Time for governments to demonstrate accountability by Global Call to action against Poverty 5:46am 10th Jan, 2007   16/ 01/2007    July 7, 2007 will mark half of the time governments around the world have to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that they agreed to in 2000. But the way we are continuing, we will take at least 100 years and not seven to achieve the goals.    Seven years have passed and there are still many questions on the progress made and not many answers.    Civil society organisations have been advocating for the delivering and exceeding of the MDGs and, although some action has been taken, there are still many things to be done to achieve with dignity the promises made. If governments want to keep their word in front of global citizenship, they must show some results.    As for now, this is what they have shown:    If we continue as we are it will take many countries 100 years, not 7, to achieve the goals.    In 2005 the world missed the first agreed MDG target of achieving equal numbers of girls as boys in primary school: this target has been missed in over 70 countries.    Average life expectancy in Africa is 46 years and falling and the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased by more than 140 million in the last twenty years.    A mother dies every minute as a result of problems in pregnancy and childbirth, and the MDG of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 will, on current trends, not be met.    On current trends and including the commitments made at the G8 in Gleneagles, the G8 countries will only be giving 0.36% of GNI and not until 2010.    To reach 0.7% of GNI in 2010, donors must increase their aid not by the $48 billion agreed in Gleneagles, but by $170 billion.    G8 countries between them spent over $600bn on defence in 2004    US cotton subsidies to just 25,000 farmers are three times more than the entire US aid budget for Africa    Seven years after the Millennium Development Goals were agreed we are already in serious danger of failing to achieve even them, despite the fact that they set the most minimalist of targets.    But with political will there are a number of changes that could substantially transform this situation and cut the rate of people suffering from poverty:    If rich countries delivered on the commitment they made 37 years ago to allocate 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) to aid the MDGs could be met.    To reach the MGDs by 2015, over 60 countries need their debts cancelled, many more than the 18 who had them cancelled at the G8 summit.    We need a world trading system that does not force poor countries to open their economies and give up their right to determine their own trade policies.    Developed countries must abolish the $1 billion dollars per day paid in subsidies to big agribusiness which make it difficult for poor countries to benefit from trade.    Developing countries should commit to spending 20% of public budgets on quality social services such as health, education and clean water.    Developing countries must put in place effective anti-corruption mechanisms and guarantee their citizens civil and political rights.    “There is a huge gap between the rhetoric of working to make the world a just place and the reality of implementation, particularly from those that wield immense power. So while we acknowledge the progress made every day in the lives of ordinary people around the world as a result of action taken by ordinary citizens for the public good, we must also acknowledge that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’’ – Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary General.    More and Better Aid – give me 0.7%!    Leaders of all rich countries must agree to reach 0.7% of their national income in aid immediately and ensure that this aid reaches the poorest people in the poorest countries. They promised to give this amount in 1970, and 37 years later this promise remains broken. G8 countries will only be giving 0.36% of GNI and not until 2010. The US, for example, spent in 2004 0.16% of their GNI on aid; the UK, 0.36%; Japan 0.19%. Rich countries could afford to spend much more. Visit the related web page
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