UN chief doubts Africa will meet development targets

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cast doubt on Monday on whether sub-Saharan Africa will meet the 2015 deadline for eradicating extreme poverty, despite an economic boom linked to higher commodity prices.

“Many countries are falling behind,” Ban told the ongoing UN Conference on Trade and Development in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

“This region, sub-Saharan Africa, is most at risk here. Not a single country is on track to meet all the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] by 2015,” he said, referring to the MDGs agreed by all UN member states in 2000.

Soaring food prices worldwide are making it harder to meet development goals, he added.

“High prices threaten to undo the gains achieved so far in fighting hunger and malnutrition,” Ban said.

“They call for a substantial increase in investment and expenditure in agriculture.

They underscore the importance of pushing for an open trading system in agricultural commodities, which will benefit countries around the world.”

The MDGs notably call for extreme poverty—defined as living on less than one dollar a day—to be slashed by half by 2015. They also call for universal primary education and a halt to the spread of HIV/Aids, among other targets.

The UN secretary general urged African states benefiting from a boom in commodity prices to increase development spending, and called on international donors to make good on the commitments they have made.

“Today’s high commodity prices present a unique opportunity to reduce trade-distorting subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products,” said Ban at a session titled “Trade and Development for Africa’s Prosperity”.—AFP