This meeting is the first preparatory meeting for the UN Economic and Social Council’s 2005 High-Level Segment. The meeting will consist of seven roundtable discussions focusing on achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, as well as implementing the outcomes of the major UN conferences and summits.
Opening statements will be given by: Munir Akram (Pakistan), President of ECOSOC; Jean Ping, President of the General Assembly; and José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals, and François Bourguignon, Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President, Development Economics, World Bank.
Roundtable 1 on eradication of poverty and hunger will look at the major outcomes and commitments of conferences and summits on poverty and the eradication of hunger, including MDG-1.
Roundtable 2 on education and literacy will look at the major outcomes and commitments of conferences and summits in the area of education and literacy, including MDG-2.
Roundtable 3 on health and mortality will look at the major outcomes and commitments of conferences and summits on health and mortality, including MDGs-4, 5 and 6.
Roundtable 4 on global partnerships and financing development will look at partnerships and financing development, including for the implementation of commitments of conferences and summits and MDG-8.
Roundtable 5 on gender equality and the empowerment of women will look at the major outcomes and commitments of conferences and summits on gender and the empowerment of women, including MDG-3.
Roundtable 6 on environmental sustainability will look at the major outcomes and commitments of conferences and summits on environmental sustainability, including MDG-7.
Roundtable 7 on implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, at the country-level: How to advance recommendations on an MDG-based approach to poverty reduction will focus on the key recommendations coming out of the Millennium Project and how they can be implemented at the country level.
The ECOSOC High-level segment will take place from 29 June to 1 July 2005, and the Coordination segment will take place from 5-7 July 2005 at UN headquarters in
New York. The Coordination segment will address the theme: “Towards achieving internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration,” and the High level segment will address “Achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, as well as implementing the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits: progress made, challenges and opportunities.”
Background to the Review of the Millennium Declaration
At the UN Millennium Summit, held from 6-8 September 2000, in
New York
, world leaders agreed on a far-reaching Declaration to support global development objectives for the new century, and reaffirmed their commitment to work toward a world of peace and security for all, in which sustainable development and poverty eradication would have the highest priority. The Millennium Declaration, adopted during the
Summit
, outlines a clear set of responses to these challenges, and establishes concrete measures for judging performance through a set of inter-related commitments, goals and targets on development, governance, peace, security and human rights. The Declaration, addresses issues regarding: peace, security and disarmament; development and poverty eradication; the protection of the environment; human rights, democracy and good governance; the needs of the most vulnerable; the special needs of Africa; and the strengthening of the UN.
At its 58th session, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 58/291 on the follow-up to the Millennium
Summit
, in which the General Assembly decided to convene in
New York
in 2005, a high-level plenary meeting of the Assembly with the participation of Heads of State and Government. The Assembly also decided that the High-level Plenary Meeting would undertake a comprehensive review of the progress made in the fulfillment of all the commitments contained in the UN Millennium Declaration, including the internationally agreed development goals and the global partnership required for their achievement. The Assembly also decided that the High-level Plenary Meeting would review progress made in the integrated and coordinated implementation, at the national, regional and international levels, of the outcomes and commitments of the major UN conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields, on the basis of a comprehensive report to be submitted by the Secretary-General.
At its 59th session in 2004, the General Assembly adopted resolution 59/145 on the modalities, format and organization of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly: In the resolution, the General Assembly:
decided that the High-level Plenary Meeting will be held on 14-16 September 2005, and will be composed of six plenary meetings, on the basis of two meetings a day, and four interactive round-table sessions;
decided to hold the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development on 27 and 28 June 2005 in New York immediately prior to the high-level segment of the 2005 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, and also decided to hold a separate meeting on Financing for Development within the framework of the High-level Plenary Meeting;
requested the President of the General Assembly, in consultation with representatives of non-governmental organizations, to organize informal interactive hearings in June 2005 in New York with representatives of NGOs, civil society organizations and the private sector, as an input to the preparatory process of the High-level Plenary Meeting;
urged all Member States to take a positive interest in the process of formal and informal consultations leading to the High-level Plenary Meeting and to engage actively, at the highest level of government, with a view to reaching a successful outcome of the High-level Plenary Meeting; and
requested the President of the General Assembly to continue to hold consultations with all Member States in an open-ended manner, with a view to taking decisions on all outstanding process-related outstanding issues of the High-level Plenary Meeting.
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