EU wants to be 'role model' for global environment, anti-poverty talks
With the post 2015 talks, the European Commission’s communication outlines proposed negotiations for the successor of the UN millennium Development Goals, calling itself as the “role model” of the world.
The communication hinges on rallying the 27 EU member states to support a post-2015 development plan that commits to helping finance poverty reduction through sustainable growth, despite deep economic and financial troubles at home.
The MDGs, which have been the major tool for combating poverty, have fallen short for some or their targets. With less than two years to go, many goals will not be achieved. According to UN figures, 1.4 billion people – 20% of the population – live in extreme poverty. More than two-thirds, 2.6 billion people, do not have access to toilets and around 1 billion lack safe drinking water. Chronic hunger affects more than 800 million people, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa. EU commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, has called for a “new vision” to replace the MDGs.
Irish trade and development minister, Joe Costello, noted that a unified EU position to the negotiations to agree a new global development framework was a priority of his country’s presidency (Ireland, holds Presidency of the EU Council till June 2013). “Our aim is to eliminate extreme poverty within one generation. We believe we now have a historic opportunity to achieve this goal” stated Costello at a development meeting in Dublin last week.
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