Happening at the UN
MDG Summit September 2010
“We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want.”
This was the promise that 189 heads of state made to their people ten years ago. Since then, progress has been made in the fight against extreme poverty. But not nearly enough. Today, 50,000 people continue to die every day as a result of poverty. A woman dies every minute in pregnancy and childbirth. Around the globe, 72 million children still do not go to school.
There are just five years left until the 2015 deadline by which world leaders have pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in order to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes. Time is running out. But it’s not too late.
The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals concluded on September 22 with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the Goals by 2015 and the announcement of major new commitments for women's and children's health, as well as other initiatives against poverty, hunger and disease. The outcome of the Summit was a document divided in two sections.
The first section “Keeping the Promise” emphasizes the importance of the MDGs and assesses the progress to date drawing special attention to: the need for a country-specific approach, the centrality of fulfilling commitments, the importance of recognizing and acting upon the interconnectedness of the MDGs, the need for better monitoring mechanisms and increased accountability, and the special needs and challenges of vulnerable groups and conflict-prone countries.
In its second part, the draft structure identifies the “concrete strategies and targeted actions” to be taken in order to facilitate and accelerate progress on the MDGs. Entitled “The Way Forward – An Action Agenda for the Poor,” the second part of the document highlights the significance of: supporting and strengthening national ownership and institutions, empowering women and “working towards universal access to social services,” mobilizing international and domestic resources, and exploring innovative sources of financing.
The MDGs are a global plan of action, and as conscious global citizens we can all contribute to accomplishing these goals by acting locally. UNA Orlando encourages all of our members and partners to do their part by working with local non-profits and NGOs that are hard at work with the MDGs as a goal for 2015.
http://www.endpoverty2015.org/en/2010_mdg_review_summit
