(STRASBOURG, November 15th) More than 1 million Europeans mobilized on October 17th --the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- under the Stand Up and Take Action initiative, to ask their Governments to keep their commitments on increasing aid quantity and quality, debt relief, and trade opportunities that will help poor countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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.
Salil Shetty, director of the UN Millennium Campaign, told the Financial Times that developing nations are estimated to be facing losses of at least $300bn to their economies up to 2010 as a result of the economic slowdown and are particularly vulnerable to global shocks.
While the media confront us daily with yet more alarming news from financial markets, few people are aware of the international meeting taking place at the end of this month in Doha, not on the moribund Doha trade Round, but on Financing for Development— another likely victim of the present crisis, with grave repercussions on global poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
(Strasbourg, November 15h) During the European Development Days in Strasbourg, the French Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) - an alliance comprising a growing number of civil society organizations which mobilize to fight extreme poverty - organized an event in the center of town to draw attention to the current economic crisis afflicting poor countries. The symbolic action took place on November 15, while the G-20 economic summit was taking place in Washington, D.C.
On November 11th, the United Nations Millennium Campaign in Portugal, Objectivo 2015, joined Pobreza Zero (the Global Call to Action against Poverty in Portugal), Micah Challenge and Africa-Europe Faith & Justice Network for a joint hearing with Portugal’s President, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
Eveline Herfkens of the UN Millennium Campaign presented the new Aid Effectiveness Brochure, produced by the UN Millennium Campaign and OECD, at the Portuguese Parliament. Eveline was accompanied by Portugal’s Undersecretary of State for Cooperation and Development, João Cravinho, and representatives of the Parliament’s Commission for Foreign Affairs.
UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN SHARES EXPERIENCES AT THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT ON THE COMMUNICATION OF MDGs
Paris, 14 October 2008 – Marina Ponti, the UN Millennium Campaign’s Director for Europe, participated this morning in the official launch of the French Campaign on the MDGs. The event, hosted by the Parliament at the French National Assembly, gathered representatives of public administration, civil society and the public at large.
Rome, 6 October 2008 - The president of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), Izaskun Bilbao, and the UN Millennium Campaign’s Deputy Director for Europe, Marina Ponti, signed an agreement this morning in Rome to encourage European regional parliaments to actively promote the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) amongst their citizenry.
