Annan to seek more British support for meeting anti-poverty goals

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said ahead of a meeting today with the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, that he would seek more UK support for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking in London, where he is on an official visit, Mr. Annan said he will appeal to Mr. Brown and the British Government to use the upcoming UK presidencies of the Group of Eight industrialized countries and the European Union "to work for the necessary political breakthrough and the additional resources needed to achieve those goals."

"Many of these goals, including the one of halving poverty by 2015, are far from being met," the Secretary-General noted, referring to the set of eight time-bound targets that seek to slash extreme poverty and hunger, curb infant mortality rates and major diseases, and improve access to education and health care for all - all by 2015.

Mr. Annan said he will be supporting the G-7 donors considering Mr. Brown's proposal for an International Finance Facility, which would be capable of doubling aid flows to the developing world up to $100 billion a year.