Many documents on MDGs are produced either by UN agencies or by international or national NGOs. These reports or studies are extremely valuable as they are a mean to share experience and good practices between countries and international or national institutions. They deal with all aspects of the MDGs, from official guidelines elaborated through key United Nations declarations on MDGs, to very specific studies on particular aspects of the MDGs such as gender equality or health.
![]() | Jakarta Declaration on Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: The Way Forward 2015 The document reviews the progress made by countries in the ESCAP region towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and highlights some of the key challenges. It proposes key actions to support the achievement of the Goals, taking into account the main findings of the ESCAP/United Nations Development Programme/Asian Development Bank publication entitled A Future Within Reach: Reshaping Institutions in a Region of Disparities to Meet the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific and the outcomes of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, held in New York from 14 to 16 September 2005 (also known as the 2005 World Summit). |
Resources by International Organisation
![]() | Pursuing Gender Equality through the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific
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| Meeting Development Goals in Small Urban Centres - Water and Sanitation in the World's Cities 2006 This is the second UN-HABITAT global report on Water and Sanitation in the World´s Cities. This publication looks at small urban centres which tend to be overlooked, however they are the first tier markets and service providers for rural enterprise and development. |
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Jakarta Declaration on Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: The Way Forward 2015
The document highlights the key items in the Jakarta Declaration on Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: the Way Forward 2015. The Declaration was adopted by the Ministers and representatives of countries of Asia and the Pacific who had met at the Regional Ministerial Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: the Way Forward 2015, held in Jakarta from 3 to 5 August 2005.
The document reviews the progress made by countries in the ESCAP region towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and highlights some of the key challenges. It proposes key actions to support the achievement of the Goals, taking into account the main findings of the ESCAP/United Nations Development Programme/Asian Development Bank publication entitled A Future Within Reach: Reshaping Institutions in a Region of Disparities to Meet the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific and the outcomes of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, held in New York from 14 to 16 September 2005 (also known as the 2005 World Summit).
The document also highlights action by ESCAP to support national efforts to achieve the Goals through promoting policy dialogue, facilitating the exchange of good practices and providing comprehensive regional analyses on progress towards the achievement of the Goals.
At the 2005 World Summit, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders reaffirmed the need to keep gender equality, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health at the top of the development agenda. The World Summit followed up on and added to the Millennium Summit, an historic convocation of world leaders in 2000.
Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness
The Paris Declaration, endorsed on 2 March 2005, is an international agreement to which over one hundred Ministers, Heads of Agencies and other Senior Officials adhered and committed their countries and organisations to continue to increase efforts in harmonisation, alignment and managing aid for results with a set of monitorable actions and indicators.
International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey Consensus
This first United Nations-hosted conference to address key financial and development issues attracted 50 Heads of State or Government, over 200 ministers as well as leaders from the private sector and civil society, and senior officials of all the major intergovernmental financial, trade, economic, and monetary organizations. Their statements to the plenaries and the Monterrey Consensus provide a picture of the new global approach to financing development.
Road Map Towards the Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration
The road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration contains an integrated and comprehensive overview of the current situation. It outlines potential strategies for action that are designed to meet the goals and commitments made by the 147 heads of State and Government, and 189 Member States in total, who adopted the Millennium Declaration.
The report addresses fully each and every one of the goals and commitments contained in the Millennium Declaration, and suggests paths to follow and shares information on "best practices". It draws on the work of Governments, the entire United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization, intergovernmental organizations, international organizations, regional organizations and civil society.
The turn of the century is a unique and symbolically compelling moment for the 189 Member States of the United Nations to articulate and affirm an animating vision for the Organization in the new era. In resolution 53/202 adopted on 17 December 1998, the General Assembly decided to designate its fifty-fifth session "The Millennium Assembly of the United Nations", which opened at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York in the afternoon of 5 September 2000 (resolution 53/239).
Heads of State and/or Government of the Member States of the United Nations gathered at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to participate in the Millennium Summit from 6 to 8 September 2000. The Summit was a historic opportunity to agree on a process for fundamental review of the role of, and challenges facing the United Nations in the new century.
