The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit drew to a close yesterday with governments pledging their support for the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date.
The three-day summit held in New York was attended by world leaders who unanimously renewed their commitments to the goals within the UN framework. With just five years to go until 2015, the meeting was a chance to review progress and formulate an action agenda for the remaining time.
The summit touted MDG successes in a number of areas, such as primary school education and access to clean water, but also pointed to key areas where progress has fallen short: maternal mortality, for instance, remains high with hundreds of thousands of women and girls dying in pregnancy or childbirth every year.
One key commitment emerging from the summit was a pledge by governments and private aid investors to put $40 billion over the next five years towards accelerating progress on women's and children's health. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said “women and children play a crucial role in development. Investing in their health is not only the right thing to do – it also builds stable, peaceful and productive societies”.
In his speech, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called on rich countries to live up to their promises on aid as he announced that the UK is to triple its spending on tackling malaria. He also reiterated the UK's commitment to raise spending on overseas aid to 0.7 per cent of annual economic output from 2013 – currently it is 0.5 per cent.
But while leaders from the developed countries reaffirmed their commitment to the goals, they also emphasised that strategic solutions by developing countries were essential to ensure real progress in the long term. US President Obama, for underscored that MDG success would only be possible if developing countries were creative in raising funds and building their own capacities. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, echoed these sentiments saying “development aid cannot continue indefinitely,” adding good governance is crucial to a country's economic potential.
Phil Mulligan, UNA-UK Executive Director, said ""the meeting in New York was a real opportunity to generate momentum in these last crucial years for the MDGs. Governments must now ensure that the promises they made are embedded within their national policies if they are to yield results"".
Click here to read the Summit outcome document
