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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Millennium Development Goals Progress Report (PDF of UN's 2007 report)

Track progress towards MDGs via interactive maps (MDGmonitor.org)
Global Monitoring Report, April 2008 (worldbank.org)
Steps Toward Achieving the MDGs (UPF Statement)

Ban Ki-moon - Secretary-General, United Nations
New York, United States, July 3, 2007
FullText (un.org)

More Effort Needed for Millennium Goals, Says Ban Ki-moon

The United Nations has published a worrying report on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, eight standards aimed at radically improving the quality of human life by 2015, especially in the world's poorest nations. Introducing the report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "There is a clear need for political leaders to take urgent and concerted action, or many millions of people will not realize the basic promises of the MDGs in their lives."

The Universal Peace Federation's projects and activities are directed to finding innovative ways to meet the MDGs and other difficult challenges facing the human family. If there is a distinction or addition to the UN's perspective, it is simply this: peace and prosperity for the human family cannot come through human effort alone. This is why the UPF continues to insist that the UN needs to take steps to include God in its thinking and its actions. The Interreligious Council first proposed by Dr. Sun Myung Moon in 2000 is an important first step.

Of course, the Secretary-General must be commended for refusing to simply accept the status quo as outlined in the MDG report, and to speak hopefully of an improved future. "The MDGs are still achievable if we act now," he says, "Success in some countries demonstrates that rapid and large-scale progress towards the MDGs is feasible."