Yesterday weat CESR attended the opening session of the MDG Summit, formally known as theHigh-level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the UN GeneralAssembly.
Whileseveral heads of state and international dignitaries are in attendance, observing the spectacle from high up in thefourth floor balcony, the only area open to NGO and other observers, this feelsvery removed from activism. The restrictions on access have rendered theNGO/activist presence almost invisible.
NGOs wereallowed to give their input on the MDGs during the informal interactive hearingsof the General Assembly on June 14 and 15th in preparation for theSeptember Summit. However, what we feltthe most at these hearings was the lack of attendance by heads of state. The world???s leaders just do not seem to bekeen on engaging with civil society on the MDGs. This seems to substantiate criticism thatthey are technocratic and top-down.
Nonetheless,the curtain-raiser to the MDG Summit yesterday had some promising moments andfirm promises.
FrenchPresident Sarkozy pledged his commitment to a 20% increase in OverseasDevelopment Assistance (ODA) to meet the MDGs and affirmed that the crisisshould not be a pretext for shirking on commitments.
SpanishPresident Zapatero affirmed that Spain would reach its 0,7% ODAtarget by 2015 despite the effects of the crisis. He called for a financial transactions tax andstated that since governments had bailed out banks, it seemed sensible, fairand logical that states would ask for at least a minimum effort from thefinancial sector to eliminate deprivation around the world.
The openingspeeches of the heads of the World Bank, IMF and WTO also made grand appeals tothe need to work for the ???common welfare of humanity???. However, the pathways they proposed were less inspiringand more business as usual; the first priority, they said, was to promote economicgrowth and trade liberalization.
Powerful,rights-friendly interventions were also made. Evo Morales gave a speech thatattributed the fundamental cause of poverty to unjust distributions of wealth. Switzerland proclaimed theimportance of human rights principles of non-discrimination and participationin the implementation of the MDGs.
Of the UNspeakers, UNDP???s Helen Clark stood out, saying there could be no meaningfulprogress unless the principles of equity, human rights and gender empowermentguided efforts over the next five years.
But as mostindividual countries took the floor, there was the usual lapse into moreparochial concerns or endless speeches talking up their government???sprogress. Whether heads of state will beable to look beyond lauding their best practices and success stories to addresssome of key MDG shortfalls will depend on how much they value their promise toattain the MDGs by 2015.