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SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN'S REPORT CALLS ON LEADERS TO REACH A NEW GLOBAL DEAL TO TACKLE THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND TO OVERHAUL THE UNITED NATIONS

Released at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on 21 March 2005, the Secretary-General's report entitled "In larger freedom: Towards development, security and human rights for all," is expected to provide the basis for discussion and decisions during the High-Level Plenary meeting of the General Assembly's 60th session from 14-16 September 2005. According to the Secretary-General, the high level plenary meeting "will be a unique opportunity for the world's leaders to consider a broad range of issues and make decisions that will improve the lives of people around the world significantly."

The report addresses a number of key issues facing the global community. In chapter 2, Freedom from want, the Secretary-General addresses: the need for a shared vision of development; the establishment of national strategies; trade and financing for development; ensuring environmental sustainability; other priorities for global action; and the need to address the implementation challenge. In chapter 3, Freedom from fear, the Secretary-General addresses: a vision of collective security; preventing catastrophic terrorism; nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; reducing the risk and prevalence of war; and the use of force. In chapter 4, Freedom to live in dignity, the Secretary-General addresses the importance of the rule of law, human rights and democracy. In chapter 5, Strengthening the United Nations, the Secretary-General addresses options for reforming the General Assembly, the Councils, the Secretariat, ensuring system coherence, the role of regional organizations, and updating the Charter of the United Nations. The report also contains an Annex for decision by Heads of State and Government, listing all the Secretary-General's recommendations, which are expected to lay the foundation for a decision in September. The Secretary-General's recommendations are based in part on the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and the report of the UN Millennium Project.

Regarding global environmental governance and the UN Environment Programme, the Secretary-General recommended the need for a more integrated structure for environmental standard-setting, scientific discussion and monitoring, and treaty compliance that is built on existing institutions, such as UNEP, as well as the treaty bodies and specialized agencies, and that assigns environmental activities at the operational level to the development agencies to ensure an integrated approach to sustainable development;

On climate change, the Secretary-General recommended the need to ensure concerted global action to mitigate climate change, including through technological innovation, and underscored the need to develop a more inclusive international framework for climate change beyond 2012, with broader participation by all major emitters and both developing and developed countries, taking into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Among the recommendations proposed by the Secretary-General to Heads of State and Government were calls to world leaders to:

§ Reaffirm and commit themselves to implementing the development consensus agreed in 2002 at the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico and the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and centered on the Millennium Development Goals;

§ Recognize the special needs of Africa and reaffirm the solemn commitments made to address those needs on an urgent basis;

§ Decide that each developing country with extreme poverty should by 2006 adopt and begin to implement a comprehensive national strategy bold enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals targets for 2015;

§ Undertake to ensure that developed countries that have not already done so establish timetables to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance by no later than 2015, starting with significant increases no later than 2006 and reaching at least 0.5 per cent by 2009;

§ Decide that debt sustainability should be redefined as the level of debt that allows a country to both achieve the Millennium Development Goals and reach 2015 without an increase in its debt ratios; that, for most HIPC countries, this will require exclusively grant-based finance and 100 per cent debt cancellation, while for many heavily indebted non-HIPC and middle-income countries it will require significantly more debt reduction than has yet been on offer; and that additional debt cancellation should be achieved without reducing the resources available to other developing countries and without jeopardizing the long-term financial viability of international financial institutions;

§ Complete the World Trade Organization Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations no later than 2006, with full commitment to realizing its development focus, and as a first step provide immediate duty-free and quota-free market access for all exports from the least developed countries;

§ Decide to launch, in 2005, an International Financial Facility to support an immediate front-loading of official development assistance, underpinned by commitments to achieving the 0.7 per cent ODA target no later than 2015; and to consider other innovative sources of finance for development to supplement the Facility in the longer term;

§ Decide to launch a series of "quick win" initiatives so as to realize major immediate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals through such measures as the free distribution of malaria bednets and effective antimalaria medicines, the expansion of home-grown school meals programmes using locally produced foods and the elimination of user fees for primary education and health services;

§ Ensure that the international community urgently provides the resources needed for an expanded and comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS, as identified by UNAIDS and its partners, and full funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria;

