The MDG Festival, planned for June 2008, will feature high-profile international celebrities and entertainers and will present awards for outstanding achievements by businesses, governments, civic organizations and members of the development community, organizers told reporters at a press briefing in New York.

Grammy Awards producer and lifetime achievement award winner Nile Rodgers, who will produce the event, said it would serve to highlight the importance and possibility of accomplishing the internationally agreed goals by 2015.

"People will not wait five to 10 years for water. They will take it now, illegally if necessary. Time is of the essence," said K.E.Seetharam, Principal Water and Urban Development Specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A team of water experts who are working around the clock to prepare a forward-looking document called Asian Water and Development Outlook (AWDO) which is funded by the ADB, met here in Singapore for 3 days of consultations. The document will act as a guide for policy makers of the region.

International Health Partnership (IHP) was launched on 5 September 2007 to save millions of lives by fostering better co-ordination between global aid donors, helping developing countries improve their national health systems and supporting the specific health priorities of developing countries.

IHP brings together a range of stakeholders including health ministers from developed and developing countries, and leaders from the major health agencies and foundations.

Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal and Zambia are the seven 'first wave' countries in Africa and Asia that announced to join the new IHP, which is supported by donor governments and agencies representing half of the world's aid spending on health, which totals $14 billion.

In a video message to the meeting of the Leading Group on Solidarity Levies to Fund Development, held in Seoul, Mr. Ban noted the continuing funding gap in the campaign to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).