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World leaders commence review of MDG at UN summit
Monday, 20 September 2010 00:02
By Kemo ChamLeaders from around the world have started arriving in New York for a UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit.
The 3 day summit, which commences Monday, precedes the annual UN General Assembly, which begins on Wednesday. Accordingly, during the MDGs Summit, world leaders are expected to review progress, identify gaps and recommit to a concrete action agenda to achieve MDGs
by the agreed deadline of 2015. 192 UN member states in the year 2000 subscribed to an agreement to combat poverty, hunger and disease. However, while a handful of countries have demonstrated remarkable progress, with only five years to the target date, many remain behind expectation.
A report, launched last Thursday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, points at a 26.1 billion-dollar funding gap in 2009, in an annual target of almost 150 billion dollars set in 2005 by rich countries.
The report, which centered on all eight goals, was done by an independent panel set up in 2007 to assess shortfalls of the global community in achieving the MDGs.
It recalled that at their Gleneagles meeting, the G8 pledged that by 2010 they would increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) by $50 billion and double aid to Africa by $25 billion.
It said the funding gap on commitments to Africa alone was over $16 billion.
``Though ODA is expected to rise to $126 billion in 2010, it will not be enough to meet the agreed target, meaning that the Gleneagles pledges are unlikely to be met by the end of this year when they are scheduled to expire,'' the report notes.
Mr Ban urged world leaders to fulfill their pledges to boost development and tackle economic problems.
On Friday, Mr Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Anan, lent his voice to increased global call for fulfillment of commitment towards effort of meeting the MDGs.
“The Millennium Development Goals,” he said, “have already improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but we are still far from achieving what we set out to do in 2000.”
He added, “Much more can be done to mobilize private and public sector resources for public goods and services, and to put investment in jobs and people at the heart of growth and development strategies.”
According to the former UN boss, several important donors have already scaled back on their commitments or relaxed their development efforts. He said the goals do not need “fair-weather friends”, but serious investors in for the long haul.
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