Global Policy Forum

Following weeks of intense negotiations and numerous draft texts, the General Assembly (GA) approved a final outcome document for the Millennium+5 Summit. Heads of state who gathered at UN headquarters for the summit approved the text. Delegations expressed mixed feelings about the document - a few were pleased with the text, while many others felt that priority issues had become diluted to the point of meaninglessness.

The 2006 Human Development Report argues that water and sanitation must be put "front and centre on the development agenda".1.1 and 2.6 billion people do not have access to clean water and sanitation respectively, causing the death of nearly two million children annually. Reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on water and sanitation would save these lives as well as bring large economic benefits to developing countries, and is essential to reaching the other seven MDGs. Hoping to see diminishing "tolerance for extreme inequalities," and the G8 countries taking on a central role, the report calls for a  "Global Action Plan" to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis similar to the way major US and European cities tackled their deadly water and sanitation situation 100 years ago. (United Nations Development Programme)

Since the Millennium+5 Summit, Secretary General Kofi Annan has focused heavily on Secretariat reform, often after pressure to do so from powerful countries like the US. In this report to the General Assembly, Annan lays out his plan for establishing a new UN ethics office. The office would have external oversight and auditing, and is intended to address perceptions of unethical behavior at the UN following the oil-for-food report, and the results of a UN staff survey.

Ambassador Stafford Neil, the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and Chairman of the Group of 77, expressed his dismay at the lack of political neutrality of some Secretariat officials following the Millennium+5 Summit. Ambassador Neil also made reference to UN Chief of Staff Mark Malloch-Brown's testimony in the US Congress.

In his letter to all the permanent representatives to the UN, 60th General Assembly (GA) President Jan Eliasson spells out the concrete steps he hopes the GA will take following the Millennium+5 Summit. In the aftermath of the Summit, the GA must now focus on implementing the outcome document rather than debating its shortcomings, Eliasson argues. Doing so would make a difference for people around the world, while boosting the credibility of the GA at the UN.

In an impassioned speech to the UN World Summit of September 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sharply criticized the UN reform process, saying that it fell far short of the needs of the world's peoples. Chavez spoke of the UN's failure to prevent the war and occupation of Iraq and he noted the major shortfalls with the millennium development goals. He denounced neo-liberalism and favored a return of the UN to the New International Economic Order proposals of the 1970s. (VHeadline.com)

In his speech to the heads of state present at the Millennium+5 Summit, Secretary General Kofi Annan discussed the rhetoric surrounding the UN reform process. Referring to his own 2003 speech, Annan clarified his use of the term "fork in the road," maintaining that his statement in no way referred to an "existential crisis" at the UN. In Annan's view, unilateralism resulted in allowing "posturing to get in the way of results" in the Summit outcome document.

ReformtheUN.org simplifies the content of the nearly forty-page Millennium+5 Outcome Document into a four-page text. In addition to detailing the resolutions of the outcome document, this text also highlights the issues that require follow-up and implementation negotiations during the 60th General Assembly. Member states must clarify the "responsibility to protect," the definition of terrorism, and the establishment of a Human Rights Council and Peacebuilding Commission.

Following the US submission of hundreds of amendments to the Millennium+5 outcome document, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) responded with its own proposals for changes. NAM focuses primarily on the sections of the text that deal with development.

When the US scrapped all references to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in its revision of the Millennium+5 draft outcome document, it raised the ire of dozens of UN member states. In this letter, US Ambassador John Bolton explains why he chose the term "internationally agreed development goals, including those in the Millennium Declaration," rather than "MDGs."

While discussing at length the importance of multilateralism and promoting peace and development, China skillfully avoids the issue of Security Council permanent membership – though its opposition to adding new permanent seats is notorious. Also, China questions the need for establishing a Human Rights Council (perhaps fearing that it would be excluded from its constituency) and expresses doubts about the proposed "Democracy Fund." (China View)

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's report to the General Assembly follows on from proposals of the Millennium Project in dealing with development, debt relief, security and human rights. Heads of states will consider Annan's recommendations when they review the goals of the Millennium Declaration at a high level summit in September 2005. (United Nations)

This report from the UN Millennium Project led by Jeffrey Sachs, lays out a comprehensive strategy for combatting global poverty, hunger and disease. With an investment of just 0.5 % of their incomes, the industrialized countries can cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 – but they have to act right now.

The United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report for 2005 focuses on "aid, trade and security in an unequal world." The report mainly addresses rich countries' obligations to bring about a change in an increasingly polarized world. At the start of the ten-year countdown to 2015, this volume raises doubts about the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

This report of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan outlines the agenda for a high level plenary meeting which will take place during the General Assembly's sixtieth session in September 2005. The summit will review the progress of the Millennium Development Goals and convene at the level of heads of state. The Secretary General also plans to hold the High Level dialogue on Financing for Development at some point in 2005.

In his 2004 report on the progress of the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan looks towards the High Level Plenary Meeting at the Sixtieth Session of the General Assembly in 2005, which he sees as an opportunity to rejuvenate states' commitment to development and UN reform.

Secretary General Kofi Annan reminds the international community it is far behind on its pledge to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Annan encourages each country, including those in the developed world, to devise its own poverty eradication strategies based on local problems and needs. (United Nations)

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's new campaign presses governments to act on the Millennium Development Goals. Annan's advisor on the campaign says, "the best news for the poor in centuries would be if we actually would implement these goals." (United Nations)

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges countries to take concrete steps, and gives recommendations in order to reach the goals set at the 2000 Millennium Summit on reducing poverty. (United Nations)

The General Assembly adopted this resolution in 2000 as a result of the Millennium Summit. It sets out the Millennium Development Goals under such headings as "Development and Poverty Eradication" and "Strengthening the United Nations."

The SG acknowledges that after last week's monumental Millennium Summit, the General Assembly may seem an anticlimax. But Kofi asks member states to "roll up their sleeves" and to implement their bold pledges to the UN and the world.

(UN Press Release)

The declaration from the SC summit was deliberated over at length, however of substance there is not a lot, apart from "underlining" "encouraging" and "urging" for strengthening UN peacekeeping. Whether member states (especially the P5) will commit to this encouragement remains to be seen.

From security arrangements and roundtable topics, to cost and advertising - Louise Fréchette answers questions on the Millennium Summit. (UN Press Release)

Outlines the general structure and agenda for the Millennium Summit.

A core group of multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary General, representative of the UN organization's key objectives. States have been requested by the Secretary General to ratify these treaties during the Millennium Summit.

In preparing for the 55th session of the United Nations, the Secretary-General will consult with NGOs.

Secretary General's Report (A/51/950), which first mentions the idea of the Millennium Summit.