MESSAGE TO SPECIAL MINISTERIAL MEETING FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL REVIEW IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Photo: UNDP Lao PDR/Harish Murthi

It is a pleasure to send greetings to all the participants in this Special Ministerial Meeting.

Ten years ago, Heads of State and Governments made a solemn promise to spare no effort to fight extreme poverty and inequalities, and to build a global partnership for development by 2015.

Next month, world leaders will return to New York to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and, we hope, agree on strategies and concrete steps to accelerate progress so that we can fulfil the promises that were made.

 To date, the global record is mixed: there have been many important gains, but much remains to be done.

Despite the recent food, energy and economic and financial crises, the developing world remains on track to halve extreme poverty from its 1990 level.  A number of countries have registered major successes in combating hunger, improving school enrolment and child health, expanding access to clean water and HIV treatment, and controlling tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. These improvements have happened in some of the poorest countries, demonstrating that the MDGs are indeed achievable.  Read more

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