Country Overview Sample Clauses

Country Overview. Papua New Guinea is the largest of the Pacific Island nations, both in terms of population, estimated at some 6.1 million, and in terms of land mass, covering approximately 460,000 square kilometers. Around 87 per cent of the population lives in rural areas of Papua New Guinea’s varied and rugged terrain that supports an extraordinary range of ecosystems and biodiversity, most of which are not accessible by road. The country has a rich and unique cultural and ethnic diversity, with some 800 languages spoken by a population distributed over the mainland and the many islands. The population is forecast to grow to more than 11 million by 2050. Currently 40 per cent of the population is under the age of 18. The country’s level of human development remains low and has, in some areas, deteriorated over the recent years. In 2006, Papua New Guinea’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranked at 139 out of the 177 countries and territories surveyed (Human Development Report 2006). The HDI, reflecting 2004 data, includes the following main indicators relating to Papua New Guinea: (i) Life expectancy at birth - 55.7 years; (ii) Adult literacy rate - 57.3 per cent (with combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools at 41 per cent); and (iii) GDP per capita - US$2,543. A large part of the rural population, and to a lesser extent, the urban population relies for their livelihoods on forest exploitation, fishing, hunting and subsistence agriculture. Weak infrastructure, weak social service delivery mechanisms, marketing difficulties as well as low government and civil society capacity reduce the possibilities of alternative livelihood solutions as well as access to (renewable) energy schemes. Progress toward the MDGs has been slow and, according to the 2004 MDG Report, Papua New Guinea is unlikely to achieve any of the seven goals (the 8th goal was not considered I the 2004 Report) and few of their targets by 2015. Furthermore, while the supporting environment was considered ‘potentially favorable’ for attainment of the goals of the Medium Term Development Strategy (MTDS), and ‘fair’ for the policy and legislative environment, it is rated as ‘fair’ to ‘weak’ for implementation capacity. The Report also considered data and monitoring capacity as being ‘fair’ to ‘weak’ for all seven MDGs, thus highlighting the considerable challenges for both achieving the goals and monitoring progress towards them, Hence the strengthening of monitoring systems has ...

Country Overview. The Republic of Senegal is located on the western coast of Africa. It is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea Bissau to the south. In 2012, the estimated population size is 13 million with nearly 3 million inhabitants in the capital city, Dakar. The Wolofs comprise 43% of the population, and are the largest ethnic group. Senegal’s economy is largely dependent on agriculture, fish processing, and a mining industry. Natural resources include phosphates, iron, ore, and fish. The country is also highly reliant on foreign aid. It is one of the world’s least developed countries with a GDP per capita as of 2011 of $1900 US dollars. In 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency estimated that 54% of the population lived below the poverty line. The official language is French, but Wolof is the most spoken indigenous language. More than 90% of the population is Muslim (1). Malaria, child mortality, maternal death and sexual diseases (including HIV/AIDS) are the major health concerns in Senegal. The estimated infant mortality rate is 55.16 per 1,000 live births while the maternal mortality rate is estimated at 410 per 100,000 live births. Life expectancy is about 60 years. The fertility rate is 4.69 children born/woman. Malnutrition remains a major public health issue. Almost 15% of the children are underweight (1). Seventy nine percent of 1-year-old children are vaccinated against measles. Senegal is classified as the 172th country when it comes to physician density (0.059 physicians/1,000 population) (1,2). Despite the country’s economy and insubstantial health profile, Senegal has maintained a low HIV prevalence while other sub-Saharan countries are facing the worst generalized epidemics in the world (3,4). At the end of 2009, 68% of the estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS were from sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV prevalence in that region was estimated at about 5% in the adult population (5). HIV prevalence in Senegal was estimated between 0.7% - 1.4% within the adult general population aged 15 to 49, at the end of 2007 (6). Nonetheless, high rates are generally recorded within specific population groups, considered as "most at risk populations" (MARPs). In Senegal, female sex workers (FSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) constitute the two highest risk groups. The prevalence among FSW observed varies between 19% and 29%, depending on the region (6). In Dakar, this prevalence was estimated to be 19.4% in 2002 (7). T...