A GROUP of world leaders
met this week to discuss plans for global development after 2015,
when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will expire.
The High Level Panel on
the Post 2015 Development Agenda (HLP), which was convened last
year by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon,
met from Monday to Wednesday in Bali, for the fourth time (News, 16 November).
A coalition of charities,
including Christian Aid and Greenpeace, ex-pressed disappointment
last Friday that the Prime Minister would not be attending the
meeting, despite being a co-chairman. The International Development
Secretary, Justine Greening, went instead.
The charities said that
the "post-2015 framework [for development] won't be fit for purpose
if the environmental challenges faced by developing nations are
ignored.
"Climate change, natural
disasters, ecosystem decline and biodiversity loss present huge
risks to sustainable development and poverty eradication,
especially for the world's poorest, who depend on the natural
environment for their survival."
Christine Allen, the
policy and public-affairs director at Christian Aid, said: "We will
not be able to eradicate poverty over the long term without dealing
with environmental challenges. This means that the Prime Minister,
as co-chair of the High-level Panel, must ensure that action to
address environmental and resource challenges is integrated into
any future development goals."
The Leprosy Mission
England and Wales last week welcomed a statement by Mr Cameron that
new development goals should include targets for disabled people.
Its head of programmes co-ordination, Sian Arulanantham, said:
"There is a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that you are
more likely to be poor if you are disabled, and more likely to be
disabled if you are poor. This is particularly evident in
leprosy-affected communities. By putting an emphasis on the
prevention of disability, millions of people who are on the brink
of being left disabled because of leprosy will become a focus for
the international community's attention. This can only lead to more
treatment and better care."
The HLP will submit a report, containing recommendations, to the
Mr Ban in May.
