South Asia, with GNI per capita at $880 in 2007, is home to 43.4 percent of the world's poor living on less than $1.25 a day in 2005 prices. Since 1990 the region has experienced rapid GDP growth, averaging 5.4 percent a year, which has helped to reduce the consumption poverty rate substantially. The region has reduced its $1.25 a day poverty rate by about 12 percentage points from 52 percent in 1990 to 40 percent in 2005. This, however, was not sufficient to bring down the number of poor. Over the same period, the number of poor has increased by 16.4 million. Without a higher rate of poverty reduction, the region will not be able to halve its 1990 poverty rate by 2015.

Looking beyond consumption poverty, and at other indicators of social progress, the region had encouraging success in some areas. For example, mortality in children under-five was reduced substantially between 1990 and 2007 (from 125 per 1,000 to 78 per 1,000), especially in Bhutan (148 per 1,000 to 84 per 1,000), Bangladesh (151 per 1,000 to 61 per 1,000), Nepal (142 per 1,000 to 55 per 1,000), and Sri Lanka (32 per 1,000 to 20 per 1,000). Gains have also been achieved in school enrolments at primary and secondary levels.

At the same time, challenges remain in key areas such as child malnutrition, primary and secondary completion rates, maternal mortality, and gender balance in education and health outcomes. More than one third of all children under the age of five are malnourished in Bangladesh (39 percent), India (44 percent), and Nepal (39 percent), and youth illiteracy in the region is high -- 19 percent for males and 35 percent for females. Maternal mortality rates are high and the majority of births are not attended by skilled health staff. The resurgence of tuberculosis and the threat of HIV/AIDS are also causes for concern. In general, the quality of statistics on social MDGs indicators needs to be improved considerably to make cross-country comparison meaningful.

Half of the countries are unlikely to achieve 2015 target for access to improved water source, and majority will not achieve the target for access to sanitation. Only about one third of the region’s population has access to an improved sanitation facility.

Progress in MDGs at the average national level masks considerable sub-national variation measured at regional (state, province, district, and block) level. The average progress in MDGs is also marked by persistent social inequalities mapped on caste, region, tribal and ethnicity dimensions. This is true not just for large economies such as India with wide state-level and district-level disparities but also for smaller countries of the region such as Nepal and Bangladesh. Various rounds of state Human Development Report (HDRs) supported by UNDP for India, country-level MDG reports of the World Bank on India and Bangladesh, poverty assessments carried out by the Bank on Nepal and Sri Lanka have revealed hidden regional and social inequalities with respect to basic service delivery in the region.

Sustained growth will be necessary for poverty reduction, and concomitant improvement in institutional service delivery mechanisms will be essential for achieving progress in all other dimensions of the MDGs.

Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4. Reduce child mortality

Goal 5. Improve maternal health

Goal 6. Combat HIV / AIDS Malaria & other diseases

Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability