High-Level Event on the MDGsWorld leaders will come together in New York on 25 September 2008 for a high-level event convened by the UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly to renew commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and to set out concrete plans and practical steps for action.
What's Going On?
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa
The MDG Africa Steering Group, convened by the UN Secretary-General, issued its recommendations, laying out practical steps, strategies and costed programmes needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, in a landmark report produced and endorsed by the United Nations and other major development institutions.
The Challenge of Rising Food Prices
Steep food price increases are reducing nutritional levels and placing pressure on the budgets of poor households, thereby undercutting progress on the first Millennium Development Goal and its targets of cutting in half the share of the world’s population suffering from hunger and from extreme poverty, between 1990 and 2015. In early 2008, the UN Secretary-General assembled a food crisis task force of UN agencies, which put together and is carrying out a coordinated action plan to improve agricultural capacity and access to food. The UN also convened a Rome meeting on world food security in June.
Making Aid More Effective
From 2 to 4 September, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations and civil society organizations from around the world will gather in Accra, Ghana, for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to help developing countries in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.
High-level Meeting on Africa’s Development Needs
On 22 September, the UN General Assembly will hold a high-level meeting that will bring together world leaders to renew their commitments to Africa’s development and focus attention on how to address the challenges. The high-level meeting will also be attended by civil society organizations, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization, the regional development banks and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Stand Up Against Poverty
From October 17 to 19, people all around the world will be invited to Stand Up and Take Action, to be a part of the growing global movement determined to stamp out poverty and inequality. Last year, more than 43 million people all over the world stood up and spoke out sending a clear and powerful message to governments: Keep your promises to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
International Review Conference on Financing for Development:
As a follow-up to the 2002 Monterrey Consensus, an International Review Conference on Financing for Development will take place in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November to 2 December, to address progress made, reaffirm goals and commitments, share best practices and lessons learned.
