LAST week鈥檚 UN summit of world leaders was widely portrayed as a failure for not making progress on reform of the UN and nuclear non-proliferation. But the leaders 鈥� and especially their delegates, who did the heavy lifting 鈥� can at least feel good about finally getting everyone behind the drive to help the world鈥檚 poorest nations.
What happened last week may not look like much: the UN鈥檚 member states reaffirmed their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (see 鈥淲ill we meet our pledge to end world poverty?鈥�) and encouraged rich nations to meet their pledges to increase international development aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP. But behind the lukewarm public statements lie some encouraging hints. For the first time, President George Bush explicitly committed the US to the goals. Another first is that nations have promised, by the end of next year, to draw up specific plans to meet those goals by 2015.
Does this mean the world is finally getting serious about development? Only if rich nations follow through with the money. Few countries yet come close to the 0.7 per cent target, and the world鈥檚 wealthiest nation, the US, is now one of the most miserly donors at barely a quarter of that level. Hitting the 0.7 per cent target would be a welcome first step.
Advertisement