Tough questions dodged by some at BBC World Debate: What's holding us back?

I attended the taping of the BBC World debate on the MDGs today at the Ford Foundation, 5:30 pm. It was great. The whole auditorium was overflowing with government officials and Civil Society partners. One of the panelists was from our GCAP partner in India.

The topic of the debate was 'MDG's: What's holding us back?' The discussion brought together heads of state from developing and developed world, leading figures from the global industry and civil society, as well as academics. The debate focused on governance, aid, trade and the role of business. There was also an opportunity for some audience participation. The debate was moderated by BBC's presenter, Zeinab Badawi.

There were a lot of hard hitting questions on the issues that we have been lobbying on (e.g. aid and aid effectiveness, agri subsidies, innovative financing). The panelists from the US gave her standard answer and didn't elaborate very much to the point of evading and not answering the question. The poor EU commissioner got lambasted by questions on financial bailout for countries during the financial crisis but no funds to bail out the poor. The leader of the African Union, also the President of Malawi, was also asked about the abject poverty in Africa and especially the marginalised groups (women and children) who suffer most.

If you get the chance please watch the debate on September 25/26 (Sat 25: 0930 GMT, 2230 GMT, and Sun 26:0230 GMT, 1530 GMT). It will also be available on the BBC website.