§ Reaffirm gender equality and the need to overcome pervasive gender bias by increasing primary school completion and secondary school access for girls, ensuring secure tenure of property to women, ensuring access to reproductive health services, promoting equal access to labor markets, providing opportunity for greater representation in government decision-making bodies, and supporting direct interventions to protect women from violence;

§ Recognize the need for significantly increased international support for scientific research and development to address the special needs of the poor in the areas of health, agriculture, natural resource and environmental management, energy and climate; and

§ Decide that, starting in 2005, developing countries that put forward sound, transparent and accountable national strategies and require increased development assistance should receive a sufficient increase in aid, of sufficient quality and arriving with sufficient speed to enable them to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Secretary-General presents report "In larger freedom" to General Assembly, outlining ambitious plan for United Nations Reform, 21 March 2005

The UN Millennium Project recently launched its comprehensive strategy to combat poverty and hunger, proposing measures and guidelines that seek to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 17 January, the report entitled "Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals" underscores the importance of the MDGs, tracks their implementation, and considers various means of supporting their achievement, including through public investment, civil society participation, and private sector contribution. The report also identifies the special needs of Africa, highlights strategies for countries affected by conflict, and discusses the need to revamp development aid, calling for targeted investments to address various challenges. Prepared by a team of over 260 development experts, the report is launched several months ahead of the major high-level plenary session that will be held in September at the opening of the 60th session of the General Assembly, which is slated to review progress in implementation of the outcome of the 2000 Millennium Summit, as well as the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major UN conferences in the economic, social and related fields. The Millennium Project report. The task force reports.

(UN Millennium Project Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation, January 2005) In this report, the authors underscore the importance of knowledge and innovation for development, outlining how science and technology can contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It stresses the need to create space for policy experimentation and learning in developing countries, noting that development is a learning process and an expression of local initiative and international partnership. The report highlights the role of innovation in economic development and addresses how to support and advance technology through providing adequate infrastructure services, investing in education, and promoting technology-based enterprises. The report also addresses means of acquiring knowledge through capacity building, technology prospecting, attracting FDI, conducting research, and forging partnerships among others. It further highlights the role of scientific advisory groups in advising governments on science, innovation and technology, and addresses the issue of global technology governance. The primary authors for this report were Calestous Juma and Lee Yee-Cheong. The report.

2004

The United Nations Millennium Campaign has launched its global website seeking to "inform, inspire and encourage involvement and action towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals." The website provides information on what actions various countries and organizations are taking to combat poverty. Comprising eight goals, 18 targets and over 40 indicators, the MDGs made their first public appearance in September 2001 in a Secretary-General's report entitled the Road Map towards the Implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration (A/56/26), where they were formulated by members of the UN Secretariat and others to help focus national and international development priority-setting and to enable progress on the development goals adopted by world leaders at the 2000 UN Millennium Summit to be tracked. In September 2005, the United Nations General Assembly will gather for a high-level meeting to review progress in the implementation of the commitments made at the Millennium Summit. The website.

PAYING THE PRICE: WHY RICH COUNTRIES MUST INVEST NOW IN A WAR ON POVERTY

(Oxfam International, December 2004) This Oxfam report makes the case for the importance of aid for poverty reduction, underlining that aid works and that it is a small price to pay for the benefits it brings in lifting people out of poverty. The report also discusses how both donors and developing country governments can make aid work more effectively. The report further recommends actions and measures regarding aid and debt to be undertaken by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, the World Bank and the IMF, and developing country governments. In 2005, Oxfam will participate in the Global Call for Action Against Poverty coalition, which will bring together a wide range of groups from the South and the North, including national and regional civil-society networks, trade unions, faith communities, and international organizations, that seek to eradicate poverty. The report.

(EC Directorate-General for Development, November 2004) The report provides information on the extent to which the EC has focused its strategies, development policies and instruments on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report outlines how the EC contributes to progress towards the MDGs, and lists further actions currently anticipated to promote their implementation. The report.

