Outcome Document of the Special Event to Follow-Up on Efforts Made Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 14 Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields and 118 Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit, published in 2014.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2014

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2014	A/69/700	The road to dignity by 2030 : ending poverty, transforming all lives and protecting the planet synthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda		A/RES/68/6

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Development Strategies Partnership Programme Evaluation Programme Implementation Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

27 operative paragraphs

Adopts the following outcome document:

Outcome document of the special event to follow up efforts made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals

We, Heads of State and Government and heads of delegation, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York at the special event convened by the President of the General Assembly to review progress made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and to chart the way forward. Our deliberations have taken account of the voices of people worldwide and of the concerns and priorities that they have conveyed.

We gather with a sense of urgency and determination, with less than 850 days remaining for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. We renew our commitment to the Goals and resolve to intensify all efforts for their achievement by 2015.

We welcome what has been achieved so far. The Millennium Development Goals have provided a common vision and have contributed to remarkable progress. Significant and substantial advances have been made in meeting several of the targets.

However, we are concerned about unevenness and gaps in achievement and about the immense challenges that remain. The Millennium Development Goals are critical for meeting the basic needs of people in developing countries; as we approach the 2015 deadline, unrelenting efforts are required to accelerate progress across all the Goals.

Among and within developing countries, those who have been left furthest behind require our most urgent attention and support. We are conscious of the special challenges and needs of the least developed countries; of the fact that, despite some impressive progress, most African countries remain off track in meeting the Millennium Development Goals; and of the fact that conflict and post-conflict countries face the most challenges in achieving any of the Goals by 2015.

We recognize the special challenges and needs of small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, many of which are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We also recognize the special challenges in meeting the Goals faced by people living under foreign occupation. We acknowledge the challenges in meeting the Goals for people living in areas affected by complex humanitarian emergencies and in areas affected by terrorism. We also recognize the specific challenges that many middle-income countries face.

Accelerating progress

We reaffirm our commitment to the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held in 2010.² The annual reports on the Goals provide updated assessments of where our efforts are most needed and will assist us in framing our approach and priorities.

²Resolution 65/1.

We resolve to target in particular the most off-track Millennium Development Goals and those where progress has stalled, including the Goals relating to poverty and hunger, universal access to primary education, child mortality, universal access to reproductive health, including maternal health, environmental sustainability and access to water and sanitation. In each of these areas, we are determined to take the purposeful and coordinated action required. We will scale up proven interventions, fulfil the pledges that we have made and strengthen our support for the range of valuable initiatives under way, including international support for the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.³

³A/57/304, annex.

Across all our acceleration efforts, we will emphasize inclusivity and accessibility for all and will place a particular focus on those who are most vulnerable and disadvantaged. We will, for example, seek to build the resilience of the poorest in combating hunger, to improve support for women giving birth in areas of greatest deprivation and to improve educational opportunities and learning outcomes for the most vulnerable children.

Where efforts are broadly on track and momentum exists, we will do everything possible to sustain and reinforce it. For example, in combating HIV/AIDS, we will step up efforts to meet the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services by 2015. We will sustain and build on the remarkable gains in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis.

We will place a strong emphasis on all approaches that have a cross-cutting and multiplier effect. In particular, we recognize that promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls underpins and advances progress across all the Millennium Development Goals. We will resolutely promote gender equality and eliminate the range of barriers to the empowerment of women and girls in our societies.

Global partnership for development

We underline the central role of a strengthened global partnership for development. We recognize the importance of national ownership and emphasize that, if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved by 2015, national efforts need to be assisted by international support and an enabling international environment. The mobilization and effective use of all resources, public and private, domestic and international, will be vital.

We reaffirm the importance of promoting human rights, good governance, the rule of law, transparency and accountability at all levels.

We call for the urgent implementation of all commitments under the global partnership for development so as to overcome the gaps identified in the reports of the Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force. We emphasize the need to accelerate progress towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income as official development assistance by 2015, including 0.15 per cent to 0.20 per cent for the least developed countries. We call upon developed countries to urgently fulfil the official development assistance commitments that they have made, individually and collectively.

We underline the need for the business sector to engage in responsible business practices.

Post-2015 development agenda

In parallel with the intensification of efforts to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, we are determined to craft a strong post-2015 development agenda that will build on the foundations laid by the Goals, complete the unfinished business and respond to new challenges.

As we take the work forward, we reaffirm our commitment to the United Nations Millennium Declaration,⁴ the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development,⁵ the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development,⁶ the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development: outcome document of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus⁷ and the outcomes of all the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and environmental fields. We will continue to be guided by the values and principles enshrined in those texts.

⁴Resolution 55/2.

⁵Resolution 66/288, annex.

⁶Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18–22 March 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.II.A.7), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.

⁷Resolution 63/239, annex.

We reaffirm all the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,⁸ including, inter alia, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, as set out in principle 7 thereof.

⁸Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex I.

We are resolved that the post-2015 development agenda should reinforce the commitment of the international community to poverty eradication and sustainable development. We underline the central imperative of poverty eradication and are committed to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency. Recognizing the intrinsic interlinkage between poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable development, we underline the need for a coherent approach that integrates in a balanced manner the three dimensions of sustainable development. This coherent approach involves working towards a single framework and set of goals, universal in nature and applicable to all countries, while taking account of differing national circumstances and respecting national policies and priorities. It should also promote peace and security, democratic governance, the rule of law, gender equality and human rights for all.

We decide today to launch a process of intergovernmental negotiations at the beginning of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, which will lead to the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda.

We acknowledge with appreciation the processes mandated in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development that are now under way, in particular the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, as well as the process to develop options for a technology facilitation mechanism. We urge that these processes complete their work in a comprehensive, balanced and expeditious manner by September 2014.

The report submitted by the Secretary-General in advance of the present meeting,⁹ which draws on inputs from the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, United Nations Development Group consultations, the Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, is a useful input to our deliberations.

⁹A/68/202 and Corr.1.

Over the coming year, the preparation of the post-2015 development agenda will benefit from the General Assembly events to be convened by the President of the Assembly under the theme “The post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.

In arriving at an inclusive and people-centred post-2015 development agenda, we look forward to a transparent intergovernmental process that will include inputs from all stakeholders, including civil society, scientific and knowledge institutions, parliaments, local authorities and the private sector.

We count on the strong support of the United Nations system throughout all our work. As an input to the intergovernmental negotiations to be launched at the beginning of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, we call upon the Secretary-General to synthesize the full range of inputs then available and to present a synthesis report before the end of 2014.

The final phase of the intergovernmental work will culminate in a summit at the level of Heads of State and Government in September 2015 for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda. We request the President of the General Assembly to convene, in a timely manner, intergovernmental consultations to achieve agreement on organizational modalities for the summit.