News roundup: MDG Summit

The MDG Summit is over, but the message of hope the Goals send is louder and clearer than ever. No doubt progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go. Reactions to the Summit have been largely positive, although some NGOs were dissatisfied; ActionAid's chief executive Joanna Kerr called it an "expensive side-show", stating that these summits will continue to fail so long as leaders continue to make empty promises.

Ghana was represented at the Summit by our Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Alhaji Mumuni. He described the progress that has made for each goal thus far and pointed out that while Ghana has seen some encouraging progress, work still needs to be done. Although he remarked that various changes needed to be made, no mention was made concerning how these changes would be implemented. You can read his speech in full here.

After preceding the Summit insisting the MDGs can be met with the right amount of work, Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health (which Ghana and 40 other states have committed to) as a buffer for MDGs 4 and 5, arguably the furthest from being met. President Obama used the Summit as a platform to reveal the his new International Development Policy, and Nick Clegg pledged to increase UK spending on malaria by a third to £500m a year by 2014. To view the Summit's official outcome document, click here.

Many promises were made - and with only five years to go, now is the time has come to hold our leaders accountable. They have proven they can all talk the talk, now they must walk the walk. There will be an opportunity to do this early next month. World leaders will be meeting to confirm their support to the Global Fund, an organisation that works to combat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS worldwide. We will be watching!