Brazilian President Luis Lula da Silva called for immediate and courageous steps to meet the targets specified in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when he addressed the UN summit Thursday.

He noted that under existing schemes of financing and restrictions on aid flows, the goals will simply not be met in most countries. He urged the developed countries to make more resources available to the fight against poverty and hunger and provide more development opportunities to poor countries.

If developed countries attain the required strategic vision, they will realize that this new posture, this additional effort is not only fair; it is absolutely necessary, the president said.

He warned that international peace and security will remain a mirage if these concerns are not properly addressed.

Lula described the MDGs as a significant achievement of contemporary humanism, which represent "the victory of values of human solidarity over doctrines of moral indifference and political omission towards the excluded."

"The MDGs are rooted in the conviction that we must fight inequalities, while respecting and appreciating diversity," he noted.

They underline the need to increase the production of wealth, but making the benefits available to all; never eliminating, but rather protecting and renewing the sources of life.

This will surely require new, more creative and responsible relations by humans with nature and with each other, he added.

He said Brazil has adopted the MDGs as mandatory benchmarks for all public policies and reaffirmed his government's commitment to the fight against hunger, the promotion of racial and gender equality and environmental preservation.

He also pledged Brazil's readiness to join forces with nations around the world to achieve the MDGs for the benefit of poor people and humanity worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)