Gulf | Qatar
Haya seeks increase in aid to meet UN goals
Shaikha Haya Al Khalifa, president of the United Nations General Assembly, yesterday called on developed countries to increase and accelerate financial aid to help achieve the millennium development goals set for 2015.
- By Barbara Bibbo', Correspondent
- Published: 23:37 June 18, 2007
Doha: Shaikha Haya Al Khalifa, president of the United Nations General Assembly, yesterday called on developed countries to increase and accelerate financial aid to help achieve the millennium development goals set for 2015.
"Donors need to accelerate their plans to scale up assistance to maintain the credibility of their 2005 pledges to double aid, in particular to Africa, by 2010," said Shaikha Haya, addressing a conference on Financing Development to Achieve the Millennium Goals.
The two-day event under way in Doha is held in preparation for the Review Conference on Financing Development scheduled for the second half of 2008 in Qatar.
Drop in financial help
She said aid to developing countries dropped by 5.1 per cent between 2005 and 2006, from $106 billion (about Dh389 billion) to $104 billion.
Excluding debt relief, official development assistance fell by 1.8 per cent. Aid to sub-Saharan Africa, excluding debt relief, was static in 2006, leaving a challenge to meet the Gleneagles G8 summit commitment to increase aid by $50 billion and double aid to Africa by 2010.
Shaikha Haya said that not only the quantity of aid, but also the quality should increase.
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