Brussels - In a public debate titled ‘Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): the need for Urgent Action’, the World Bank discussed measures required for achieving the international agreed goals on fighting poverty with representatives from the European Commission, the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and civil society. Mr Zia Qureshi of the Bank and lead author of the World Bank/IMF 2005 Global Monitoring Report: Millennium Development Goals From Consensus to Momentum pointed out that progress thus far on achieving the MDGs has been slow and uneven. The Monitoring Report puts forward the following 5 point plan for accelerating progress to meet the Goals: - Anchor efforts to achieve the MDGs in country-led development strategies
- Improve the environment for stronger, private sector-led economic growth
- Scale up human development services
- Dismantle barriers to trade
- Substantially increase the level and effectiveness of aid
Increasing the level should involve doubling Official Development Assistance over the next five years to support the MDGs, particularly in low-income countries and Sub-Saharan Africa. Improving the quality of aid requires faster progress on alignment and harmonization, and delivery modalities that increase aid flexibility and predictability. Mr. Qureshi noted that the EU agreement to increase its aid was an important step in this direction. Elaborating on the EU’s plan to increase its aid, Mr. Bernard Petit, Director of Development Policy at the European Commission recalled the EU’s targets as follows
- the EU agrees to a new collective EU target of 0,56 % ODA/GNI by 2010. That would result in an additional annual 20 billion Euro of ODA by that time.
- EU Member States undertake to achieve the 0,7% ODA/GNI target by 2015 whilst those which have already achieved that target commit themselves to remain above that target. EU Member States which joined the EU after 2002 will strive to increase by 2015 their ODA/GNI to 0,33%.
As regards debt, the EU is willing to explore possibilities for mechanisms for temporary suspension of debt servicing for developing countries affected by exogenous shocks, and adopt specific debt relief measures for post-conflict countries with external arrears which, therefore, have not yet met the criteria of the HIPC initiative. Ms. Christiane Overcamp, representing the Catholic NGO network CIDSE and the civil society movement Global Call to Action against Poverty, in her presentation pointed out that beyond increasing levels of aid, development assistance has to be directed at countries in which poor people live. In 2001 the EU set a goal of transferring 0.2% of its members states’ GNI to LDCs. To date only 6 EU Member States had achieved this. Furthermore only Greece and the Czech Republic meet another EU target of spending 20% of ODA on basic social services. HE Ms. Evadne Coye Ambassador of Jamaica and Member of the ACP Troika also emphasised the need for donors to align and harmonize their assistance to developing countries guided by our PRSPs. She said more developing countries should follow the example of Mozambique in formalising an official structure to ensure coherence and effectiveness in the delivery of aid. Ms Coye also called on the Bank and other IFIs take on board advice from the UNAIDS 2004 report which criticises expenditure ceilings set by these institutions as slowing down or even preventing aid to LDCs in their battle against AIDS. For further related information, please click here. |
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