Zenit News
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 26, 2008: The president of Caritas Internationalis lamented that at current rates of progress, the 
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) set to be attained by 2015 may take 100 years to reach. Cardinal Oscar RodrÃguez Maradiaga affirmed this yesterday, in a joint statement from Caritas and the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity sent to the Group of Eight leaders. The leaders of the G-8 nations will meet in Japan in early July.
Cardinal RodrÃguez Maradiaga said, "We regret that we have to write once again in 2008 to remind donor governments of the promises that remain unfulfilled”. "There is now a real danger that the Millennium Development Goals will be remembered as empty words. This can only fuel the cynicism with which so many people in developing countries already regard rich countries' expressions of concern." The cardinal noted that the term set for achieving the goals is already half over. It is clear, he added, "that too many countries will fail to achieve the goals. In some cases, at present rates of progress, they may have to wait more than a hundred years before the goals are reached."
The eight Millennium Development Goals are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership of development.
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) set to be attained by 2015 may take 100 years to reach. Cardinal Oscar RodrÃguez Maradiaga affirmed this yesterday, in a joint statement from Caritas and the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity sent to the Group of Eight leaders. The leaders of the G-8 nations will meet in Japan in early July.Cardinal RodrÃguez Maradiaga said, "We regret that we have to write once again in 2008 to remind donor governments of the promises that remain unfulfilled”. "There is now a real danger that the Millennium Development Goals will be remembered as empty words. This can only fuel the cynicism with which so many people in developing countries already regard rich countries' expressions of concern." The cardinal noted that the term set for achieving the goals is already half over. It is clear, he added, "that too many countries will fail to achieve the goals. In some cases, at present rates of progress, they may have to wait more than a hundred years before the goals are reached."
The eight Millennium Development Goals are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership of development.