ETHIOPIA: African leaders from fragile economies and conflict-affected countries called for a reassessment of the Millennium Development Goals

Record ID: 452721

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: African leaders from fragile economies and conflict-affected countries called for a reassessment of the Millennium Development Goals
  • Date: 9th September 2011
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AFRICAN UNION HEADQUARTERS / FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 24th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia, Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA43Z09Y0VNAGMIR02HNENYOVA5
  • Story Text: African ministers meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia said on Thursday (September 8) that the deadline of meeting the U.N goals to tackle poverty by 2015 is out of reach for many countries on the continent.
    The ministers were speaking at a meeting on peace and statebuilding organised by the African Development Bank, the United Nations and the African Union.
    They called for a new approach to development in Africa saying that "fragile" and conflict-affected countries could not be expected to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the next four years.
    "We have to have a new architecture that looks to the issues of security, stability, peace, constitutionalism, the rule of law and so forth. So may be the Millennium Development Goals put the cart before the horse," said Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe's Finance Minister.
    They said that there were many African countries that had not achieved any of the MDG's either due to conflict or political instability.
    "Most of us fragile states will not meet those millennium development goals and part of the problem lies in the fundamental effect that the Millennium Development Goals are looking at the demand side of the economy, we are looking at the population that we need to serve. But they forget that they don't deal with structural status quo of our nations. The issues of conflict, the issues of violence, the issues of civil wars. So part of the things that we need to revisit is that is it possible to have development when guns are blazing," said Biti, whose country is experiencing political violence under a fragile unity government formed by long serving leader, Robert Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai.
    Mugabe blames "illegal and debilitating" sanctions for widespread poverty in his country.
    While the world looks likely to halve poverty and hunger by 2015, a United Nations report last year said countries were behind on other goals that cover improved child education, child mortality and maternal health, combating diseases including AIDS, promoting gender equality and protecting the environment.
    The goals have been set back by a global financial and economic crisis, which has forced some rich donors to cut development assistance as they try to trim record budget gaps and focus on job losses at home.
    Participants at the meeting in Addis said the principles of the goals were agreeable but how to achieve them has been tough on many African countries.
    "I think over these years we have found it is now quite evident that you cannot achieve those goals in many places unless certain prerequisites are fulfilled," said Kosti Manibe, South Sudan's minister for economy and planning.
    South Sudan, the world's newest nation after gaining independence in July this year, is struggling to set up basic services in many parts of the previously war ravaged country from scratch, including health care, education and food production.
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