On 20-22 September, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.
Coming amid mixed progress and new crises that threaten the global effort to halve extreme poverty, “the summit will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the Goals,” he said, referring to the targets adopted at the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths and other ills by a 2015 deadline. Check more on their website.
On Goal 7,About ‘Ensure Environmental Sustainability’
Caring for and sustaining the environment does more than benefit our consciences – it affects our health. The water we drink, the fields we cultivate, and the food we grow all come from the earth, and it is our responsibility to nourish it. A person’s health and well being are endangered by gutted natural resources and toxic living conditions. This is particularly true in the developing world where: 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 2.4 billion people lack access to toilets, and 2 million children die every year from infections spread by dirty water or the lack of toilets.
Goal 7 aims to improve the way we manage the environment so that natural resources people need to survive will be available to future generations. There is a strong link between poverty and the environment as poor people, especially in least developed countries, are more dependent on agriculture and natural resources and are thus often the most severely affected by the pollution or destruction of them. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the losses of environmental resources.
• By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
• By 2020, achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
Managing and protecting the environment contribute greatly to reaching the other Goals.
http://www.tigweb.org/themes/mdg/goal7.html
