UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York

Presidents Obama and Museveni with the First Ladies during the UN Summit

Several Heads of State and Government gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York September 20-22  for the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly.  The major aim of the summit was to assess the progress on the Millennium Development Goals and commitments from the Millennium Declaration World Summit held in 2005  to promote the social and economic advancement of all peoples.  More than $40 billion was pledged over the next five years to address issues of women’s and children’s health, which are critical to all of the MDGs.

Addressing the heads of state, President Obama noted that “As President, I have made it clear that the United States will do our part.  My national security strategy recognizes development as not only a moral imperative, but a strategic and economic imperative.  Secretary of State Clinton is leading a review to strengthen and better coordinate our diplomacy and development efforts.  We’ve reengaged with multilateral development institutions.  And we’re rebuilding the United States Agency for International Development as the world’s premier development agency.  In short, we’re making sure that the United States will be a global leader in international development in the 21st century…”      

During the summit, the President of Uganda, His Excellency Kaguta Museveni, held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Clinton and discussed governance and security in the Great Lakes Region as well as the upcoming referendum on possible secession by Southern Sudan.

The UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date and the announcement of major new commitments for women's and children's health and other initiatives against poverty, hunger, and disease.
The Summit’s resulting document, Keeping the Promise: United to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, reaffirmed world leaders’ commitment to the MDGs and established an agenda for achieving the goals by 2015.