Millennium Development Goals Get New Monetary Pledges At UN Summit

Global leaders met at the United Nations headquarters in New York to push for more financing and political engagement for achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

The three-day summit began Monday and saw new monetary pledges on the table, but no guarantee of that translating into success. The global escalation of food and energy prices coupled with the current economic crisis has pushed back many of the poorest nations from reaching their development goals, but UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has begged governments not to give up in the fight to cut poverty in half by 2015.

The key issues hampering the success of most countries meeting their goals include basic sanitation, infant mortality and women’s equality. There have been successes however, with global rates of HIV falling by approximately 17 percent and an estimated 6 billion lives saved through anti-tuberculosis efforts. The UN estimates between US$20 and $50 billion will be needed on each of these issues annually to achieve the set goals by 2015.

British Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg reinforced that Britain will be maintaining its aid commitments not simply for altruistic purposes but to help increase stability and security in some of the world’s poorest countries. He named Afghanistan as a point in case, where lifting basic living standards in the war-ravaged country would in turn increase the security of residents of Great Britain.

The summit is to be concluded with US President Barack Obama addressing over 140 dignitaries, presidents, prime ministers and kings who attended the event.