Brussels, 22/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The selection of projects eligible for an additional €1 billion promised last year by the European Commission to help ACP countries (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is on the point of being finalised and the first projects could be launched at the beginning of 2012.
On 21 September in New York, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, made this announcement at a roundtable on food, organised on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. These projects involve water and sanitation, maternal health, hunger and child mortality - these MDG are increasingly behind schedule, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This additional EU support will help to make a decisive move in the fight against poverty. Projects have been identified in partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and are fully results-oriented” Piebalgs stated, adding: “Since 2000, EU support has contributed to educating more than 9 million children, to providing health care to 10 million women and to giving access to water and sanitation to millions of households.”
The MDG Initiative was announced in New York in September 2010, during the UN summit on the balance sheet and prospects for the MDG. It focuses on ACP countries that are most committed to the fight against poverty. It also constitutes a performance bonus for those seeking to attain the MDG. It is funded by the European Development Fund (10th EDF) and has resources that have still not yet been used. In this respect, it does not totally involve the granting of new additional funds. The eight MDG were set out in 2000 and are supposed to have been attained by 2015. (AN/transl.fl)