AS Guyana prepares to launch its second status report on the Millennium Development Goals, the country is said to be making progress on its achievement and this could be correlated with national policies.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, said yesterday that, in terms of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty, Guyana has managed to get its poverty rate down to about 36 percent.

The launching will be held at the Guyana International Conference Centre, tomorrow, at 9:00hrs.

Speaking at his post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, Dr. Luncheon said, “…our estimation from the studies shows that 32 or 36 percent of the population is still labelled to be poor.”

Dr. Luncheon said the poverty report “from where I pulled this figure is from the most recent survey that was done I think in 2006.”

He noted that poverty is greater in the hinterland and in coastal riverine areas and least in coastal urban areas.

Dr. Luncheon said that the first report since the celebrated Millennium Conference of the UN in 2000 was tabled in 2007. “This second report (2011) chronicles the achievements made by Guyana in those eight areas since 2007,” he said.

“The latest report provides the most up-to-date information on Guyana’s handling and achievements under the eight MDGs.  Noteworthy is the correlation between the performances of the Guyana economy, the successes of the implementation of its social policies through the Jagdeo administration, and the actual achievements under the MDGs,” he said.

According to Dr. Luncheon, Guyana has already achieved the primary education goal, the food security, basic nutrition goal, the water sanitation goal, and the economic sustainability goal.

He said, “Many of this could be inferred by the proper reading of the mid-year report that shows the linkages between economic successes and policy implementation being evolved into the achievement of the MDGs.

“Noteworthy, the other remaining goals that are expected to be met by the year 2015, Guyana is poised to achieve those goals by that deadline,” the HPS said.