Fifty-four heads of government and hundreds of ministers arrive in Monterrey, Mexico next week for a huge United Nations conference on financing development. For supporters of foreign aid, particularly James Wolfensohn, the boss of the World Bank, this is an occasion for rich countries to pledge a doubling of their foreign aid. Mr Wolfensohn wants rich countries to boost their aid budgets by $10 billion in each of the next five years, to $100 billion a year. That, he reckons, is the money it will take to reach the ambitious development goals-which include cutting poverty in half, reducing child mortality by two―thirds and ensuring universal primary education―that 189 countries committed themselves to in 2000. Achieving these goals, Mr Wolfensohn claims, is not only right from a moral point of view. It is also essential for rich-world security.
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