31 July 2007
Gordon Brown has called for a "new global alliance" to push ahead with the Millennium Development Goals and meet the commitments made by world leaders seven years ago.
Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York after a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mr Brown talked about the "historic declaration" that was made and signed by most of the world’s countries in 2000.
"It was a remarkable moment - the whole world coming together as one, the leadership of the poorest countries to be empowered by the obligations accepted by the richest. All of us accepting our shared responsibilities to work together for change."
The PM said that progress had been "slow and uncertain" and that unless there was urgent action the goals would not be met by the target date of 2015. He continued:
"The calendar says we are half way from 2000 to 2015. But the reality is that we are we are a million miles away from success."
While there has been some progress, including an increase in the number of children being immunised and in education, more needs to be done to save and improve lives, he said.
Mr Brown added that governments could not meet the challenge alone but instead a "global partnership for development" was required to "harness the energy, the ideas and the talents of the private sector, consumers, NGOs and faith groups, and citizens everywhere".
Only by working together could the promises to ensure education for all children, an end to world poverty, the protection of the environment, safety and security for everyone and the eradication of disease be kept, he added.
To help achieve this, today at the UN, 12 world leaders and 20 top businessmen and women will sign up to a new commitment to meet this development emergency. Mr Brown also called for an emergency meeting to be held next year to report on progress against the goals.
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