New York, Sep 20 2010 10:10AM
The General Assembly President today urged countries, donors, civil society and the private sector to cooperate more closely to defeat poverty, hunger and disease, underscoring that a global partnership is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs).
In his address to the opening of the General Assembly's High-Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs, Mr. Deiss stressed that the international community has a moral duty to care about the well-being of its weakest members.
He called on the nearly 140 heads of State and government taking part in the three-day meeting to send "a strong message about our will to achieve" the MDGs by their target date of 2015.
"We must do it, we want to do it and we can do it," Mr. Deiss said. "We do not have the right to fail. The eyes of the world are upon us."
Data shows that "real progress" has been made towards some of the MDGs since they were formulated at a UN summit in 2000, with poverty declining substantially in overall terms in the past two decades.
"But we are lagging behind in some regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa. And we are also falling short in some areas, especially with regard to eradicating hunger, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Additional efforts are needed."
Mr. Deiss said the global financial crisis that began in 2008 had undermined progress towards the MDGs in many countries, but he emphasized that the preceding years of strong economic growth indicated the underlying potential of the world economy.
"We must be confident; we have the know-how and the resources to succeed, and we can do it. But that requires commitment from the donors and commitment from the beneficiaries, leading to a genuine partnership. This partnership must also include civil society and the private sector. If we want to succeed, we have to do it together."
World leaders and other senior government officials are addressing the high-level meeting over the next three days and also holding round-table discussions to examine how they can focus their efforts over the next five years to try to reach the Goals.
Sep 20 2010 10:10AM
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