Sommaire: 25 January 2008, Brussels - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today welcomed the Davos statement on the drive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Noting that the EU had provided global leadership by substantially strengthening its development effort, he said that the international community must use 2008 to review progress achieved, and decide where we need to apply pressure for results to keep us on track. He also called for a more active involvement of the business community and private funding for development, to go hand in hand with Official Development Assistance.
On the occasion of the launch in Davos of a drive to achieve the MDGs, President Barroso made the following statement:
"We all remember the adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000 - and I was proud to be part of the Gleneagles G8 deal in 2005 to increase massively financial assistance to developing countries.
Europe has consistently delivered on its aid promises, and we remain on track to reach the agreed aid targets of 0.56% of our Gross National Income by 2010, and 0.7% by 2015. But I will personally continue to discuss with all Member States the importance of scaling up aid budgets to ensure we meet our objectives. This is an objective that we in Europe must take extremely seriously.
As we have shown successfully in the area of climate change, EU leadership has the capacity to promote change at the global level. 2008 must be a big year for the MDGs. We should take this from the European Council in the spring, through the G8 in the summer, to the UN by autumn, and I am delighted that UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has decided to call a high level meeting on MDGs.
And I am equally pleased that Davos is focusing on this issue. It is very clear to me that the MDGs will not be achieved without an active involvement of the world business community and private foundations. Official Development Assistance and stronger involvement by governments must go hand in hand with a determined effort from the private sector as well, although some private sector players are already very active. We need to continue to promote public - private partnerships - using
government money to leverage private funding.
We should continue to discuss this in every forum, but as for climate change, we also have to be ready to act.
It is time to turn our collective rhetoric on development into collective action for development."
Background
The EU countries' combined commitment on financial assistance at Gleneagles represented 80% of the total. And only the EU has set time-bound targets to reach - step by step - the longstanding UN target of 0.7% by 2015. The Commission was asked by the European Council in December 2007 to report to the Spring European Council on progress achieved on the Millennium Development Goals.
In terms of promoting public-private partnerships, the EU Infrastructure Trust Fund for Africa as well as the Water and Energy Initiatives are all designed to enhance such partnerships. The Commission is actively engaged in promoting the involvement of the private sector in the delivery of water and sanitation services, for example.
Link to the Davos statement: http://www.weforum.org/en/media/Latest%20Press%20Releases/World_Leaders_Issue
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Partnership Report: UN and EC working together in Development and Humanitarian Cooperation