Although Pakistan has made significant strides in meeting many of the Millennium Development Goals, progress toward achieving three key targets — eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, achieving universal primary education, and improving maternal health — has been problematic.
Pakistan — where one-fifth of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day and home to 5 percent of stunted children in the world — currently ranks 146 out of 186 countries in the 2013 Human Development Index. More than 5 million children are out of school, and gender disparity among enrolled students remains high, according to UNESCO’s 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report. In addition, the South Asian country is not expected to meet its adult literacy target by 2015. And as of 2010, the country’s maternal mortality ratio was 260 out of 100,000 live births.
