The departure of teachers and the resulting larger school classes pose a problem for Guyana to meet targets under the United Nations’ Millennium Goals set for achievement by 2015.

Guyana is the first country to have a report on the status of the goals.

However, the country and other developing countries need to undergo bold reforms in many areas in order to achieve the goals. Also many developed countries will have to facilitate the Third World with debt relief and equitable trade regimes.

United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Jan Sand Sorensen made these remarks at a press briefing on the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty observed yesterday. The government is to launch its report next Friday.

The UN lists the Millennium Goals as follows: the Eradication of Poverty and Hunger; the Achievement of Universal Primary Education; to Promote Gender Equality and Empowering Women; to Reduce Child Mortality; to Improve Maternal Health; to Combat HIV/AIDS and Other Diseases; to Ensure Environmental Sustainability; to Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

Denise De Souza of the UNDP said that the goals were predicated on the growth of the economy and the creation of jobs. “The report is asking for an awareness that the conditions are not right. This report is supposed to draw attention to what is happening.”