The European Union EU is launching a special MDG initiative amounting to €1 billion for the most committed and needy partners, announced Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, in his speech at the United Nations on 21 September. The European Union has kept the fight against poverty high on its agenda. As the world leading donor, accounting for more than 50% of all development aid, the European Union has contributed to the achievement of the MDGs from the beginning.    "The European Commission alone has helped put 9 million more girls and boys in schools since 2004. We have connected 31 million households to clean drinking water. However, much remains to be done. There is no place for complacency. We must increase our efforts to reach our common objectives over the next five years. The plan also confirms our commitment to meet the 0.7% GNI target by 2015 and to assess progress on this every year. My hope is that this will encourage other donors, including emerging partners, to step up their own level of ambition," said Barroso and added: "the EU stands with countries in difficulty. We are a reliable partner even in times of economic downturn: during the food crisis we provided €1.5 billion in additional support through a Food Facility and a Flexibility Instrument reaching 50 countries and benefiting 50 million people."   Full speech is available here.   The brochure on the EU Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.