| MEPs call for stronger commitment on MDGs |
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“We need to be ambitious if we wish to create a global partnership to eradicate poverty. Despite the crisis, we need to stick to the commitments of the Millennium Development Goals, even though resources are scarce”, urged Buzek. “What I want to see is leadership from the EU. Not the minimum set that they can agree on, but a commitment to that 0.7% of gross national income, a commitment to additional financing”, Cashman told MEPs in the plenary debate on Monday 14 June. The report calls for renewed efforts to ease the debt burden of least developed countries (LDCs), a crackdown on tax havens and tax evasion affecting developing countries, and action to reduce transfer costs for migrant workers sending remittances to their home countries. It also demands that 20% of all development spending should be allocated to basic health and education, and that maternal health and infant mortality should be prioritised to meet those MDG targets. German MEP Gabriele Zimmer said approval of Cashman’s report “sends a strong signal to member states that they cannot relinquish their responsibilities in the fight against poverty and hunger”. “I would have gone further and demanded that the EU cannot sign off on agreements unless they contribute in one way or another to the fulfilment of the MDGs,” she said. Sources:
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As the Foreign Affairs Council met to agree the EU’s position for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek appealed for greater commitment and vision. MEPs echoed his statements, following a vote to approve a new report drafted by UK MEP Michael Cashman which describes progress towards the goals as a “mixed picture”, with time running out before the 2015 deadline.
