MDGs

Source: UNCTAD

Richard Kozul-Wright of UNCTAD's Unit on Economic Cooperation and Integration among Developing Countries has said that new development paths are an essential part of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and new levers of economic growth are necessary as many of the levers of the past decade will be absent in this one. 

Members of civil society organizations that are part of the Social Watch Network were invited to participate at six thematic roundtables that were part of the UN "MDG Summit" that took place 20-22 September 2010 in New York.

The UN High Level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered Presidents and Prime Ministers around the world to review efforts to combat poverty during the past decade and discuss the next steps to follow at a time of an unprecedented combination of global crises (climate change, food, energy, financial and economic).

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Release of 2010 Social Watch Report

Social Watch, an international network of non-governmental organizations that monitors how far governments are fulfilling their commitments to end poverty and gender discrimination, will release its critical report: AFTER THE FALL: TIME FOR A NEW DEAL on Friday, Sept. 17 at the United Nations.

An event organized by Social Watch, CIDSE, Heinrich Boell Foundation and NGLS entitled "Raiding the public till: The financial crises and the MDGs" will address these challenges and emphasize the imperative of harnessing the aid, finance, debt and trade dimensions of “global partnerships for development” (known as MDG 8) to support national strategies and contribute to achievement of all the other goals.

Just three days before the MDG Summit, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Social Watch and Global Policy Forum organize a high-level panel: "Towards a new development paradigm. Rethinking the concepts and measures of development and social progress". The event aims to help broaden the current development discourse by linking analytical discussions of alternative measures and models of development and well-being with political discussions about the concrete actions needed to achieve progress in poverty eradication and social justice. 

The reality of poverty and inequities, as perceived from communities and grassroots is different from the top-down views. The contributions of citizen groups from over 60 countries for the Social Watch Report 2010 entitled "After the Fall. Time for a New Deal" shows that we are a long way from attaining the Millennium Development Goals. Further, Social Watch research shows that poverty reduction has globally slowed down since 2000. It concludes that a comprehensive redefinition of our approach to development is needed.

President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, Helen Clark, Head of the UNDP, René Ramírez, minister of planning of Ecuador, German parlamentarian Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul along with UN officials and over 50 diplomats were present in New York for the launch of the SOCIAL WATCH REPORT 2010 on 17 September 2010. The findings of Social Watch were part of discussions on the new development paradigm hosted by the German mission to the UN on the eve of the MDGs Summit. The event was co-organized by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Social Watch and Global Policy Forum.

Source: ITUC

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling on governments to commit to introducing a financial transactions tax (FTT) at September’s United Nations Development Summit to help tackle global poverty and accelerate action on jobs and climate change.

Source: Third World Network

By Maria del Mar Galindo

New York, 1 August  - With five years until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched in 2000, governments are at a crucial stage in preparations for a summit meeting of the annual UN General Assembly in September.

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 13, 2010 (IPS) - When the United Nations hosts a summit meeting of world leaders next September to assess the current state of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is expected to single out one of the major "success stories" of the day: a reduction in global poverty.

Several speakers from the Social Watch network and its member and allies intervened during the UN General Assembly hearings with civil society and the private sector in New York last June 14 and 15. The hearings were convened in preparation of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals that will take place next September.

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