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Germany says there can be "no development without security"

21 September 2010 21:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said there can be "no development without security and no security without development," as she stressed the need for peace in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

"Development policy measures cannot be effective without security, and in turn peacekeeping efforts will lead to nothing if there are no development prospects," the German chancellor said as she was speaking at the UN high-level meeting on the MDGs, which entered its second day here Tuesday.

"The Millennium Development Goals must not be interpreted as a kind of menu from which you can choose what you like best," she told the meeting.

Established by the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, the MDGs include time-bound targets for reducing extreme poverty and child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics and for promoting gender equality, education and environmental sustainability by the year 2015.

"Most importantly however, sustainable development as well as economic and social progress are unthinkable without good governance and respect for human rights," said Merkel.

"There is one thing that we all have to accept: the primary responsibility for development lies with the governments of the developing countries. It is in their hands whether aid can be effective," she added.