UN mobilises innovative Partnerships to Achieve MDGs targets

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday mobilised heads of state, corporate organisations, business leaders and philanthropists into joint action against extreme poverty, hunger and disease.

At a high-level event, tagged, ‘MDG Success: Accelerating Action and Partnering for Impact’, Ban stressed the need for partnerships to change the development landscape and mobilise finance, expertise and knowledge to further the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

He said: ‘From health, food security and energy, to education, sanitation and cutting-edge innovation, the United Nations is most effective when we bring all relevant actors together – governments, international organisations, civil society and the private sector.’

‘Our goal is to provide a platform where all those in a position to contribute can come together to exchange life-saving ideas and promote concrete solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time,’ he said.

The World Bank Group President, Mr. Jim Yong Kim, who also spoke at the event said the Bank would finance projects worth US$700 million to help developing countries reach the MDGs taget on women’s and children’s health.

Mr. Kim said that the financing, was part of the ‘Every Woman Every Child’ global effort to boost maternal and children health.

‘This new funding comes from the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and will enable national scale-ups of successful pilot reproductive, maternal, and child health projects,’ he noted.

In another major new commitment to ramp up MDG progress, IKEA, the household giant, through its IKEA Foundation, announced that it would provide US$80 million (60 million Euros) over the next five years to fund UNICEF programmes in India focused on improving child survival and educating and protecting children.

Mr. Per Heggenes, CEO of IKEA Foundation, stated that it was committed to creat opportunities for many millions of children across the world.

‘So today I am delighted to announce a grant of 60 million Euros to UNICEF, so that UNICEF and the Indian government can collaborate to improve the well-being of India’s children over the next five years,’ Mr. Heggenes said.

He said in 2002 it made its first donation to a pioneering campaign to promote child rights in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Over ten years later, its continued investment had helped UNICEF reach more than 74 million children in India, he added.

Also, business leaders from Africa emphasised the strengths of non-traditional partners to harness fresh expertise and resources to a region requiring accelerated efforts to boost MDGs’ achievement.

Mr. Tony Elumelu, a Nigerian philanthropist and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, said: ‘The US$2.5 billion investment and commitment to scaling up energy access in Africa through Heirs Holdings demonstrates in a clear and meaningful way that African capital can and should be part of the solution to Africa’s challenges.’

Mr. Elumelu said that access to affordable, uninterrupted power would have an immeasurable impact on Africa’s economic development.

The cost of doing business will come down, entrepreneurs will expand and innovate, and jobs will be created as a result.

He said this was a very tangible example of ‘Africapitalism’ – the private sector’s commitment to creating economic prosperity and social wealth.

With a focus on the next generation of innovative partnerships, Facebook Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ms. Sheryl Sandberg, highlighted internet.org, a new global partnership, which aims at making internet access available to the two-thirds of the world – five billion people – who are not yet connected.

The UN in a statement circulated at the event, stated that the MDGs had been the most effective anti-poverty push in history.

It said the lives of millions of people had been improved by already meeting MDG targets on reducing poverty, increasing access to safe water, improving the lives of slum dwellers and achieving gender parity in primary education.

It said despite huge gains, progress towards the eight MDGs had been uneven, not only among regions and countries, but also between population groups within countries, with bold action needed in many areas.

‘Innovators from the private and public sectors showed today how, through partnership, progress is being accelerated to advance action on the MDGs ahead of the 2015 target date,’ it stated.

UN partnership initiatives cover the spectrum of the MDGs and include Every Woman Every Child, Sustainable Energy for All, Zero Hunger Challenge, Scaling up Nutrition, the Global Education First Initiative, UN Global Pulse and Call to Action on Sanitation.

The high-level event took place as the UN, governments, civil society, the private sector and citizens everywhere work to forge a sustainable development agenda beyond 2015 that builds on the successes and lessons of the MDGs.