Friday, September 10, 2010

Statement for next weeks MDG meeting leaked

The big United Nations meeting on the Millennium Development Goals is coming next week. President Obama and other world leaders will be attending to take stock of the progress of the Goals. One of the things these types of meetings always do is release a document or statement that everyone can agree on. That document was leaked to Reuters yesterday.

In the document expected to be ratified next week, the United Nations will collectively state that the MDGs are achievable by 2015. The set backs caused by the global recession did hurt progress, but the UN member nations believe they all can be met.

From Reuters, writer Louis Charbonneau unveils what is within the document.

The Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, including in the poorest countries, with renewed commitment, effective implementation, and intensified collective action by all (U.N.) member states and other relevant stakeholders," said the draft, which was obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

It says the economic and financial crisis represented a serious obstacle for the goals, which were agreed in 2000 and are aimed at halving poverty, slashing hunger, improving gender equality and improving access to health care and education.

"We are deeply concerned about the impact of the financial and economic crisis -- the worst since the Great Depression," the draft says. "It has reversed development gains in many developing countries and threatened to seriously undermine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

All 192 U.N. member states, as well as international blocs like the European Union, African Union and organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others are expected to participate in the three-day summit.
...

A spokesman for the international humanitarian aid organization Oxfam, Louis Belanger, complained that the draft document was thin on recommendations for specific actions or policy changes aimed at achieving the MDGs.

"Oxfam's main problem with this is that it's not action orientated," Belanger said. "There's little of the 'how' these commitments will be achieved."

No comments: