DFID reaffirm commitment to ending poverty
Next week leaders from around the globe will meet in New York for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit. The actions they take over these three days could hold the key to creating a stable, successful future for
however millions of the world’s poorest people.
The MDGs were agreed 10 years ago with a palpable sense of urgency. Something needed to be done to save the lives of mothers dying needlessly in childbirth, to get the millions of children missing out on an education into school, to fight the spread of killer diseases and first and foremost to halve the number of people living in poverty across the world.
Those leaders, a decade ago, set themselves a deadline of 2015 to achieve the goals. So with the clock ticking down to 2015, now is the time to take stock, review progress and press hard on the accelerator pedal to speed up in the areas which need the most urgent attention.
The Summit takes place in the tailwind of the global financial meltdown. In this difficult economic climate the temptation is for nations to pull back from the international commitments they have made. It is a temptation that the UK government is determined to resist. The new coalition government has been clear – we will keep the promises made to the world’s poorest people, and maintain our commitment to reducing poverty around the world.
