas Database
UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook (1999)
UNFCCC-Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (USA)
UNICEF, The State of the World's Children (annual)
UNICEF-UNAIDS-WHO, Young People and HIV/AIDS
United Nations HABITAT Urban Indicators Programme
World Health Organization (WHO), World Health Report (annual)
WHO, Action Programme on Essential Drugs (1998)
WHO, Communicable Diseases
WHO, Health Statistics Annual
WHO, Tuberculosis Country Information
WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA (1996, 2001, 2003)
WHO-Roll Back Malaria (weekly)
WHO-UNICEF Water Supply and Sanitation Council (2000)
World Bank, Indicators of Finance
World Bank, World Development Indicators (annual)