“亞洲經濟增長未解決饑餓問題”
一份最新報告顯示，亞太地區的快速經濟增長幫助減少了極度收入貧困，但在解決嬰兒死亡率和廣泛存在的饑餓方面收效較小。

The Asia-Pacific region’s rapid economic growth has helped cut extreme income poverty but has had less of an impact on addressing widespread hunger and infant mortality, according to a new report.

亞洲開發銀行(ADB)和聯合國(UN)機構昨日聯合發布的報告顯示，未來8年，亞太地區多數國家有望將貧困減少一半，實現全民教育以及教育方面的男女平等。

Most countries in the region are on track to reduce poverty by half, attain universal education and achieve gender parity in education in the next eight years, according to the report released yesterday by the Asian Development Bank and UN agencies.

亞太地區的貧困率為約17%，盡管這一數字高于拉美和加勒比地區，但由于經濟的快速增長，亞太國家在消除極度貧困方面取得了更大進展。報告稱：“按照每天1美元的標準，整個亞太地區有望實現這一目標，部分原因是許多國家快速的經濟增長，尤其是在近年的中國。”

Although the region’s poverty rate of about 17 per cent is higher than in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific countries are making much faster progress in eliminating extreme poverty thanks to rapid economic growth. “Based on the $1-a-day measure, the region as a whole is on track, due in part to rapid economic growth in many countries, most recently in China,” it said.

然而該報告還指出，在解決兒童死亡率和營養不良、改善母親健康狀況以及提供安全飲用水和衛生條件方面，亞太地區進展非常緩慢。

But the report also noted that the region was making very slow progress in addressing child mortality and nutrition, improving maternal health and providing safe drinking water and sanitation.

因此，除非獲得外部幫助，否則亞太地區最不發達國家可能無法實現聯合國的2015年千年發展目標(MDG)。

As a result the region’s least developed countries are likely to miss the United Nations’ millennium development goals for 2015 unless they get external help.

報告作者宣稱，減少饑餓“是該地區最大的失敗之一”，在5歲以下的兒童中，有28%體重不足。

Reducing hunger “is one of the region’s greatest failures” with 28 per cent ofunder-fives underweight, the authors of the report declared.

亞洲開發銀行貧困部門主管施拉迪提亞?賈德吉(Shiladitya Chatterjee)表示，亞太地區在減少貧困方面取得了快速進展，但在解決饑餓、兒童死亡率以及其它社會目標方面步伐緩慢，造成這種差異的部分原因可能在于基礎服務領域公共投資不足。

Shiladitya Chatterjee, head of the ADB’s poverty unit, said the disparity between rapid progress in poverty reduction and the slow pace in addressing hunger, infant mortality and other social goals could be partly explained by a lack of public investments in basic services.

他表示：“盡管由于經濟增長迅速，亞洲如今擁有更多的資源，但尚未按照應有的程度將這些資源轉化為有效的計劃，以提高教育水平和改善醫療狀況。”

He said: “While Asia now has more resources because of rapid growth, the translation of those resources into effective programmes to raise standards in education and health care access is not taking place as much as it should.”