Global: UN Millennium Summit delivers rhetoric without commitment

Following the G8 Summit, Global Campaign for Education campaigners turned their attention to the Millennium +5 World Summit in New York . It was originally conceived as an opportunity for Heads of State to review progress in meeting the Millennium Declaration of 2000, strengthen the UN and commit countries to peace-building measures. During 2005 the Summit became a major campaigning moment for anti-poverty activists, especially the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, demanding that governments of rich and poor countries deliver on past promises to end the scandal of global poverty. Following hard on the heels of the G8 Summit, hopes were originally high that it would be an opportunity for world leaders to spell out real action on aid, trade, debt and poverty reduction strategies. Sadly, these aspirations were dashed as Summit negotiations descended into farce following a last-minute intervention by the US.