Funds from the European Union have helped millions to get food, education and other basic facilities, according to the Commission’s latest report on how it contributed to reducing global poverty and supporting the UN’s millennium development goals (MDGs).
In the period of 2004 to 2012, 14 million pupils went to primary school and 46.5 million people received food support through the EU funds. Tens of thousands of schools were built or renovated, millions of teachers were trained, and millions of children were immunized from infectious diseases, said the report.
“Eradicating poverty within one generation is possible… Investing in fair and sustainable globalization is not just the right thing to do, but also a matter of strategic vision,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said here on Monday.
Barroso is scheduled to take part in a special UN event in New York later this week focusing on poverty eradication and global agenda for development after 2015.
The MDGs, agreed by the international community in 2000, are set to be achieved by the year 2015, covering poverty, hunger, education, gender equality, health, environment and global partnership for development.
The EU and its member states are the world’s largest donor, highly committed to helping achieve the MDGs. It has a special program worth one billion euros (1.35 billion dollars) targeting countries under critical circumstances.
