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2 September 2008

Updated information on the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (25 September)

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The High-level Event in Brief

Governments, foundations, businesses and civil society groups have rallied around the call to action to slash poverty, hunger and disease by 2015, by announcing new commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals, at a high-level event at United Nations Headquarters on 25 September 2008. "Today we did something special. We brought together a broad coalition for change," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the end of the day-long event, which he convened with General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto. The gathering "exceeded our most optimistic expectations," he stated, noting that it generated an estimated $16 billion, including some $1.6 billion to bolster food security, more than $4.5 billion for education and $3 billion to combat malaria.

Moreover, the HLE was intended to send a message to the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar (November) from the highest political level, re-committing all actors to a robust global partnership for development.

The HLE took the form of 3 thematic Roundtables:
- Poverty and Hunger
- Education and Health
- Environmental Sustainability.

In addition, there were two cross-cutting themes: Gender and developing a Global Partnership for Development.

The outcome of the HLE was a summary from the UN Secretary-General, which highlights the stepped up commitments for the achievement of the MDGs.

For further information regarding the HLE, including the official programme and the list of partnership events, please click on the following link: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel

Reporting by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin on the High-level Event can be found at: http://www.iisd.ca/ymb/africa-mdgs/

Click on the links below for:

- NGLS Summary of the High-level Event

- Information regarding Civil Society Participation in the High-level Event

- Information regarding Partnership Events

Civil Society Participation in the High-level Event

The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) and the Millennium Campaign were identified by the United Nations as focal points for civil society engagement in the HLE. A consultation process was set up in June-July 2008 in order to seek a small number of nominations for speakers representing civil society organizations at the Rountables.

6 CSO representatives (3 from the North and 3 from the South) were invited to participate as speakers in the 3 Roundtables (2 CSOs/Roundtable).

The six speakers were:

- Mr. Ndiogou Fall, President, Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (ROPPA) (Roundtable 1)

Transcript of remarks* (English) (French)
> Video

- Mr. Ashok Bharti, Convener, National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) (Roundtable 1)

Transcript of remarks* (English)
> Video

- Ms. Dorothy Ngoma, Executive Director, National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (Roundtable 2)

Transcript of remarks* (English)
> Video

- Mr. Charles F. MacCormack, Board Chair, InterAction (Roundtable 2)

Transcript of remarks* (English)
> Video

- Ms. Barbara Stocking, CEO, Oxfam GB (Roundtable 3)

Transcript of remarks* (English)
> Video

- Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez, President, Caritas International (Roundtable 3)

Transcript of remarks* (English) (French) (Spanish)
> Video

In addition, Ms. Elaben Bhatt, Founder of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), spoke at the Opening Plenary of the Event as a representative of civil society.

Transcript of remarks* (English)
> Video

*Check all transcripts against delivery

Partnership Events

Partnership events by a variety of constituencies took place in the margins of the High-level Event. There were a range of event types, from multi-stakeholder discussions to launches of new initiatives. These events aimed to share success stories and lessons learned, provide opportunities to forge new partnerships and generate commitments to concrete next steps to fill in gaps and scale up efforts.

For more information about the outcomes of various side events, read the latest issue of NGLS’ Civil Society Observer here

For a list of partnership events and a contact focal point, click here (pdf)

Keywords: 
Economic and Social DevelopmentHealth
    
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