September 21, 11

NEWS / UN advocates agree to targeted actions in support of anti-poverty goals

21 September 2011 –
Eminent personalities from the private sector, academia, governments and civil society have agreed to lead a series of targeted actions to boost the achievement of the United Nations targets to slash hunger, poverty, disease and lack of access to education by 2015.

The MDG Advocacy Group was set up last year by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help him build political will and mobilize global action towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Meeting yesterday at UN Headquarters on the margins of the 66th General Assembly, the Group endorsed an action plan that encourages each advocate to champion at least one of the specific MDG initiatives that are grouped in two thematic clusters: food security and sustainable growth; and education and health.

“Through these initiatives, the MDG Advocates aim to generate further momentum toward MDG achievement as the 2015 deadline for meeting the Goals approaches rapidly,” states a news release on the meeting, which was co-chaired by Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain.

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro welcomed “the important leadership, passion and expertise” provided by the Advocacy Group and noted that “targeted interventions” in support of individual Goals would foster real progress.

During the meeting, the advocates also discussed the need to strengthen global advocacy on the MDGs in light of the current global economic climate and declining official development assistance (ODA), and to build strong political support for innovative financing mechanisms.

Yesterday’s gathering, the second annual meeting since the group was set up in June 2010, also touched on a number of other issues, including the linkages between poverty, climate change and sustainable development in light of the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held next June in Brazil.

The eight MDGs seek to: end poverty and hunger; achieve universal education; secure gender equality; improve child health; boost maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS; ensure environmental sustainability; and attain global partnership on development.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39650&Cr=mdg&Cr1=