09/22/2012, 00.00
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UN fight against poverty: donations from rich countries down by 50 percent

At least 16 key donor countries have reduced their contributions because of the global economic crisis. G8 countries have not kept their promises to Africa. Medicine and the internet still too expensive for poor countries.

New York City (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that international aid for developing countries has fallen by over 50%. The reduction, the first in many years, undermines the program to reduce poverty by 2015.

In a press conference held two days ago, the UN Secretary presented a report on child poverty and the so-called MDG (Millennium Development Goals), a program launched in 2000 which provided donations of 300 billion dollars to reduce poverty in many countries. In 2011, however donations have only reached 133 billion, less than half. At least 16 key donor countries have reduced their contribution due to the global economic crisis.

"To accomplish the MDGs - urged Ban Ki-moon - we need greater global participation ... and not place the weight of fiscal austerity on the shoulders of the poor - at home or in other countries."

The tendency to give less has been a reality for some time. In 2005, the G8 countries had decided to increase aid to Africa by 25 billion per year by 2010, but that goal has never been reached.

The UN Secretary General has pointed out that in developing countries basic medical drugs still costs too much, and only half of the health institutions are able to procure them. Even the Internet, especially in Africa, is still too expensive for the poor.

 

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