Major UN Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals

On 25 September, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon will host an historic event in New York. For the first time, the world will come together to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The event, which will be attended by over 90 heads of state, as well as business, faith, charity leaders and celebrities, will be part of a week of action at the UN, which started with an African MDG meeting on 22 September.

Eradicating the worst of global poverty is one of the biggest challenges we face today – one that will take the sustained and committed efforts of governments, the private sector, civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and faith groups from across the planet.

At the New York meeting, key players from these groups will join in broad partnerships and set out the concrete actions they will each take to reach the MDGs. Find out more on the special UN website about the meeting.

The Millennium Development Goals
At the start of the new millennium, world leaders gathered at the UN to make a promise: that we would do everything within our power to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

Agreed at this summit were the Millennium Development Goals - The targets are clear on a range of key issues such as increasing the number of children in school, improving healthcare, cutting maternal and child deaths, combating major diseases and stopping environmental degradation.

All of these make a huge difference to the quality of people’s lives. And, since 2000, we have already seen big changes: there are now 41 million more children in school, 3 million more children are surviving childhood each year, and 2 million more people are receiving treatment for AIDS.

Development Secretary Douglas Alexander:

"We are pushing to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals and truly form a global partnership for development. In this year of action on the MDGs we must keep the promises we’ve made to the world's poorest."

But, halfway to 2015, and in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we now need to ensure that the promises of the international community do not become mere aspirations.

In 2008, we face a development emergency which we cannot ignore. We must face it together. Ending poverty and stimulating global prosperity benefits us all.

Notes for Editors

More detailed information is available on the World Bank's Online Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals.

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