Where does US Stand on UN Proposal to End World Poverty?
The Millennium Project's web site claims worldwide support, but American opinion is conspicuously absent
February 17, 2005
Barb Jacobs Utne.com
On January 17, a 3,000-page report from the Millennium Project
-- researched by 265 scientists, economists, academics, and
development experts from around the globe -- was handed to United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. It outlined in detail how the
UN can eliminate extreme poverty throughout the world by 2015.
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Headed by Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, the
Millennium Project aims to make the world a safer place for all its
inhabitants through poverty elimination and education. Citizen's
for Global Solutions reports on their web site that 'the Millennium
Goals are considered crucial to the success of international
efforts to reign in terrorism and violent instabilities within and
between countries.' They quote Sachs, who says, 'breaking the
poverty trap of the poorest countries is a matter of extreme
urgency for our security. When people lack access to food, medical
care, safe drinking water, and a chance at a better future, their
societies are likely to experience instability and unrest that
spills over to the rest of the world.'
The Millennium Project's web site points out that providing
world citizens living in poverty with infrastructure, access to
health care, and an education will make them less vulnerable to
disasters, hunger, and environmental degradation. For instance,
'every year, 300 to 500 million cases of illness worldwide are due
to malaria,' something that could be eliminated by giving people
living in susceptible areas mosquito nets for their beds.
Because the plan's financial structure is front-loaded, one of
the UN's biggest obstacles will be convincing G-8 countries to
double their foreign aid. The United States and other UN countries
pledged to give 0.7% of their GDP to global development at the
Millennium Summit in 2000. Currently, the actual international
development funding average for UN countries is .25%, with the
United States giving only 0.15%.