PRESS BRIEFING ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The international community still had a long way to go towards fulfilling the Millennium Declaration, said Michael Doyle, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, as he briefed journalists on the Secretary-General’s report on the Millennium Development Goals at a press briefing at Headquarters this afternoon.

Mr. Doyle said the Secretary-General’s report was the first of 13 annual reports to be produced until 2015, tracking the implementation of the Millennium Declaration.  The major message of the report was that the world community remained far from fulfilling the Millennium Declaration.  The record so far was mixed, at best.

On the positive side, there had been successes in peacekeeping and peace- building in East Timor, as well as progress in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, Mr. Doyle said.  There had also been considerable progress within the United Nations system in implementing the recommendations of the Brahimi report as well as in capacity-building. 

Concerning the key Millennium Development Goal -- reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than 1 dollar a day by 2015 -- the international community was actually on target.  However, this target was just barely being met, and it was as a result of the exceptional progress in East Asia compensating for the lack of progress or even regression in other parts of the world.  Progress had also been witnessed in the entry into force of the International Criminal Court, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Union.  The establishment of the African Union was a sign of progress; however, the fact that almost half of Africa’s population was below the poverty line remained a challenge.  

Turning to setbacks, Mr. Doyle stressed that the terrorist attacks of

11 September had had a tremendous impact on international security concerning people’s security and well-being.  There was also a worrying lag in the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals, such as the dreadful situation of child and maternal mortality.  The target for child mortality was to reduce by two thirds its global rate, but unfortunately, current progress was only producing a rate of decline of one fourth.  In the judgement of experts, the targets could be met only with rapidly increased and more concerted investment of effort and materials.

Highlighting the two themes of the report, prevention and HIV/AIDS, he said, regarding prevention, that the report stressed the importance of national political will and capacities, the role of regional efforts and the importance of mainstreaming prevention planning at the global level.  On HIV/AIDS, the report dealt with issues relating to prevention, access to medication, stigma and discrimination, and the mobilization of a global response.

When asked whether the Millennium Development Goals were really achievable in light of poverty, hunger and HIV/AIDS, Mr. Doyle said achieving the targets

depended on the political will and resources mobilized.  This was a challenge that needed to be faced on national, regional and global levels.

Asked why a 10-year base had been used to assess the progress made in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, he explained that it would be very difficult to measure progress based on one year alone.  By looking at the period of the 1990s there was enough room to get a perspective on progress towards implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

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