Washington, Sep 23 (DPA) US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for a new approach to international development by focusing on sustainability and requiring greater accountability for poor countries to ensure aid if effectively used.
"We're making it clear that we will partner with countries that are willing to take the lead," Obama said at a UN conference in New York on international development. "Because the days when your development was dictated in foreign capitals must come to an end."
Obama's remarks came as he signed a new US policy directive that for the first time raises international development to the top of the US foreign agenda and defines it as a national security issue.
"So let's put to rest the old myth that development is mere charity that does not serve our interests," Obama said. "And let's reject the cynicism that says certain countries are condemned to perpetual poverty."