This goal has not only now been accepted but explicitly made "applicable to all countries", which is widely understood to mean that developing as well as developed countries should in future take on binding commitments.
The announcement came a week before a NATO summit meeting in Chicago intended to determine the allies' future commitments in Afghanistan.
If India fails to avoid an economic paralysis in the coming months, future commitments of development projects and commissioning of new ones may slowdown.
In a context of shrinking donor commitment and global economic crisis, the mobilization and effective use of domestic resources are key elements to meeting MDG 5 by 2015, but they are also key to fulfilling future commitments in the area of maternal and reproductive health.
The more credible the choices, the more we ensure that frontline services are indeed protected, and that we are in a position to make future commitments to combat unemployment and invest in education.
China and, particularly, India came under real fire for their caution in taking on legally binding future commitments, but despite their protestations, were unable to ensure the different responsibilities of rich and poor countries was reflected in the final deal.
The company has an estimated net debt of £134m and even higher liabilities in future rent commitments stretching to an average of five and a half years, according to its annual report.
Any future commitments are conditional on keeping a majority of the committee in line.
But in the final minutes, the EU agreed a phrase that it said would ensure future commitments were binding.
And investors in their funds, known as limited partners, have been clamoring to extract cash and reduce future commitments.
