Voice of China

Anti-poverty meet winds up on optimistic note

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-24 09:30

UNITED NATIONS - The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York wound up on Wednesday with nearly as many solutions proposed for success as reasons for not closing in on objectives two-thirds of the way to 2015.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said one thing obvious to him was "commitment".

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"The outcome document highlights decent work and green growth, nutrition and smallholder farming, inclusive financial service, women's health and empowerment - all the key issues," he said.

"We saw resolve backed by resources, major concrete commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals," he continued.

Ban was optimistic that the eight international development targets set 10 years ago would be reached by the 2015 deadline.

Despite what he saw as a time when "tolerance is being tested", he said world leaders sent a message that highlights our common humanity, our common obligations and our common future.

Ban also said despite the tough economic times most of the world was in, "we have said that the crisis is no excuse for letting up our efforts. It underscores the need for action".

Premier Wen Jiabao said Africa stood out above all others for needing help in meeting the goals. It is there the international community should prioritize development and poverty alleviation in the coming five years.

United States President Barack Obama announced during his turn at the podium a new Global Development Policy, which he referred to as the first ever established by the White House.

"It outlines our new approach and the new thinking that will guide our overall development efforts ... Put simply, the United States is changing the way we do business," said Obama.

The US president said progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders.

Global development is not a mere charity and it serves the US interests, said Obama, adding that it is not only a moral imperative but a strategic and economic imperative. The administration has expressed in the past its intention to add development to diplomacy and defense as the three core pillars of American power.

"For too long, we've measured our efforts by the dollars we spent and the food and medicines we delivered. But aid alone is not development," he said. "Instead of just managing poverty, we have to offer nations and people a path out of poverty."

Nick Klegg, British deputy prime minister, said his country will continue to donate the promised sums of official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries despite domestically difficult economic times.

"We understand that while we are experiencing hardship on our own shores, it does not compare to the abject pain and destitution of others," he said. His new coalition government will "enshrine in law" a pledge to donate 0.7 percent of Britain's gross national income (GNI) from 2013 forward to aid.

Klegg acknowledged that Britain's reasons for issuing development aid were "not simply charity, nor are they altruism".

The world's rich countries agreed to give 0.7 percent of their gross national income as official international development aid annually. However, only five European countries, including Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark, have carried out their pledges.

"When the world is prosperous, the UK (United Kingdom) will be more prosperous," Klegg said. "Growth in the developing world means new partners with which to trade and new sources of global growth."

Xinhua