EU leaders raise ODA commitment

The leaders of the European Union(EU) committed themselves on Friday an agreement reached in May which would increase the 25-nation bloc's development aid in the next few years.

In a draft presidency conclusion ending the two-day summit, theEU leaders said that they would carry collectively their level of Official Development Aid (ODA) to 0.56 percent of their Gross National Income (GNI) by 2010.

"That would result in an additional 20 billion euros (about 24 billion US dollars) a year in ODA," said the conclusion.

EU leaders also committed themselves to reaching an ODA threshold of 0.7 percent of their GNI until 2015, which is the deadline for the achievement of the United Nations (UN) MillenniumDevelopment Goals.

The EU leaders in their conclusion welcomed the G8's agreement to grant 100 percent multilateral debt relief to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. The G8 includes the seven most industrialized countries and Russia.

With regard to the UN reform, the leaders reaffirmed EU's strong support to efficient multilateralism and to the reform process of the UN.

"The European Council considers it is essential to arrive at a balanced and ambitious outcome enabling the UN to be reformed so that it can respond more practically and effectively to the multi-dimensional threats and challenges," said the conclusion.

Source: Xinhua