Links:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refujees (UNHCR)
To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the countries have to make them operational - explicitly incorporating their targets and time horizons into key economic policy decisions, national planning documents, and requests for development assistance. Development partners, for their part, must provide the financial and technical support these bold strategies deserve.
Handbooks and Toolkits are available to help to prepare these strategies.
![]() | Preparing National Strategies to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, A Handbook To better understand how countries can design ambitious national strategies to meet the MDGs, the UN Millennium Project has had the privilege to work with several governments that took on this challenge. Governments led the way with support from UN country teams and participation from civil society organizations, development partners, and other key stakeholders. In Africa the UN Millennium Project's MDG Centre in Nairobi has played a critical role in the effort to operationalize the MDGs. In the process, each country charted unknown territory, teaching the world invaluable lessons on how to craft and implement MDG-based national development strategies. As resolved at the 2005 World Summit, the challenge for the coming year will be to replicate and adapt such bold national efforts in countries around the world. |
![]() | Making the MDGs Matter: A Country Perspective The UNDG Survey on the Country Response to the MDGs sought the perceptions of UN Country Teams (UNCTs) concerning major changes taking place "on the ground" across a broad range of issues. A conceptual framework describing how this response might unfold was used to design the survey questionnaire and interpret the feedback received. The message from UNCTs is, at its broadest level, in line with expectations: there is some movement on the ground but no breakthrough yet in the effort to achieve the MDGs. There is also much in the detail of their responses which provides a better understanding of challenges at country level and, in a number of significant cases, unsettles the conventional wisdom, most notably about Africa. |
| | How-to-Guide MDG - Based National Development Strategies Over the past few years, UNDP has worked to advocate and monitor the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in national development. This "how-to" guide consolidates the efforts of UN Country Teams (UNCTs) by presenting a step-by-step approach to support country counterparts in MDG-based national development strategies. It recognizes the extensive contributions of all development partners to achieving MDG outcomes. The guide adds to the array of MDG resources created by the family of UN agencies, the European Commission (EC) and other bilateral and multilateral donors by focusing on the institutions and processes upon which sustainable development rests. It provides the "how to" for strengthening the analytical and institutional capacities needed to put countries in the driver's seat. |
![]() | Millennium Development Goals Needs Assessments In attempt to identify the range of interventions and investments required to achieve the MDGs in a cross-section of countries, this paper presents five country case studies for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. The ambition of these country studies is to outline how countries could identify their MDG needs and to inform long term plans for achieving the MDGs. To this end, the paper proposes a template for conducting needs assessments with as much rigor as possible. |
| This is a collection of training materials on the Millennium Development Goals. It is designed to strengthen capacity within UN Country Teams and provide them with training tools on the MDGs that they can use both inside and outside their team. The different tools provided can be used to train UN staff as well as others. |
A new MDG Report 2006 was recently released. The Report is based on a master set of data compiled by an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Millennium Development Goals Indicators led by the UN Secretariat's Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The report presents the latest assessment on how far Member States have come, and how far they have to go in reaching the MDGs, in each of the world's regions. The Progress Chart 2006 is also available on the website.
Visit the official United Nations site for the MDGs Indicators to download the report.
3-5 July 2006
Geneva, Switzerland.
The 2006 World Summit put the goals of full employment and decent work firmly back into the United Nations development agenda. It demonstrated that there is a solid consensus that in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, employment and decent work need to be at the centre of economic and social policies.
This year's high-level segment again attracted many high-level participants. The High-level Segment included high-level roundtable discussions and breakfast meetings, which were organized from the 3-5 July 2006. In addition, the Council held two informal ministerial roundtables on the annual ministerial review and the biennial High-Level Development Cooperation Forum respectively. The Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) assessed progress in the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDG exhibition was held during the event. The purpose of the exhibition was to advocate and communicate the key findings of the second Regional MDG Report to the high-level delegates/policy-makers of the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review Roundtable.
Useful Links
Pictures of the MDG Exhibition
29-31 May 2006
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The AMS 2006 was held at the end of May in the Malaysian capital, brought together nearly 400 movers and shakers of the mainstream broadcast media in Asia - home to the world's largest TV and radio audiences. Primarily an industry gathering, it also attracted development agencies trying to 'hitch a ride' on the airwaves to get across their public interest messages.
