Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The millennium development goals were agreed by world leaders at the United Nations in 2000 as the framework for international development policy up to 2015. They provide a clearly measurable way to track progress in the fight against global poverty. The goals are central to Ireland’s overseas development programme, and to the Government’s development policy. As we approach 2015, it is clear that progress on the goals has been mixed. As a result of the scaling up of development assistance, and the partnership which we and other donors have built with Governments and communities in the developing world, the targets set in some vital areas will be met by 2015. For instance, the overall extreme poverty rate will be halved, as will the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water. Considerable progress has been made in education, especially enrolment at primary level, and in addressing the HIV-AIDS pandemic. However, less positively, some targets remain significantly off-track, notably in the areas of maternal health and maternal mortality, access to sanitation and the fight against extreme hunger, which is a central priority of Ireland’s aid programme. It is imperative that the entire international community strengthen and accelerate its efforts to achieve the remaining targets by 2015.

Next September, the UN General Assembly will hold a major political meeting to review progress in advance of 2015 and open substantive debate on the framework for international development after that date. During Ireland’s EU Presidency in the first half of 2013, we will focus on the preparation for the UN meeting, commencing with a major discussion at an informal meeting of EU Development Ministers, to be hosted by the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, in Dublin in early February. I look forward to working with our EU partners to develop the strongest possible EU contribution for the UN discussions, and to highlight the actions needed internationally to make maximum progress in the fight against poverty and hunger by 2015.

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