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Monday, February 28, 2005 - Web posted at 10:39:10 GMT Help feed the continent ATHENS, Greece - South African President Thabo Mbeki has called on the European Union to do more to help African countries fight poverty, stressing that hunger remains a "serious problem" for the continent. |
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Mbeki, in Athens on a two-day official visit, said hunger, poverty and under-development are the central challenges facing his country and the rest of Africa. "In South Africa, we are faced with high levels of poverty and unemployment, which are the matters that challenge us," he said. A United Nations-sponsored report released in January estimated that 150 000 children in Africa die each month from malaria, while about 72% of Africans in cities are living in slums. The UN said all but one of the 16 countries with the highest levels of hunger are in sub-Saharan Africa, where many nations are suffering from food emergencies. In 1970, the world's nations agreed to provide 0,7% of their gross national income for development assistance, and that figure was reaffirmed during a UN conference on financing development in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002. So far, only five countries have met or surpassed the target - Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Six others have made commitments to reach the target by 2015 - Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain and Britain. But 11 of the 22 richest donors, according to the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, are far from the target and have not set timetables to reach it - including the United States, Japan and Germany. - Nampa-AP |
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