From September 20 to 22, the United Nations will call a meeting of the Member States in New York to assess the progress of the Millennium Development Goals and promote its commitment with a schedule with specific measures to speed up its achievement five years before meeting the fixed deadline for its fulfilment.

Looking to this summit, the NGDO Spanish coordinator has organized, in the frame of its Program within the EU Spanish Presidency, the conference MDG+10, that has got together more than 200 NGOs and organizations in the field of cooperation for development in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean representatives. European Institutions and Government officials from the European Union members countries.

This meeting has tried to be the space to asses the fulfilment of the international commitments and their policies impact in the development of the MDGs, on the part of EU Countries Members promoting a joint reflection and the exchange of views and proposals between organizations and civil society nets all over the world.

As a result, a statement that requires that Europe, as worldwide first donor in development aid, assumes a plan to revive the MDGs in Junes Council came out. This Plan must be specific, with clear and binding commitments which include follow-up mechanism.

The worldwide civil society claim main points are as follows:

• To guarantee that commercial, agricultural, economical and emigration policies are coherent with the ones assigned to the development. It means, that what it is invested in one side will not be discounted in the other one.

• To fulfil in a reliable and responsible way the commitments assumed in the international forums of fighting against poverty. Promises should be kept.

• Take specific measures in order to guarantee human rights and gender equality in every initiative for development being carried out.

• To Increase the amount for the Official Development Aid to 0.7% of GDP till 2015. And furthermore, increase the quality of the aid in order to be the most efficient as possible.

• The EU must guarantee that the legal obligations established in the Lisbon Treaty in relation to development are considered in a specific way into the European legislation.

Despite of intolerable backward step in nutrition and sexual rights, and although we have reached the record of more than 1.000 million people living in extreme poverty, we still have time to reach the MDGs.

Financial crisis cannot become an excuse. Just with the 1% from the amount invested in rescuing the Banks could be the hungry in the world eradicated.

According to Eurobarometer 2009, nine of out every ten European citizen are in favour of increasing the development aid.

Further information:
María Menchero
comunicacionue@coordinadoraongd.org
Tl. 695 940 37