The Acting Spanish President, Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, cited the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the key focus of his governments development and cooperation policies, while giving his inaugural speech in the Spanish Parliament yesterday.
Under the heading “Deepening local democratic governance to eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals," the delegates to the Forum discussed potential ways of strengthening the role of Local Authorities both in the North and the South in the achievement of the MDGs.
Rome, 6 October 2008 - The president of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), Izaskun Bilbao, and the UN Millennium Campaign’s Deputy Director for Europe, Marina Ponti, signed an agreement this morning in Rome to encourage European regional parliaments to actively promote the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) amongst their citizenry.
In the run up to the UN High level Event (HLE) on the MDGs on Sept 25th, the Spanish Alliance Against Poverty, a broad coalition of more than 100 civil society organizations in Spain, handed over a suitcase packed with urgent demands to the Spanish Secretary of State for Development and Cooperation, Ms. Soraya Rodriguez. The suitcase was filled with relevant documents and policy demands such as more and better aid, debt relief, countries, coherence of politics and fair trade. A sticker on the suitcases said “Urgent departure. Flight MDG 2015.
Poverty can pack
“It is only a suitcase, but its contents means the world. The piece with inscription “Poverty can pack” was handed to German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul on 18 September before the backdrop of the airport in Berlin by an action alliance of development campaigns. The suitcase contains eight articles, that symobolize the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations – and a shadow report with recommendations on how to reach them…” find out more
On September 4 in Madrid, the Spanish Millennium Campaign and the Platform for Development NGOs in Spain launched the brochure Better Aid: A Necessary Condition for Development a joint publication that details a series of recommendations to donor countries, and in particular to Spain, to improve the way in which aid is delivered. Representatives from both organizations, present at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that was taking place in Accra (Ghana), also reported by video conference on the main findings of this international summit.
Anglican bishops and their spouses demonstrated on July 24 in support of poverty reduction worldwide, walking in purple cassocks and native dress past symbols of British power such as the Houses of Parliament and the prime minister’s residence at Downing Street.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and other Christian and interfaith leaders were at the head of the march, walking behind a banner reading “Keep the Promise/ Halve Poverty by 2015,” references to one of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals for global progress.
