The Millenium Development Goals are at risk: The EUEuropean Union should give them new momentum, ODIOverseas Development Institute (London) Blog, Sept. 2008

A high profile European report on the MDGs is being launched in Brussels on Friday and in New York on 24 September. The report has been written by an independent group of European economists, led by Professor Francois Bourguignon, Director of the Paris School of Economics, and of which I am a member. It says the Millennium Development Goals have been a force for good in the world, but that progress is uneven, too slow and threatened by the global economic slowdown. The authors argue that the European Union brings particular strengths to the MDG project. The EU’s own history shows the advantages of regional cooperation, support to weaker members and joint action to secure public goods of value to all. Its development policy and implementation capacity provides a unique marriage of political, economic and aid instruments, underpinned by a structure of mutual accountability. All this provides a platform to do more................. (see link in title for full article)