What happens to the Millennium Development Goals?
Many people are now saying because of the credit crunch and financial crisis, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be put on the back burner and we should deal with the economic issues first. [But] I think the economic crisis actually strengthens the case for putting more resources for poverty reduction, MDG’s and human development. While the G-20 meeting has addressed the short term necessary conditions, I think that there is much more that can be done in terms of longer term human development. How has UNDP and the Poverty Group adapted its program to lessen the effects of the financial crisis and address human development issues in least developed countries? For UNDP and the Poverty Group, we’re trying to deal with human development at the global, regional and country level to address these issues. At the global level we are doing a lot of global impact assessment from the human development perspective. [Evaluating] what is going to happen to infant mortality and maternal morta
