Top News

World leaders review UN poverty goals

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-21 13:10

UNITED NATIONS - World leaders pledged  on Monday to stick to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve global poverty and hunger by 2015, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged donors not to cut aid budgets as they focus on the economic recovery.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on reaching the MDGs:

"Despite the obstacles, despite the skepticism, despite the fast-approaching deadline of 2015, the Millennium Development Goals are achievable."

Angolan Secretary of State for External Relations Georges Rebelo Chikott:

"We are convinced that Africa has potential and once supported by the international community, it will be able to overcome challenges in order to enable the economic growth and sustainable development of the continent."

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Globalization, Financial Tax:

"In Greece, our recent experience has given us real insight into how one country's problems can ricochet around the world ... we have taken unprecedented steps to overcome our fiscal crisis. It is a painful process but we are making progress and delivering on our commitments -- and we will emerge stronger.

"We need to create new tools that will optimize the use of our resources, change financial incentives. A financial tax, carbon tax or green bonds could be used to fund education, healthcare, green infrastructure and technology in developing countries.

IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Poverty Setbacks:

"Because of the crisis, not only the financial crisis but also the food and fuel crisis, we have lost years of progress, and the momentum has been derailed. We must redouble our efforts in the face of this immense human suffering."

WTO Chief Pascal Lamy on Trade's Role in Fighting Poverty:

"Countries that have opened trade more than others have been growing and reducing poverty more than others."

"One of the purposes (of the World Trade Organization) in dealing with international trade is firstly, concluding the Doha round ... and secondly, doing this in a more development-friendly way."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Replenishing resources of the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria:

France said it will boost its annual contribution to the fund, currently at 300 million euros ($391 million), by 20 percent over the next three years for a total increase of 180 million euros.

"If all contributing States were to follow our example, decisive progress would be made toward eliminating malaria, which kills a million children in Africa each year.

"To put it bluntly, before the end of my speech, 30 children will have died of malaria on that continent," he added. "We can save them if we wish."

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero:

"We can't let the current economic and financial crisis become a pretext to shirk our responsibilities in future to developing countries in terms of fighting poverty and hunger.

"It's clear that to meet the goals, traditional aid isn't enough ... I want to express my support for the creation of a financial transactions tax."

Jordan's King Abdullah on call for peace as a condition to Tackle poverty:

"A burden faces development across our region: the lack of regional peace. When warfare and violence divert resources away from social needs and economic growth, economies and community life are undermined, and poverty and frustration grow."

Bhutan Prime Minister Jigme Thinley proposal on New MDG:

"Since happiness is the ultimate desire of every citizen it must be the purpose of development to create enabling conditions for happiness.

"As it is likely that the relevance of eight MDGs will remain beyond 2015, my delegation would like to propose that we include happiness as the ninth MDG."

Bolivia President Evo Morales on wealth distribution:

"We will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals if we don't put an end to this inequality and this unfair distribution, which is the main cause of our not being able to meet the (MDGs)."

Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet on impediments to tackling poverty:

"The unfortunate situation is deeply rooted in unfair international economic relations, where developing countries are forced into disadvantageous positions, and in defects in national development policies."

Meredith Alexander, head of policy at ActionAid, on meeting goals to halve number of people who go hungry:

"Today almost a billion people won't have enough to eat. Their chance of a better future rests on the UN summit that world leaders have come to New York to attend. If they can find the political will to act, they could throw a life line to the world's hungry, who with the right support can feed themselves.

"Hunger will contribute to the deaths of 100,000 mothers this year alone. The eyes of the world will be on New York to see if leaders will rise to the challenge and offer solutions equal to the size of this very real problem."