UN summit confident of achieving MDGs on time if world delivers on promises

(September 13, 2010) While expressing deep concern that progress has fallen far short of what is needed, a United Nations summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Wednesday voiced confidence that with renewed global commitment the targets to slash hunger, poverty, disease and a host of other social ills can still be achieved by 2015. “We are convinced that the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, including in the poorest countries, with renewed commitment, effective implementation and intensified collective action by all Member States and other relevant stakeholders,” the summit, attended by some 140 heads of State and government, pledged in a final outcome document. The 31-page document, which touched on virtually every aspect of global issues beyond the headings of each of the eight MDGs, from human rights to corruption to climate change, focussed particularly on actions, policies and strategies to support those developing countries that are lagging most behind and those goals that are most off track, thus improving the lives of the poorest people. “We are convinced that the United Nations, on the basis of its universal membership, legitimacy and unique mandate, plays a vital role in the promotion of international cooperation for development and in supporting the acceleration of the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,” the outcome document said. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who made the summit a focal point of his activities in recent months and opened its first session on Monday with an impassioned appeal to Member States to provide the necessary investment, aid and political will to meet the MDGs. “The main message I take away from this summit is the collective will to step up,” he said.