Poverty goals:

African leaders urge action

UN: African leaders said Tuesday they could do more to meet UN goals to slash extreme poverty and urged stronger leadership among developing countries to tackle hunger and disease and attract investment.

A special session of the UN General Assembly is reviewing progress in meeting the UN Millennium Goals agreed in 2000 and urged intensified efforts to achieve them.

While the world looks set to halve poverty and hunger by 2015, the UN agrees that countries are behind on other goals such as improving education and maternal health, reducing child mortality, combating diseases including AIDS, promoting gender equality and protecting the environment.

The goals have been set back by the global economic crisis, which has forced some rich donors to cut development assistance as they try to trim their budgets and focus on job losses.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame urged developing countries to examine why some were behind on meeting the goals and to take charge of their own development agendas instead of leaving it up to donors and aid groups to dictate them. "Despite their good intentions, their perspective is often predicated on paternalism not on partnership, on charity not on self-reliance, and on promises unfulfilled rather than real change on the ground," he told the meeting.

He said the global political and economic landscape had changed significantly since the goals were first agreed.

"We in the developing world could do more. We have to reflect deeply on how we have driven this agenda so far and why we are lagging behind on these targets.... we must assume effective leadership," he added.

Wednesday, Reuters