Publication: Reaching the Millennium Development Goals : Mauritania Should Care
Date
2008-07
ISSN
Published
2008-07
Author(s)
Magnoli Bocchi, Alessandro
Pontara, Nicola
Fall, Khayar
Tejada, Catalina M.
Gallego Cuervo, Pablo
Abstract
Mauritania is a resource-rich developing
country. As many other African nations, it will not reach
most of the Millennium Development Goals, unless the
authorities commit to accelerating progress. To succeed by
2015, the government needs to: mobilize additional financial
resources, introduce policy changes at the sector level, and
strengthen the links between strategic objectives and the
budget. Adopting the Millennium Development Goals as the
overarching development framework will keep policy-makers
focused on concrete results and help them avoid the
so-called "natural resource curse." This paper
calculates the total cost of the Millennium Development
Goals and financing gap (on aggregate and for each goal);
recommends changes in domestic sector policies; and proposes
ways to integrate the Millennium Development Goals into the
budget process. Over 2008-2015, the total cost of reaching
the goals in Mauritania and the resulting financing gap
stand at, respectively, around 9 and 3 percent of non-oil
gross domestic product on average per year. Education is the
most expensive goal in absolute terms, but the individual
financing gaps are widest for poverty reduction and
improving maternal health. On the policy side, sector
strategies need to be aligned with the goals and resources
allocated more than proportionally to the disadvantaged
groups, mainly at the local level.
Citation
“Magnoli Bocchi, Alessandro; Pontara, Nicola; Fall, Khayar; Tejada, Catalina M.; Gallego Cuervo, Pablo. 2008. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals : Mauritania Should Care. Policy Research Working Paper No. 4674. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/7a1bf499-539f-59d1-aa2c-2158d4923b20 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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