AIBD in collaboration with its partners and international organizations is organizing the Asia Media Summit (AMS). The conference provides a unique opportunity for broadcasters in the region to share their thoughts on Broadcasting and Information.
Decision makers, media professionals, scholars, and stakeholders of news and programming from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America attended this annual conference. Almost all regional and International Broadcasting Unions and Associations support the AMS. Among the list of sponsors are Friederich Ebert Foundation (FES), Malaysian Airlines, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), France, the United Nations, UNDP, UNESCO, ITU, UN-ESCAP, UNICEF and other partners.
Related Documents
Useful Links
Pictures of MDG Exhibition at the Asian Media Summit 2006
6 April 2006

Background
The Special Event aimed at discussing the roadmap for MDG achievement and at promoting new ideas to strengthen regional cooperation on MDG-related issues. It reviewed recent regional initiatives on achieving the MDGs in the UNESCAP region, including: (1) the Jakarta Declaration on MDGs in Asia and the Pacific: the Way Forward 2015; (2) findings of the joint UNESCAP/UNDP/ADB second Regional MDG Report on Asia-Pacific entitled "A future within reach: reshaping institutions in a region of disparities to meet the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific"; and (3) the outcome of the Asia 2015 Conference held in London, in March 2006. The Event was organized as part of the advocacy and communication strategy of the UNESCAP/UNDP/ADB regional project on "Supporting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific, Phase 2".
Presentations
Participants
Some 200 participants from governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations.
Key Conclusions
Pictures of MDG Exhibition at the 62nd Commission Session
6-7 March 2006
Lancaster House, London, UK.
Asia 2015 is a major two-day conference to be hosted by DFID and co-sponsors the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It will involve around 150 delegates, mainly from Asia.
The conference aims to achieve the following:
Related Documents
Useful Links
6 March 2006
Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) -- A new report from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNESCAP paints a sad picture of how Asia has been overlooked by aid donors. Asia has received far less aid than other regions of the world. This is true in comparison to the size of the population, the level of income and the number of poor in the region.
The report "Achieving the MDGs in Asia: a Case for More Aid? " was released at the "Asia 2015 Conference Promoting Growth, Ending Poverty " in London on 6-7 March 2006. The report's findings,supported by funding from the Asian Development Bank, was presented to the high-level delegates today by UNESCAP Executive Secretary Mr Kim Hak-Su.
The UNESCAP report found Asia accounts for the lion's share of people living in rural areas without access to sanitation, underweight children, malnourished people, people on living less than a dollar a day, and TB cases in the world.
Three quarters of all Asians in rural areas without access to sanitation live in China and India.
In absolute terms, India is home to 38 per cent of the world total of underweight children below the age of 5, more than one and a half times the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. India also has more than double the amount of illiterate 15-24 year old women than in any other sub region of the world, including sub Saharan Africa.
"The number of people in Asia living with HIV/AIDS — 7.6 million between the ages 15 and 49, of which 5.1 million in India alone, compared to 23.8 million in Sub-Saharan Africa — is, however, far from insignificant. HIV/AIDS is also rapidly spreading in some parts of Asia, in particular the CIS countries and India. Asia as a whole accounts for more than two thirds of the world’s TB cases and deaths," the report stated.
India, the sub region with the largest number of poor, underweight children, malnourished people and rural people without access to sanitation, received just about a dollar per head of ODA in 2004. China received a similar amount. These amounts are in complete contrast with those received by Oceania (US$ 190 per head) and the European countries in transition (US$ 87 per head), two regions whose shares in the world population are negligible and the contributions to the number of the world’s economically and socially poor are relatively small.
The report analyses aid to sub regions in the world on a needs basis calculated on percentage share of underweight children and other MDG indicators, finding that Asia is being ignored in favour of Africa. It says most sub regions in Asia are receiving relatively "small shares of the global aid total" and proves this is unfair.
