The Three Most Significant Notes on MDG from Obama at UNNY
Put simply, the United States is changing the way we do business… For too long, we’ve measured our efforts by the dollars we spent and the food and medicines we delivered. But aid alone is not development… Instead of just managing poverty, we have to offer nations and peoples a path out of poverty.
Speaking from New York at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals on 22 September, President Obama gave emphasis to a number of points in relation to the eradication of extreme poverty. Here is one opinion from an observer. For me three points stood out that should grab our attention:
- If we continue to keep on the same trajectory we won’t succeed and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (by 2015)
- To developing countries (read the G20 members): Resolve to put an end to hollow promises that are not kept. Focus not on money but on results.
- No one nation can do everything and do it everywhere. Just as this work cannot be done by one government, division of labor among a wide array of stakeholders is crucial.
What can we expect in 2015? Is this hope we can believe in?
Is the seemingly impossible possible?
Building Bridges 