Millennium Goals

UN chief sees MDGs achievable, calls for efforts

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-20 22:24
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UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Monday that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) "are achievable" by its deadline of 2015, calling on world leaders to exercise political leadership and keep their promise to translate the eight MDGs targets into reality.

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The secretary-general made the statement as he opened a high-level meeting on the MDGs, which kicked-off here to review the status of the anti-poverty targets--the gaps and gains in the world efforts to reach the MDGs targets and what works and what doesn't in the process.

The MDGs, endorsed by world leaders in September 2000, set out eight targets which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015.

"Despite the obstacles, despite the scepticism, despite the fast-approaching deadline of 2015, the Millennium Development Goals are achievable,"  Ban said.

As the clock ticks closer to the deadline, Ban called on the international community to stay true to its commitment to end "the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty."

"Being true means supporting the vulnerable despite the economic crisis. We should not balance budgets on the backs of the poor. We must not draw back from official development assistance -- a life-line of billions for billion," he said.

As the global economic crisis continues to unfold, budget constraints on donor countries have strained assistance to developing countries.

The secretary-general warned however that "recovery from the economic crisis should not mean a return to the flawed and unjust path that got us into trouble in the first place."

Despite fiscal challenges, Ban urged countries to look towards success stories in meeting the MDGs.

"This year I visited nearly a dozen countries in Africa and saw for myself what is possible. At the Millennium Village in Malawi, at the Songhai community in Benin, I saw innovation, integrated projects, and perseverance," he said.

"We must reward such faith with resolve of our own. By using the tools we have. By delivering the resources we need. Above all by exercising political leadership. I urge you to make the MDGs your own," Ban added.