Welcome to UNDP Saudi Arabia

Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: In Saudi Arabia, the percentage of families living under extreme poverty was 1.63% in 2005, and the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years of age increased from 5.1% in 2000 to 6.4% in 2004.

Achieve Universal Primary Education: With regards to the second goal, the net enrolment ratio in primary education in the Kingdom has significantly increased from 84.5% in 1990 to 92.8% in 2006; the percentage of pupils who start grade 1 and reach grade 5 has also increased from 74.5% in 1990 to 98.2% in 2006; and the literacy rate of 15-24 year olds has gone up remarkably from 85.9% in 1990 to 96.5 in 2006.

Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: As for promoting gender quality and empowering women in Saudi Arabia where girls' education only started in the 60s, the 2007 report indicates that the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education rose from 85.1 in 1990 to 95.4 in 2006; the ratio of literate women to men 15-24 year olds was 73.7 in 1990 and became 92.7 in 2006; and until the end of 1992 the rate of women's participation in the labor market was 5.4% increasing to 15.0% in 2006.

Reduce Child Mortality: With respect to the fourth goal on reducing child mortality rate, Saudi Arabia has witnessed great drops whereby its under-five mortality rate went from 44 per 1000 in 1990 to 21.7 per 1000 in 2006; its infant mortality rate declined from 34 per thousand live births in 1990 to 18.6 per thousand live births in 2006; and the proportion of 1year-old children immunized against measles grew from 88.2% in 1990 to 95.2% in 2006 and is expected to reach 98% in 2009.

Improve Maternal Health: Reducing maternal mortality rate is another goal that is close to being achieved by Saudi Arabia. The MDGs report of 2007 shows that maternal mortality rate used to be 48 per 100,000 live births in 1990 and has dropped to 14.6 per 100,000 live births in 2006. Moreover, the proportion of births attended by skilled health professionals increased from 88% in 1990 to 96% in 2005.

Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases: Regarding HIV/AIDS and Malaria, Saudi Arabia is taking serious measures to halt and reverse their spread; however the report indicates that the cumulative number of HIV/AIDS reported cases was 2658 cases in 2006. As for Malaria, its incidence has decreased substantially from 125 cases per 100,000 people in 1990 to 4.45 per 100,000 people in 2006 . The Kingdom is expected to be free of Malaria in 2015. Similarly, it has achieved remarkable success with Tuberculosis incidence falling from 11.5 cases per 100,000 population in 1995 to 10.8 in 2006.

Ensure Environmental Sustainability: In line with the MDGs commitment, the 8th national development plan (2005-2009) emphasized protection of the environment from pollution and conservation and development of wildlife, as well as conservation of natural resources and rationalization of their utilization. The MDGs report shows that the areas protected to maintain biological diversity to surface areas in Saudi Arabia increased from 3.3% in 1990 to 4.1% in 2006. The proportion of urban and rural population with sustainable access to safe drinking water increased from 94.2% in 1990 to 95.0 in 2006.

Develop a Global Partnership for Development: The Kingdom is a major partner in international development whereby aid provided by it to the developing countries totaled more than $87.0 billion over 1973-2006. The ratio of foreign aid to GDP was estimated at 6.0% in previous years and has averaged about 4% of GDP over the past decade. More than $6 billion of poor-country debts to the Kingdom have been cancelled.