MDG Gap Task Force Report 2009:
Although development assistance rose to record levels in 2008, donors are falling short by $35 billion per year on the 2005 pledge on annual aid flows made by the Group of Eight in Gleneagles, and by $20 billion a year on aid to Africa, according to the 2009 Report of the MDG Gap Task Force. The Task Force brings together more than 20 UN agencies, the IMF, World Bank, WTO and OECD to track progress on the development partnership called for in the eighth Millennium Development Goal. | Press Release | Fact Sheet
The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009:
More than halfway to the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), major advances in the fight against poverty and hunger have begun to slow or even reverse as a result of the global economic and food crises, a progress report by the United Nations has found. The assessment, launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Geneva, warns that, despite many successes, overall progress has been too slow for most of the targets to be met by 2015.
International Review Conference on Financing for Development:
Heads of State and Government ministers gathered in Doha, Qatar, in early December for a long-planned conference to make recommendations on key inputs required to fuel development -- trade, aid, investment, debt alleviation, national resource mobilization and effective international financial architecture. The conference had succeeded in reaffirming that development assistance should continue even throughout the current financial crisis, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Conference said. Press Release
Stand Up Against Poverty
Over 100 million people mobilized under the slogan “Stand Up - Take Action” at events in more than 100 countries around the globe between 17 and 19 October to demand that world leaders do not use the financial crisis as an excuse for breaking the promises they made in 2000 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. "In rich and poor countries, at concerts and sporting events, in universities and in houses of worship, millions of people showed that they will not remain seated in the face of poverty and broken promises to end it” said Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign.
High-level Meeting on Africa’s Development Needs Concerned by the deepening effects of the global food crisis and climate change on Africa’s ability to eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals, world leaders attending a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on 22 September recommitted themselves to strengthening a “global partnership of equals”, based on shared responsibility and determination to mobilize resources. They adopted a political declaration on “Africa’s development needs: state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward."
Delivering on the Global Partnership for Achieving the MDGs
A new UN report finds significant progress in providing debt relief to the world’s poorest countries, but not in fulfilling trade and development aid commitments. Donors will need to increase their development assistance by $18 billion a year between now and 2010 if they are to meet their previously agreed pledges.
MDG Gap Task Force report [PDF]
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.
