UNITED NATIONS 25 September 2008 World leaders meet to get Millennium Development Goals back on track

United Nations General Assembly President Dr. Srgjan Kerim and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called this meeting of world leaders, civil society and the private sector to try to get the UN Millennium Development Goals back on track. At just over half way to the 2015 deadline commitments have not translated into action. The Secretary-General says that at the present rate, the goals will not be met in time. At a preparatory conference in April, Ban worried that "soaring food prices and slowing global growth are seriously undermining progress to achieve the MDGs."

He noted that substantial investment in agriculture and a more open trading system in agricultural commodities is urgently required.

The UNGA president said in April that focus of the September conference "should recognize the nexus between financing for development, the MDGs, and the challenge posed by climate change."

The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. They were established at the 2000 Millennium Summit, when 189 world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration. They form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. According to the United Nations, the MDGs have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. May/08

RELATED READING:

MDGs by 2015 (UN MDG April conference)
http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/MDGsStatements/mdgsummary.pdf

Now for the good news - Overseas aid does work (Observer 11 May 2008)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/11/development.unitednations

Asia-Pacific to miss MDGs if gaps not filled soon: ADB (Forbes 29 Apr 2008)
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/29/afx4943970.html