Undelivered aid commitments hamper progress on MDGs: UN report

A UN report released here Thursday said that undelivered aid commitments by developed countries are holding back progress on the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs).

According to the report titled "The State of the Global Partnership for Development", while many MDG targets have already been met -- such as reducing poverty, increasing access to improved drinking water sources, improving the lives of slum dwellers and achieving gender parity in primary school -- progress on other goals has slowed, Xinhua reported.

"With only one year ahead, we definitely need a strong sense of urgency and action," Wu Hongbo, UN under-secretary-general for Economic and Social Affairs, said at a press conference here to launch the report.

The report, produced by the MDG Gap Force Task Force which is co-chaired by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UN Development Program (UNDP), tracks delivery on commitments listed under Goal 8 of the MDGs.

That target focuses on the global partnership for development, including aid, trade, debt relief, access to essential medicines and access to technologies.

Despite a rebound in Official Development Assistance (ODA), the gap between the Goal 8 targets and policy delivery remains wide, the report said.