• Saturday, October 30, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Civil society leaders meeting in New York last week assessed the successes and failures of the U.N. MDG Summit (20-22 Sep.) and discussed what is required for a MDG Breakthrough Plan.

The MDGs Summit outcome document shows many aspirations but you cannot eat an aspiration, said Action Aid Chief Executive Joanna Kerr, at Wednesday's event organised by Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). For instance, it does not refer to children and women's rights that should be reflected in any outcome document on development.

Social justice also means gender justice, stressed Gemma Adaba, representing the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 'I am sad and disappointed about the summit,' said Roberto Bissio, of Social Watch. It only takes leaders to keep their promises to meet MDGs, Bissio said. 'We need equality, fair distribution of resources. It is not anymore about targeting the poorest, it is about universality and about a minimum notion of justice.'

Irungu Houghton, director of Oxfam's Pan African Programme, underscored that after ten years of promises since the Millennium Declaration, the decade coming up should be one of delivery and democratic development. Houghton stressed that this would be very difficult considering that some countries have even cut 60 percent of their development budgets because of the financial crisis.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement