The UAE has pledged to live up to its commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals in the face of the global economic downturn. The Millennium Development Goals are a set of targets for reducing poverty by 2015 that include halving extreme poverty and providing universal primary education. Speaking at a UN conference in Doha, Sultan bin Saeed al Mansouri, the Minister of Economy, said the Emirates would "fulfil our commitments and implement the ongoing development plans as well as our international commitments to assisting developing countries in achieving the internationally agreed development goals", according to the state news agency, WAM.
He added that the country would work with the international community to deal with the ongoing financial crisis. Mr Mansouri's comments came on the same day that Salil Shetty, director of the UN's Millennium Campaign, told Reuters that Gulf states should give more development aid to poor nations and increase transparency if they wanted to "become full global players" in the midst of the financial crisis.
In September, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, urged high-ranking officials at a Millennium Development Goals event to do more to help meet the targets. Mr Mansouri added that the UAE's international grants and loans had benefited 95 developing countries to date. At home, he said, the Government had adopted policies to establish an "active national participation in the national economy" and to "secure a stable and lasting source of income" for nationals.
The minister told the 300 delegates from 145 countries at the Doha conference they needed to work together on comprehensive solutions to the financial crisis. mchung@thenational.ae Editorial, Page a27