The share of ODA in Gross National Income (GNI) is substantial for Sub-Saharan Africa (4.0 per cent) in contrast, to China and India, which received only around US$ 1 ODA per person, which is a mere 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent of their GNI, respectively. In other words, Sub-Saharan Africa gets 40 times more aid than China.
ODA per capita receipts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the CIS countries of Asia, Western Asia and the Caribbean range from US$ 21 to US$ 26. Southern Asia and South-Eastern Asia received — with US$ 11 and US$ 10 per head respectively — also less aid than the number of the economically and socially poor in these regions would justify.
These findings forms the basis of a push from UNESCAP to secure a better deal for Asia at the Asia 2015 conference.
A collection of news articles generated by the launch of the Regional MDG II Report.
Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Conference Room 4, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok

The Forum provided an opportunity for UN staff based in Bangkok to be briefed on the key findings of the joint ESCAP/UNDP/ADB regional MDG report which was recently issued. The Forum aimed to enlist the united efforts of UN staff, as advocates in their respective fields, to promote the achievement of the MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region.
In this important 'make-or-break' year, national efforts will need to be complemented by intensified regional support and cooperation. The Forum discussed a common strategy and key advocacy messages to promote MDG achievement in Asia and the Pacific.
Programme:
| 09:00-09:30 hours | Registration and Coffee
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| 09:30-09:50 hours | Presentation of the key finding of the joint ESCAP/UNDP/ADB regional MDG Report titled "A Future Within Reach: Reshaping institutions in a region of disparities to meet the MDGs in Asia and the Pacific" Mr. Kim Hak-Su, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UNESCAP
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| 09:50-10:00 hours | Presentation of the MDG Video "A Future within Reach"
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| 10:00-11:00 hours | Presentation by UNDP on "The role of UN staff in advocating for MDG-based national development strategies: Endorsement of a common strategy for 'MDG Advocates' in Asia and the Pacific" Discussion
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Related Documents
Pictures of the MDG Forum
Manila, Philippines, 7 September 2005
A new report assessing the region’s progress to date on reaching the MDGs will be launched at Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Manila on 7 September by senior officials from UNESCAP, UNDP and ADB.
Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNESCAP Executive Secretary, along with Hafiz Pasha, UNDP Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Pacific, and G.H.P.B. van der Linden, ADB Vice-President, will jointly launch the report at a conference and roundtable seminar organized to present and discuss its findings and recommendations.
Entitled A Future Within Reach: Reshaping Institutions in a Region of Disparities to Meet the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific, the publication also outlines recommendations for improving success in the 10 years remaining to the 2015 MDG deadline.
The report was commissioned through a tripartite initiative of UNESCAP, UNDP, and ADB and will provide a critical input to September’s High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly or 2005 World Summit. UNESCAP will also launch the publication at UN Headquarters in New York on 13 September, before the start of the 60th General Assembly. A Future Within Reach will be available on the UNESCAP website after the launch takes place.

UNCC, Meeting Room A, Bangkok, 1-2 March 2005
Members of the Advisory Panel on MDGs and project partners examined the progress of the preparation of the second Regional MDG Report and reviewed the draft technical background papers in a two-day meeting held at the United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand from 1 to 2 March 2005.
Asian Development Bank, Manila, 23 February 2005
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| At the opening session, shown from left Mr Bindu Lohani, Director General, Regional and Sustainable Development Department, ADB; Mr Romulo Neri, Secretary, Socio-Economic Planning and Director General, National Economic Development Authority, Government of the Philippines; Mr Raj Kumar, Director, Poverty and Development Division, UNESCAP |
In collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, a Philippines Country Consultation Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific was held at the Asian Development Bank Headquarter in Manila, Philippines on 23 February 2005 to review the draft technical background papers of the second regional MDG report and to get feedback on the key messages and issues that the Report will focus on, in particular local institutional changes related to basic services delivery.
First Session, Bangkok, 28-29 September 2004
Twelve eminent scholars and experts together with representatives of various UN agencies provided guidance to the project and review the concept note and outline of the second Regional MDG Report and associated technical background papers in a two-day meeting held at the United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand from 28 to 29 September 2004.