Behind the Scenes at the U.N. World Summit – September 14-16
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The United Nations World Summit — billed as one of the largest single gatherings of world leaders — will be an exercise in futility if its primary focus on poverty is subverted by other political issues. With an agenda dominated by global security and U.N. reform, it appears that the decisions needed to lift millions of people out of poverty are not being given the prominence they deserve. The United States even went so far as to demand that all references to the eight Millennium Development Goals be eliminated from a declaration. Learn what is going on behind the scenes. Read IPS coverage of the summit that likely will set the stage for future international relations and development.
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/devdeadline/index.asp
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Poverty Fight May Be Subverted at U.N. Summit

Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. summit will prove to be an exercise in futility if its primary focus on poverty and hunger eradication is subverted by other extraneous political issues.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30226

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EU Urged to Show Its Muscle

Stefania Bianchi
BRUSSELS – Development groups here are demanding that the European Union uses its “political muscle” to guide negotiations at the UN summit of world leaders toward concrete measures to implement the MDGs.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30238

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Women Under Siege, At Home and Abroad

Katherine Stapp
NEW YORK – Efforts by the George W. Bush administration to undermine international gender equality initiatives — most recently ahead of a key United Nations World Summit — are part and parcel of a broader campaign to erode reproductive rights at home, say U.S.-based activists.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30213

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TerraViva, the IPS conference newspaper published daily at the UN headquarters during the summit, is a must-read for participants and observers alike. Read it at: www.ipsterraviva.net/tv/ny/default.asp
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U.N. Summit in Danger of Being a Political Fiasco

Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS – A continued sharp division of opinion among the 191 member states — on politically-sensitive issues such as terrorism, war crimes, development aid, climate change and human rights — is threatening to make a mockery of the upcoming U.N. summit of world leaders in New York, Sep. 14-16.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30208

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MDGs Concerns Raised in Helsinki

Marina Penderis
HELSINKI – Ahead of the United Nations summit on the Millennium Development Goals in New York, participants in the international Helsinki Conference voiced their concerns about the slow progress being made on the MDGs.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30203

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Time for a “Decisive Breakthrough”, U.N. Urges

Isaac Baker
UNITED NATIONS – World leaders received a grim assessment of the pace of global human development as the United Nations released its annual development report, which chronicles the sluggish progress towards reaching internationally agreed upon goals in poverty reduction.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30168

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Anger at Washington Simmers on Eve of U.N. Meet

Haider Rizvi
UNITED NATIONS – A bid by the Bush administration to introduce massive changes in the draft document to be signed by world leaders at the U.N. summit is causing anger and frustration among many who hoped the event would solidify international efforts for peace and development.
ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=30113

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Who Deserves a Seat on New Human Rights Council?

Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS – When the United States, one of the self-declared champions of human rights, ran for a seat in the 53-member U.N. Human Rights Commission back in May 2001, it suffered a humiliating defeat and was ousted from the panel for the first time since its creation in 1947.
ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=30085

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Inequality – the Root Cause of Poverty in Latin America

Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO – The unequal distribution of wealth remains the underlying cause of poverty throughout Latin America, although the region’s countries have made widely varying degrees of progress towards achieving the MDGs.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30228

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For more IPS coverage of the MDGs visit www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/devdeadline/ and find out how to take action at www.millenniumcampaign.org/
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