This report begins with an overview of the current extent of youth participation in development policy, and outlines ways in which youth are directly involved with and affected by each MDG. The report demonstrates how young people are contributing to the MDGs, and provides recommendations for governments, the UN system, donors and other actors to support young people in making significant contributions to achieving the MDGs. The report was prepared by ad hoc working group comprising an international team of youth experts from various NGOs and has undergone a 3-week online consultation with over 350 youth from around the world. The ad hoc working group, which is now inviting feedback to the interim report, expects to produce its final draft in February 2005 in order for it to be used as a lobbying tool and guidelines for the 2005 major review. The interim report.

FORGING AHEAD: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS – AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

(UN Millennium Project Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation, November 2004) The report of the UN Millennium Project's Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation is now available for public comment. This report outlines elements of a global action plan to apply science, technology, and innovation to meet the MDGs. The report includes chapters on: development trends; development, interdependence and global security; science, technology and innovation; emerging technological opportunities; infrastructure as a technological foundation; investing in S&T education; science, technology and enterprise; knowledge in a globalizing world; and improving the policy environment. The report.

NEW SOURCES OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE: FUNDING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

(UNU/WIDER 2004) Written by A.B. Atkinson, this policy brief summarizes the key findings of a UNU-WIDER study on innovative sources of development finance, focusing primarily on how new funding sources can contribute to the financing of the MDGs. The paper consider seven types of new funding sources: global environmental taxes (carbon-use tax); tax on currency flows (the 'Tobin tax'); creation of new Special Drawing Rights; the International Finance Facility (IFF); increased private donations for development; global lottery and global premium bond; and increased remittances from emigrants. The paper.

'WE THE PEOPLES ' A CALL TO ACTION FOR THE UN MILLENNIUM DECLARATION
(The North-South Institute (NSI) and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), September 2004) This third annual report on civil society engagement with the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was co-authored by John W. Foster (NSI) and Pera Wells (WFUNA). The report is based on an extensive survey directed to civil society organizations (270 organizations from over 82 countries), as well as MDG roundtables at the United Nations sponsored by WFUNA, contributions to website dialogues on the MDGs and printed materials from a variety of CSOs and official sources. Highlights from their findings include that: many CSOs have adopted an approach of critical engagement with the MDGs, adapting, extending, updating and localizing the goals to their situation; greater focus on advocacy and information campaigns is needed; the distribution of income and gains from development, between genders, among family units and social groups, with an eye to equity, is an increasing concern; and higher priority needs to be given to the impact of HIV/AIDS on poverty, education, hunger and human life itself. The findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of UN efforts to involve civil society organizations at a country level and calls for a scaling-up of financial and political commitments towards the MDGs. The report.

ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: THE MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES A STRATEGY FOR DFID: 2005-2008
(DFID, August 2004) This report presents DFID's vision for helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in middle income countries (MICs). The report highlights numerous reasons why MICs are critical to achieving the MDGs worldwide, and presents a vision for a more effective international system, outlining ways in which the international community can contribute to the development of MICs. In conclusion, the report outlines the contribution that DFID aims to make at the international and bilateral levels. The report.

RESOURCE RICH BWIS, 100% DEBT CANCELLATION AND THE MDGS
(Jubilee Research and New Economics Foundation, 2004) Authored by Sony Kapoor, this paper considers the costs of reaching the MDGs with an emphasis on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. It finds that total debt cancellation and higher levels of aid are necessary for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) to achieve the MDGs, and shows that both the IMF and the World Bank have ample resources to cancel all the HIPC debt owed to them without compromising their operations. Furthermore, the paper shows how the Bank and the Fund can go beyond debt cancellation and finance grants out of their resources. The paper.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

(UN, September 2004) This 2004 report finds progress in the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration. Poverty reduction, access to primary education, and hunger are some of the areas that have seen improvements in developing countries around the world, particularly in Asia, northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and West Asia. However, the least developed countries and countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not fared as well, with few of these countries seeing progress and some experiencing reversals in development trends. According to the report, the Millennium Development Goals, which were derived from the Millennium Declaration in a 2001 Secretary-General report, have transformed the face of global development cooperation and reshaped development strategies. The Secretary-General report. The UN has also produced a 2004 Status on the MDGs chart that illustrates the progress of different regions in reaching the MDGs.

