What is it all about? At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the nations of the world came together in hope for world peace and better life for all. At this summit they identified their priority: "to make globalization work for all the world's people." Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed to.
The implementation of the first goal should be dear to the hearts of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, i.e., Reducing to half the number of people in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Implementation of the MDGs: Secretary General Kofi Annan has given a report on the state of the implementation of the Millennium Goals in preparation for the General Assembly meeting at the UN in September 2005. With regard to the first goal, he writes: Freedom from want 25. The past 25 years have seen the most dramatic reduction in extreme poverty that the world has ever experienced. Spearheaded by progress in China and India , literally hundreds of millions of men, women and children all over the world have been able to escape the burdens of extreme impoverishment and begin to enjoy improved access to food, health care, education and housing. 26. Yet at the same time, dozens of countries have become poorer, devastating economic crises have thrown millions of families into poverty, and increasing inequality in large parts of the world means that the benefits of economic growth have not been evenly shared. Today, more than a billion people - one in every six human beings - still live on less than a dollar a day, lacking the means to stay alive in the face of chronic hunger, disease and environmental hazards. In other words, this is a poverty that kills. A single bite from a malaria-bearing mosquito is enough to end a child's life for want of a bed net or $1 treatment. A drought or pest that destroys a harvest turns subsistence into starvation. A world in which every year 11 million children die before their fifth birthday and three million people die of AIDS is not a world of larger freedom. For a full report, go to: www.un.org (Click on Text Version, Click on Secretary General) The Millennium Development Goals and the G8 countries Who are the G8 Countries and what do they do? At the initiative of the French President, eight of the industrialized countries came together in Paris in 1975. They are Japan, Germany, The United Kingdom, The United States, Italy, Canada, and the Russian Federation. The European Commission also meets with them. The G8 was established to face together the challenges of the day. Each year the Presidency rotates. The President calls the meeting and sets the agenda. The United Kingdom has the lead this year. G8 meeting July 6-8 in Scotland . The main themes for the G8 agenda in 2005 are Africa and climate change. Both are pressing issues for the world. Africa demands particular attention as the world's poorest continent. Climate change is happening and should be of concern for all. Holding the G8 Presidency gives the UK the chance to focus international attention on tackling these issues. www.G8.gov.uk Preparations for this meeting have also focused attention on Millennium Goal #1. In preparation for the Summit, Prime Minister Tony Blair of England has encouraged the formation of a debt reduction agreement, but President Bush of the USA has not agreed to the amount of reduction that Blair is pushing for. G8 Finance Ministers agreed on June 18 to write off the debt to these eight nations of eighteen of the poorest countries, but with firm conditions. The G8 hopes to implement the following: Launching the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, an agreed process for canceling the debt of the world's poorest countries. Action against money laundering (through the Financial Action Task Forces). The G8 led in setting up these regional task forces, which many other countries have now joined. They have produced specific recommendations to prevent criminals and terrorists financing their operations: www.G8gov.uk These issues fit very well with MDG # 1. ACTION: Urge your government to implement the MDGs and at this time especially those concerning MDG #1: halving Poverty by 2015. Ask your government what it has done to cut poverty in half by 2015. Please note: On this topic, see also in June SFP Voices "The Poor cannot Wait" by Sister Gabriella D'Agostino, SFP |