In September 2000, hundreds of heads of state met at the United Nations and ratified the UN Millennium Declaration . In September 2005, the UN hosted a Millennium+5 Summit to evaluate the progress towards the goals spelled out in the document. By adopting the original declaration in 2000, world leaders affirmed their faith in the Organization and its Charter "as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world." Leaders also resolved to meet a number of "Millennium Development Goals" (MDGs), which include halving the proportion of people living in poverty and hunger by 2015, ensuring primary schooling for all children, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases. Between 2000 and 2005, however, many governments had not acted on their promises, and the gap between rich and poor continued to widen. Many calculated that the world would not meet the UN goals in one hundred years, let alone by 2015. For this reason, many states, rich and poor alike, were not keen to raise any further hopes or make any further promises. Even the relatively cautious reform "package" of Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to rally strong governmental support. Massive last-minute changes demanded by Washington further unraveled the process. The final Summit document disappointed all who hoped for strong and creative solutions to the world's problems.
This page posts the relevant UN documents, speeches and press releases on the summits on the Millennium declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.
This section posts articles and papers from non-UN sources on the Millennium Summit, the five-year review summit and the Millennium Development Goals.
This section covers Secretary General Kofi Annan's UN reform proposals including the 2005 report "In Larger Freedom: Towards Human Rights for All," which includes ideas on how to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
In March 2002, the United Nations held an International Conference on Financing for Development to identify the financial resources needed "to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration." This page contains information on the different ways to mobilize finances for development, and provides information on the international conference.
Global poverty is on the rise, even as many world leaders have promised to "eradicate" it. While the meaning of "poverty" is intimately clear to billions of people across the globe, "development" remains a contested idea. AIDS deepens the crisis, especially in poverty-stricken Africa. Campaigns demand debt relief and increased international aid for the poorest countries.
This page posts information on related events to the UN Millennium Summits and the Millennium Development Goals.
This page includes further links and resources for information on the Millennium Development Goals, the Millennium Summit and its Follow-up.
