U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan gestures while speaking during a news conference at the United Nations, Thursday June 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Posted on 06/09/2005 7:00:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday called 2005 "a make-or-break moment" for the world's poor and urged all rich nations to follow the European Union and boost aid, improve trade and provide debt relief.
With more than 1 billion people living on less than $1 a day, 815 million having too little to eat, and more than 115 million children not going to elementary school, he said U.N. development goals won't be met unless world leaders take "concrete steps" this year.
Annan didn't single out any countries but his message was clearly aimed at the United States and Japan, which have so far refused to set timetables to increase aid to 0.7 percent of national incomes - as all 25 EU nations have pledged to do by 2015. The United States currently contributes about 0.17 percent while Japan next year will spend 0.21 percent.
The secretary-general told a news conference that the next few months offer three "critical opportunities" for the world to demonstrate its commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals which range from halving extreme poverty to ensuring primary education for all children and stemming the HIV/AIDS pandemic, all by 2015.
It is vital, he said, that all world leaders seize the opportunities of the U.N. General Assembly meeting later this month on financing development, the July summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, and the U.N. summit in September "to decide on concrete actions which will help us reach the Millennium Development Goals."
"That is why 2005 and the summit are a make-or-break moment for the MDGs - and for the world's poor," Annan said, using the initials of the goals.
The secretary-general said this year's summit will be "much harder" than the Millennium Summit in 2000 which set the goals, and there are already clear indications that getting rich countries to increase their commitments is going to be difficult.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair went to see President Bush on Tuesday to seek a writeoff of impoverished nations' debt and a doubling of aid to Africa. Bush inched towards Blair's position on writing off debt but the British prime minister said tough negotiations are needed ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.
U.N. Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo, when asked whether the 2015 goals can be reached with a very significant increase from the United States, said "the U.S. has been increasing aid in recent years in a substantial way."
"But I can only restate that the United Nations hopes ... that all developed countries will commit to the 0.7 percent target by 2015," he said.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan gestures while speaking during a news conference at the United Nations, Thursday June 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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The rest of the contributions are chump change compared to what the US and Japan would be 'required' to contribute.
ie. Kofi is having trouble meeting dock fees for his yacht.
Please forward all Africa aid to Kofi & Co, PO BOX...
If I were Kofi Annan, I'd be urging the wealthy countries to donate even more than that to the poor countries. The more the developed world donates, the more kickbacks Annan and his cronies put in their Swiss bank accounts.
Again I say...
MOVE THE UN TO FRANCE NOW !!!!!
That should line the pockets.
I would like to know how many billion dollars have been given to the UN to fix these problems since its inception. What a lousy job they've done! Why should we sink any more cash into that incompetent, corrupt outfit?
WTF! That is what has been done for the last 40 years and look what it has produced, nothing! Actually worse than nothing, good deeds and charity now seen as obligation and "rights". Its time to stop the insanity and end the UN.
Hey, Kofi, I got your aid right here! (sneer!)
Let Annan lead the way by donating 90% his UN salary for the next two years first. On top of that, scrap the proposed $12 billion refurbishment of the UN headquarters and donate that to needy countries. I hope I live to see the day that this organization is completely dismantled and destroyed.
Annan can open his own wallet up and give these "poor " countries the money he stole from the Iraq oil scandal and all the other things he has grifted money from over the years. He's a criminal in every sense of the word, and he has the biggest brass ones to stand up and ask for money for anything or anyplace. IMO/.
yeah , just the fact that the UN appaRATchiks blithely continue as if Kofi still has credibility,well, to me that is astounding
Send all your money ... not strings attached of course.
Why don't we just save time and do a direct deposit into his (and his son's) bank accounts?
hmmmm...let's see
1. Must be born in Africa
2. Must speak softly and very seriously with hushed tones.
3. Must know how to ask for money
i got sucked into that as a freshman in college in the 1960's.
wow! we're helping the poor nations.
only later did i find out that next to none of the money goes to hep the po folks.
then in the mid-1970's america's largest banks had to write off their international loans. japanese banks then became the biggest banks because they didn't make the same stupid loans.
same ol', same ol'--every few years the "rich" nations help the poor nations. then a later the loans get written off. then we're back to where we started.
"Annan urges rich countries to help poor" ....
.... so that UN bureaucrats can help themselves ...
Gotta replace that Oil for Food 'retirement plan'.
-R
Kofi DemonAnnan. Too friggin much.
I seem to recal tons and tons of aid left on runways near the Indian Ocean after the recent Tsunami.
What he means is, please give us more of your money so we can unwisely spend it.
The U.S. will give the money it currently pays to the U.N. as "DUES" and you can distribute that to those turd world countries that you have been ripping off all these years.
France can make up the loss to the U.N. Budget .
Let HIM walk the walk.
Give up some of that oil-for-food money before you start asking us to chip in...
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