Efforts to curb poverty worldwide have been slowed by the global economic situation, but the developing world is still on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people living on less than $1 per day by 2015 - according to an annual U.N. report (.pdf) on the MDGs, which this year shows a “mixed picture” on reaching all eight targets - the Associated Press reports (Lederer, 6/23). “Ten years after world leaders agreed on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the U.N…

Canadian Prime Minister Should Use G8 To Press For Global Health Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper “can use the relatively intimate setting of the G8’s Muskoka meeting to press for a renewal of the G8’s commitment to better health for Africans, and help the developed world be truly accountable for its promises,” the Globe and Mail writes in an editorial. “The G8’s failure to fully fund the historic aid commitments to Africa it made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit” puts the future success of the developing world at risk, the editorial states. “Mr…

Efforts to curb poverty worldwide have been slowed by the global economic situation, but the developing world is still on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people living on less than $1 per day by 2015 -according to an annual U.N. report (.pdf) on the MDGs, which this year shows a “mixed picture” on reaching all eight targets - the Associated Press reports (Lederer, 6/23). “Ten years after world leaders agreed on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the U.N…

An accountability report, prepared by officials in G8 member countries’ foreign affairs departments, acknowledges that G8 “countries are $10 billion behind the five-year, $50-billion commitment they made at their 2005 summit in Scotland,” the Canadian Press/CTV News reports (6/20). “Overall there is a good story to tell. The G8 has acted as a force for positive change and its actions have made a difference in addressing global challenges,” according to the report, which was released on Sunday ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in Muskoka, Ontario, the Toronto Star reports…

During a speech at the National Press Club on Friday, USAID Administrator Rajiv spoke about ongoing efforts to reform the agency he oversees, noting the importance of improving development strategies targeting women, among other things, All Headline News reports (6/20). Shah “said he would reform procurement practices at the USAID, improve budget accountability and create partnerships with private foundations,” VOA News reports. “Instead of merely disbursing aid, he said the agency would focus on whether it is having an impact” and facilitating what Shah calls “extreme transparency…

Former President Bill Clinton along with Mexican telecom executive Carlos Slim and Frank Guistra, a Canadian “mining magnet,” on Thursday announced “a $20 million fund to help support the expansion and creation of small- and medium-size Haitian businesses,” the Miami Herald reports.”Before the Jan. 12 earthquake, such businesses made up more than 80 percent of Haiti’s economy. They also accounted for more than 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product lost after the quake. Following the quake, many Haitians have been unable to get conventional bank loans,” the newspaper writes…

A report from the anti-poverty group ActionAid finds that less than one-third of the $22 billion that was pledged to improve food security during a 2009 G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, is from new funding sources, the U.K. Press Association reports (6/18). According to the report, “there is no proof of an increase in funds for the agricultural sector, over and above figures for the 2006-2008 period -and several signatories are actually reducing their aid to agriculture…

Reuters examines the challenges facing the World Bank as it tries to secure aid for the developing world while some of the wealthiest nations are “feeling pinched themselves.” “In 2007, the World Bank collected $42 billion for the International Development Association, or IDA, the world’s largest fund for the poor. To try to match that total this year, it is tapping a deeper pool of emerging market donors, promising more strenuous oversight of how the money is used and is even prepared to let fiscally strained countries stretch out installment plans,” the news service writes…

Food Aid Arrives Kyrgyzstan; 80,000 Flee Clashes The New York Times reports that food aid arrived in Kyrgyzstan as four days of ethic rioting started to abate. “At the border, where thousands of refugees have been stranded without clean water or medical care, medical supplies, aid blankets and tarpaulins were due to be delivered by the International Committee for the Red Cross,” the newspaper writes (Levy/Schwirtz, 6/15)…

UNICEF reported 90 per cent of the refugees from fighting in Southern Kyrgyzstan were children, women and the elderly. A rapid assessment revealed that many children suffered physical and mental violence. More than 100,000 refugees are in Uzbekistan, most of whom are located in about 75 camps around the city of Andijan. UNICEF has seven staff monitoring the situation of children who have fled the violence which started last Thursday. The agency will deploy as soon as possible counsellors to assist with wide scale psychosocial interventions..