Following on a proposal by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the General Assembly of the UN has decided to convene a Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit on 20-22 September, 2010, with the primary objective to accelerate progress towards all the MDGs by 2015. The summit will take into account the progress made towards the internationally agreed development goals.
The summit is expected to undertake a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, “leading to concrete strategies for action”.
If the MDGs are to be achieved by 2015, not only must the level of financial investment be increased but innovative programmes and policies aimed at overall development and economic and social transformation must be rapidly scaled up and replicated. The MDGs are achievable, but there is clearly an urgent to address challenges, acknowledge failures and come together to overcome the obstacles to their achievement. This will require the embrace of pioneering ideas and political will on the part of governments and their development partners.
The simple fact is that 189 world leaders made an historic promise at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. It’s up to citizens to make sure leaders follow through on these commitments.
One way to get involved – either individually or through your organization is through the “United Nations Millennium Campaign”. The Millennium Campaign supports people from around the world to take action in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
