World Leaders Fail to Deliver at UN Anti-Poverty Summit

More Needs to be done before 2015 Deadline

NEW YORK, 22 SEPTEMBER 2010 -- A high-profile anti-poverty summit at the United Nations has fallen far short of
expectations as world leaders have failed to demonstrate the political will required to meet key poverty eradication
targets.

“This is not the breakthrough plan that we need to achieve the MDGs by 2015,” says Kumi Naidoo, co-chair of the
Global Call to Action Against Poverty and the Executive Director of Greenpeace Int'l. “There are some baby steps in
the right direction – particularly for workers and for education and health for all -- but there's not the re-doubling of
efforts that we needed to see in order for world leaders to keep the promises they made to the world's poor.”

At the United Nations, US President Obama launched a much-awaited new framework for US development efforts
and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a global health strategy focusing on women and children.
However, the urgency that world leaders professed in 2000, when they adopted the Millennium Development Goals
and promised to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing
conditions of extreme poverty” has been replaced by the less active diplomatic language of “deep concern”.

One area of focus at the summit has been on child and maternal health. Leaders say that we are the farthest behind
on meeting this Millennium Development Goal. Ban Ki-moon has announced a $40 billion initiative, though much of
that money was pledged previously at other summits, including G8 meetings in June in Toronto.

“While we welcome a renewed focus on maternal health, let us be clear about which Millennium Development Goal
is lagging the most behind,” says Adelaide Sosseh, co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, the world's
largest network of anti-poverty coalitions. “It's not MDG #5, improving maternal health. It's MDG #8, the Global
Partnership for Development, which is about debt, aid, trade and technology. The only responsibility that developed
countries had is not being met. That's why the other goals are not being met.”

Rich countries had pledged to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on official development assistance, to develop an
open and fair trading system and deal comprehensively with developing country debts. Few donor countries
currently come close to meeting the aid targets.

“Achieving improved maternal and child health requires not just midwives and better health care,” adds Dennis
Howlett of Make Poverty History Canada, “but clean water, food security, girls education and fighting AIDS as well.
We need a holistic approach. Every development goal is a gender goal.”

There has been some positive news at the summit, including pledges by several European states to increase aid
despite the financial crisis and commitments to provide decent work and a universal social protection floor

“After the UN speeches, what we need to see is that member states incorporate promises into their national
budgets,” says Seth Abloso of GCAP Africa. “Then they need to have annual reports tracking the progress with a full
disclosure of information.”

About GCAP: The Global Call to Action Against Poverty challenges the structures and institutions
that perpetuate poverty. More information at www.whiteband.org.

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