21 September 2010

Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Mr. Sven Alkalaj attended the opening of the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

On September 20, 2010, Delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sven Alkalaj attended the opening of the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the UN Headquarters.

The Summit which was held at the invitation of the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon gathered the world leaders with the goal to stimulate the accomplishment of Millennium Development Goals prior to the deadline by 2015.

At the opening, the UN Secretary General invited all world leaders who participate in the summit to use their power in order to end extreme poverty, i.e. to ensure necessary investment, assistance and political will to help the most vulnerable people on the planet. "There is no more valuable global project than this one. Let us forward a strong message of hope. Let us keep the promise", said Ban Ki-moon in his introductory speech. He urged rich countries not to give up their previous commitments for development assistance to poor countries, which he described as "using billions to save billions".

192 UN member states and 23 international organizations have obliged in 2000 within MDGs to halve the extreme poverty, ensure the primary school education for all children, stop the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, reduce maternal mortality to 3/4 and child mortality by 2/3 and to halve the number of people without access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2015. They also set goals for improving the equality of women, environmental protection, increase development assistance and to open global trade and financial system.