Make Poverty History - News Release

Leaders have dashed hopes and squandered opportunities, and empty promises cost lives,” said Kumi Naidoo of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

Millions around the world have expressed disappointment and dismay at the result of the UN Summit.

“Instead of taking an historic opportunity to take clear steps in the fight against poverty and insecurity, for the large part, leaders have instead simply reiterated promises already made,” continued Kumi Naidoo.

At the Millennium Summit in 2000 leaders made ambitious promises to ‘spare no effort to free our fellow man, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected.’

Five years on the massive gap between promises and actual action remains. Global poverty levels have increased since 2000, as have inequality levels within and between countries. No amount of warm words will cover up the fact that the world leaders have failed the poor and turned a deaf ear to millions of campaigners.

What was needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and what was delivered?

	140 million campaigners demanded this action on poverty:	Leaders have agreed to deliver this action on poverty:
Accountability	Governments clearly account for their failure to progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, including the first goal due in 2005- getting girls into school.	Governments have manifestly failed to account for lack of progress in reaching the MDGs, including no recognition that the first education goal will not be met.
Aid	All developed countries meet their 35 year old promise made at the UN in 1970 to spend 0.7% of their income on aid.	No collective agreement on a timetable for when the 0.7% target will be met, instead an aspiration that rich country aid may reach 0.35% of their income by 2010. Half as much as they promised, forty years too late.
Debt	Every poor country that needs their debt cancelled in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals should receive it unconditionally.	A recycled G8 proposal to grant partial debt cancellation to just 18 countries.
Trade	That the current trade system must stop forcing poor countries to open their markets at any cost and guarantee their right to determine their own trade policies and development priorities.	Vague statements of principle that sell trade liberalisation as the only option and provide no guidance on how to achieve trade justice to enable countries to overcome poverty.

A bright spot in the summit outcome document is an agreement that governments have a collective ‘Responsibility to Protect’ citizens against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

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For more information:

Katia Gianneschi
Make Poverty History
(613) 241-7007 ext. 311
media@makepovertyhistory.ca

MAKE POVERTY HISTORY - 2005

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