President Obama Presents Plan to Help Achieve the Millennium Development Goals

September 22, 2010 – One year ago this week at the United Nations General Assembly, President Barack Obama declared that “We [the United States] will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year’s Summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.” That time is now and that day is today.

Slated to speak today between 4:45 pm and 6:00 pm, President Barack Obama will address over 80 Heads of State and 30 Heads of Government at the closing session of the High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs (also referred to as the UN MDG Review Summit), speaking about the US’s strategy to help achieve the MDGs by the 2015 target date. In his remarks, the President will acknowledge that progress is possible when “political leaders are committed to good governance, to pursuing economic growth, and to making investments in their citizen.”

President Obama will argue that although tremendous progress has been made over past 10 years in achieving the MDGs, and looking forward to 2015, practices must be improved. To this end, the President will announce the Administration’s new Development Policy and discuss the new US’ Strategy for Meeting the MDGs, an articulation of the United States Government policy to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of eight Goals that address extreme poverty and its underlying root causes. The President’s speech is expected to focus on “smart aid” with an interest in strong reporting of outcomes and a greater emphasis on monitoring data from the field about the effectiveness of US programs. The speech will reveal that as part of the strategy, the United States will be more selective and focused, with deliberate choices being made about countries and programs to support. Additionally, mutual accountability between donor countries and the developing world will be also be highlighted. 

The Development Policy reflects a growing consensus in the international community that aid must go beyond only providing short-term solutions, but to also encourage governments to create policies that promote both economic stability and growth. The policy is designed to:

·         Elevate development as a strategic, moral and economic imperative;

·         Focus on getting the development return necessary, particularly as it pertains to promoting inclusive, sustained economic growth that transforms regions and allows countries to move away from foreign aid;

·         Promote science and technology; and,

·         Focus on investing in health system strengthening.

"Today President Obama announces the US's new Development Strategy and lays out its strategy to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals, said Anita Sharma, head of the United Nations Millennium Campaign – North America. “The UN Millennium Campaign is pleased by the Administration's recognition that combating global poverty and ensuring basic human rights for the world’s poorest is a key foreign policy priority and looks forward to monitoring and tracking commitments to the MDGs."

Note to editors: Watch President Obama’s speech on the UN Webcast Channel.

Media Contact: 
Leanne Rios
+1 202-862-6301 
Leanne.Rios@undp.org

About the UN Millennium Campaign

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the UN Secretary General in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from rich and poor countries, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to achieve the Goals by 2015. Our premise is simple: we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org.