The Summit on soaring food prices, convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has concluded with the adoption by acclamation of a declaration calling on the international community to increase assistance for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and those that are most negatively affected by high food prices.
The dramatic surge in food prices has plunged millions of poor people and many net food importing poor countries into a food crisis. Consequently, it has also put at risk their chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Whilst the focus has been on the impact on the MDG1 of reducing poverty and hunger, given the close inter-connectedness between all the 8 MDGs, the impact on these sections of the poor on health, education and livelihoods more broadly, cannot be underestimated.
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.
NEW YORK – The breakdown of the latest round of global trade talks has clearly weakened the multilateral trading system, a system originally designed to offer a fair trade system to all. The collapse of negotiations on July 29th in Geneva, is yet another lost opportunity for creating a more just and fair trading system long promised to poor countries.
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.
GCAP representatives of ten countries present in Hokkaido are deeply concern at how out of touch with reality the G8 seemed to be on the main issues related to ending poverty.
As the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries gathered in Hokkaido, Japan, today for their summit meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call for urgent action to tackle three key challenges the world is currently grappling with.
Efforts to address the food crisis, climate change and the slow progress towards reaching the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015 “so far have been too divided, too sporadic, and too little,” Mr. Ban told a joint news conference with World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
GCAP Korea representative, Hykungung Kim was one of a group of international NGOs to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda in Tokyo on Wednesday June 18th. She also tied a white and, the symbol of the campaign, around the wrist of the Prime Minister who stood for a photograph beside the campaign symbol, a Tanabata bamboo tree.
Representing the massive GCAP anti-poverty alliance, Hykungung explained to the Prime Minister how last year we mobilized over 1.2 million Voices Against Poverty which were presented to Chancellor Merkel just prior to the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm.
The President of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Pedro Castro, and the UN Millennium Campaign Coordinator in Spain, Marina Navarro, signed today a collaboration agreement to reinforce the role of the Spanish Local Governments on the promotion of the MDGs.
This agreement contributes to the consolidation of the strategic alliance between the UN Millennium Campaign and the FEMP, and opens a new phase of joint work and closer collaboration.