NGLS' MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS INTERNET PORTAL
The UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) has developed a Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Internet Portal. It offers information and links specific to each of the eight MDGs as well as introductory information on the MDGs, information and links regarding action by United Nations agencies and bodies, civil society groups and country-regional actors. A "tools" link provides links to reports, critical analyses, statistics and articles produced by international organizations, academia and media outlets along with educational resources for the classroom. A "links and listservs" list directs the user to related sites maintained by civil society organizations, governments and international organizations. As of September 2004, the "calendar" section was still under construction. The portal.

Launched in September in the Netherlands, this website provides a visual tour of the Millennium Development Goals. It seeks to raise people's awareness of their own responsibility and inspire them to take action in the struggle against poverty and the achievements of the MDGs. The first8 website.

THE TROUBLE WITH THE MDGS: CONFRONTING EXPECTATIONS OF AID AND DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS
(Center for Global Development, 2004) Written by Michael A. Clemens, Charles J. Kenny, and Todd J. Moss, this working paper analyzes the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within a larger development context. It cautions against the current development focus on the MDGs, stating that the unprecedented levels of development progress over recent decades are being obscured by concerns that the MDGs will not be achieved. The authors also warn that the MDGs, which for some countries are unrealistic, may create unnecessary pessimism by labeling development successes and wise government policies as failures if the goals are not met. Pointing to evidence that illustrate a weak relationship between volume of development aid and rate of development, the paper highlights the misconception that aid alone is sufficient for achieving the MDGs and underscores the importance of factors such as national capacity to productively utilize funds. The paper concludes by suggesting that the next round of international development goals should: be country-specific and flexible; take historical performance into account; focus more on intermediate targets than outcomes; and be considered benchmarks to spur action in cases where assistance is not working, rather than technically feasible goals. The paper.

MILLENNIUM PROJECT TASK FORCE INTERIM SUMMARY REPORT ON WATER AND SANITATION
The Millennium Project's Task Force 7 on Water and Sanitation has released its interim report. An independent advisory body to the UN Secretary-General, the Millennium Project has been tasked with the responsibility of recommending by June 2005 operational strategies for meeting the MDGs. This interim report examines how the world can work together to meet Target 10 of the MDGs on halving by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water, and the WSSD target on halving by 2015 the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation. The report is being circulated for public discussion and comments, and will result in a Final Task Force report, due at the end of 2004, which will provide input to the Millennium Project's Final Synthesis Report, to be submitted to the Secretary-General by 30 June 2005. More.

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, 1990-2003
(March 2004, UNDESA Statistics Division) This report presents a preliminary assessment of global and regional progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It has been released as an "unofficial working paper" by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Secretariat based on statistics compiled by an inter-agency technical group of the UN system and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, led by DESA's Statistics Division. The report comprises eight chapters, each of which presents an assessment of trends for each of the MDGs and for the indicators used to monitor progress for the specific target. Most sections also briefly discuss future prospects and key initiatives undertaken at the international and national level to forward progress toward the target/goal. The report.

GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2004: POLICIES AND ACTIONS FOR ACHIEVING THE MDGS AND RELATED OUTCOMES
(April 2004, IMF and World Bank) This report was prepared by World Bank and IMF staff for the 25 April 2004 Development Committee meeting. The text notes that, on current trends, the MDGs will not be met by most countries and identifies priority actions for developing countries, developed countries and international financial institutions (IFIs) to "scale up action." These priority actions include calls for: developing countries to improve the enabling climate for private sector activity and strengthen capacity in the public sector; developed countries to sustain stable and strong growth in the global economy, ensure a successful, pro-development and timely outcome to the Doha round, and provide more and better aid; and IFIs to refine and strengthen institutional roles in low-income countries. The report.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE ANNUAL REPORT 2004
(World Economic Forum, April 2004) The World Economic Forum's Global Governance Initiative seeks to promote accountability by monitoring worldwide efforts to address the challenges on the global agenda. The initiative's first annual report assesses the world's progress towards meeting the goals of the UN Millennium Declaration and other international agreements, and finds that "across the board the world is failing to put forward even half the effort needed to meet the world's basic goals." The 160-page report is the product of a year-long independent study by seven groups of experts in peace and security, human rights, poverty, hunger, education, health and environment. The report.

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