NEW DELHI - Progress made in earlier years to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) in the fields of health, education, sanitation and women empowerment in India and South Asia was endangered by global economic and food crises, the United Nations said Tuesday.

“More than halfway to the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, major advances in the fight against poverty and hunger have begun to slow or even reverse as a result of the global economic and food crisis,” the UN’s MDG report said.

“The progress against extreme poverty in Southern Asia - slower than in most other regions of the world between 1990-2005 - is in danger of disappearing altogether under the pressure of global economic contraction and job loss,” the report unveiled.

Though South Asia has largely escaped the increase in hunger rates, the countries including India are lagging behind in providing desired level of drinking water and sanitation. “It is lagging behind in providing access to safe sanitation to its population, with 580 million people still without access,” the report said.

“The region will need to more than double the number of people currently using toilets, latrines or other forms of improved sanitation.”

The UN report, however, pats India’s effort to reduce poverty. “India has even made inroads against hunger in the face of rising prices.”

Despite gains in educating the girl child, South Asian women remain at a huge disadvantage in job opportunities. Only 19 percent of the paid jobs in the region, outside agricultural employment, are held by women.

Maternal health conditions too remain dismal both in India and neighbouring countries. South Asia accounts for one third of the global maternal deaths and it suffers the lowest level of antenatal care coverage.

“There are problems in India too but I can say that it’s growing but slowly,” WHO country representative to India S.J. Habayeb told IANS.