国际英语新闻：Obama says U.S. changing guidelines for overall development efforts

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the United States is changing guidelines for its overall development efforts.

"Today, I am announcing our new U.S. Global Development Policy - - the first of its kind by an American administration," he said in a speech at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals summit.

"It outlines our new approach and the new thinking that will guide our overall development efforts ... Put simply, the Unites States is changing the way we do business," said Obama.

U.S. President Obama speaks during the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit at the UN Headquarters in New York Sept. 22, 2010.

Obama argued in his speech that progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders, including his fellow Americans.

Global development is not mere charity and it serves U.S. interests, said Obama, adding that it is not only a moral imperative but a strategic and economic imperative.

The Obama administration has expressed in the past its intention to add development to diplomacy and defense as the three core pillars of American power.

Obama said, regarding his newly-announced development policy, that the United States will change the definition and the ultimate goal of development.

"For too long, we've measured our efforts by the dollars we spent and the food and medicines we delivered. But aid alone is not development," he said.

"Instead of just managing poverty, we have to offer nations and peoples a path out of poverty," he added.