Nearly 100 Chinese and foreign participants gathered in Beijing on Thursday to discuss new methods of education and training in a bid to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

 

The conference, with the theme of promoting the role of education and training in attaining MDGs, drew representatives from the UN, non-government organizations (NGOs) from Asian, African and Latin American countries, and academics.

 

Addressing the conference, Wang Zhongyu, president of the China Economic and Social Council (CESC), said the MDGs embody the aspiration of the human beings towards a better life, and the common faith of promoting world peace, stability and realizing mutual benefits.

 

Only by uniting each other, can countries in the world build a harmonious society with sustained development and common prosperity, he said.

 

Wang, also vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed that countries take effective measures to strengthen the UN's role in promoting international cooperation on development, and make full use of the leading and coordinating role of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

 

He also suggested the establishment of a "fair," "reasonable" and "efficient" framework to evaluate the progress of attaining MDGs. Wang called for NGOs and educational circles of various countries to enhance cooperation.

 

Wang said it is crucial to jointly carry out training programs by higher institutions and NGOs. "Under the new circumstances, we need to find new ways and mechanisms to promote the attainment of MDGs," he said.

 

Many participants hold that the development of an education course is a strategic method to realize MDGs. They suggested the countries should adjust their education system and modernize training methods.

 

Initiated during the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, the MDGs include reducing by half the proportion of people suffering from poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, eliminating gender disparity, reducing child mortality by two thirds and maternal mortality by three quarters, halting and reversing the incidence of major diseases, and reducing by a half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2006)