Having worked and lived in various countries, but in particular during several years spent in Pakistan (where I also worked on development issues in Afghanistan), I am strongly convinced of the critical importance for us all of international development work. And specifically the need to implement the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In recent months, the British Government has shown its strong intent to increase UK development spending to the agreed UN target of 0.7% of GNI.
It is reassuring to know that the Hungarian Government, although development spending lags behind some other EU donor states in percentage terms, seems determined to keep the general topic of development on both the national and EU agenda. On its EU Presidency priority list (still to issue in final form) Hungary is highlighting the importance of tackling child poverty and social integration (not least of the Roma). Hungary was also an active participant of last month’s UN MDG Summit. As a multiple Olympic champion, and probably the only Head of State to be able to claim this, President Pál Schmitt took the opportunity to link development with the need for a healthy lifestyle and physical wellbeing.
The MDGs are not just targets set by governments. They are about the lives – and deaths – of ordinary people. We have the skills and technology to make the necessary changes, and the wealth to honour our commitments (even in this time of financial and economic difficulty). So there are really no excuses for evading these responsibilities. And in the global world in which we live today, supporting achievement of the MDGs is not just the “right” thing to do, but it’s in our national self interest too – for all of us. No country is isolated. Development problems in one part of the world directly affect us all – whether because of environmental degradation, illegal migration, the drugs trade, disruption of trade or the spread of disease (to mention just a few potential consequences).
The British Embassy in Budapest is trying hard to raise local awareness about the importance of development and the reduction of poverty. For instance, not long ago, we organised a large photo exhibition of the pictures of writer, filmmaker and award winning photojournalist Nick Danziger, who travelled to eight of the world’s poorest countries and met many who are living in extreme poverty – his striking photos illustrate the MDGs in a variety of ways. In September 2010, just a few days before the UN MDG Summit, the Embassy organised its own conference with the participation of the UK Department for International Development or DfID and staff from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as well as a number of international NGOs. And just last week we sponsored some work by an independent Roma organisation, which works hard through various projects to improve the life of those Roma children who live in unimaginable conditions.
Development issues are sure to surface in one way or another during the Hungarian EU Presidency. And we stand by to assist by sharing our own expertise in this field with our Hungarian friends – not least through a colleague from DfiD whom we have loaned to the MFA for the duration of the Presidency.