During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the presentattion by Michael CASHMAN (S&D, UK) of his mid-term review on progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), in preparation of the UN high-level meeting in September 2010 in New York.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

SARGENTINI, Judith (Greens/EFA, NL)

DEVA, Nirj (ECR, UK)

ZIMMER, Gabriele (GUE/NGL, DE)

PIEBALGS, Andris (LV, EC)

CASHMAN, Michael (S&D, UK)

SVENSSON, Alf (EPP, SE)

development and international cooperation (T)

fight against poverty (T)

Progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Michael CASHMAN (S&amp;D, UK), rapporteur, The signs are worrying, there is a lack of commitment to that 0.7 percent of our Growth National Income (GNI)that we said that we would commit to tacking on these challenges in some of the least developed countries we are slipping way away from the targets that we need to be reaching mid-way through.

SOUNDBITE (English), Michael CASHMAN (S&amp;D, UK), rapporteur, The investment that we have made has paid off; the maternal health improvements are there. Child mortality rates are low and yes the number of children dying is gradually decreasing, but our problem is, not only do we need more money to tackle these commitments; our problem is that we need additional finances to tackle the problems associated with climate change, which are bedevilling the positions that we are taking in the developing countries and the least developed countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Andris PIEBALGS, European Commissioner for Development, 2010 really makes a milestone, it is necessary to consider what we got right and what went wrong, what have been the key successes and failures since the signing of the Millennium Declaration. It is important to reflect on how best to approach the next phase and how to accelerate progress scenarios that are lagging behind.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish), Alf SVENSSON (EPP, SE), I would say make sure that companies get a chance to do something in these countries, let them get a chance to try and help improve things.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Judith SARGENTINI (Greens/EFA, NL), We have talked about 0.7 percent of our GNI, we talk about that and about increasing it. We can of course talk about new ways of funding, but it is all getting more and more difficult giving the economical crisis currently. What we are really needed to talking about is a different way of living together by having Fair Trade.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nirj DEVA (ECR, UK), talking about the smaller non registered businesses in developing countries - their non used valued is estimated to 9 Trillion &euro;) - We have not found a way to capitalise on those properties and those businesses. There are outside the legal system. Had we been able to that, we would have been able to eliminate poverty faster that is what happened in other parts of the world.

SOUNDBITE (German), Gabriele ZIMMER (GUE/NGL, DE), We are running up a deficit of 20 billion &euro; and what we need to stress is that we should be fighting until 2015 on the realisation of the MDG, we are just not letting to allow the years let by.