Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department for International Development ahead of the International
Development Committee Hearing on the UN High Level Event
15 October 2008
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The UN Secretary General and President
of the General Assembly hosted the UN High Level Event (HLE) on
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on 25 September 2008.
The main objectives of this event as stated by the UN Secretary
General were to: review progress and take stock of existing gaps
at midpoint in the global effort to achieve the MDGs by 2015;
identify concrete actions needed to scale up efforts to this end;
and help ensure the MDGs and international targets remain on track
and the momentum is maintained beyond the 2008.[1]
2. The HLE involved the broadest ever alliance
assembled to fight for poverty reduction. In addition to the formal
proceedings over 40 partnership events took place which brought
together new broad partnerships moving forward.
3. Participants in the Event, and the partnership
events during the week, represented over 140 countries and leaders
of NGOs, business, faith groups, philanthropic organisations and
cities. The UN estimates that countries, charities, foundations
and business pledged some $16 billion in commitments for accelerating
progress to achieve the MDGs, including $11.5 billion of commitments
in the UK priority areas for the HLE of malaria, food, education
and health. The coming together of this broad and diverse coalition
inspired new partnerships to form around areas such as malaria
and education, and galvanised the international community to take
further action such as the pledges made by countries including
China.
INTRODUCTION
4. The Eighth Millennium Development Goal
was that we would "develop a global partnership for development".
The MDG Call to Action (CtA) was launched in July 2007 by the
Prime Minister, Gordon Brown in New York, speaking alongside the
UN Secretary General, to encourage the international community
to accelerate progress to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
By January, the UN Secretary General and Prime Minister were joined
by a group of governments, faith groups, NGOs and the private
sector at Davos to declare 2008 as the critical year to make progress
on the MDGs.
5. From July 2007, DFID led a cross-Whitehall
campaign, the "MDG Call to Action", to take forward
the Prime Minister's objectives. The aim was to galvanise international
support for the UN's efforts to accelerate progress on the MDGs
and secure not just expressions of general support but concrete
pledges of action towards this effort by a range of key, international
stakeholders both in the run up to and at the time of the UN High
Level Event. The CtA, and in particular UK involvement in the
UN High Level, was a collective effort by cross Whitehall departments
that included active engagement by FCO posts and DFID country
offices working closely with counterparts in other governments
and organisations.
6. The MDG CTA team worked to ensure ambitious
outcomes from international meetings in order to accelerate progress
on the MDGs. The EU Heads of State welcomed the Agenda for Action
on the MDGs at the June Council which sets out how they intend
to keep their commitments to deliver their 2005 aid pledges. It
includes key milestones on health, education and water and the
EU's contribution to these up until 2010. The EU Agenda for Action
states for health there would be an additional
8 billion by 2010, of which
6 billion for Africa. For education an additional
4.3 billion by 2010, of which
3.2 billion would be allocated to Africa. Securing
the EU Agenda for Action required intensive UK lobbying in Brussels
and with other Member States. The MDGs were not one of the original
priorities for the Slovenian EU Presidency. With UK strong encouragement,
the Presidency and Commission both became vocal advocates for
the EU taking an ambitious stand on the MDGs and setting the momentum
for the subsequent G8, Accra and UN meetings. The result was the
Agenda for Action which, despite the economic uncertainties, committed
the EU to its ambitious targets. At the UN High Level Meeting,
President Barroso and various EU development ministers highlighted
the Agenda for Action as demonstrating the EU's commitment and
leadership role on getting the MDGs back on track. The UK and
other Member States are currently working with the Commission
to ensure the commitments are tracked and monitored and to provide
guidance to developing country offices on implementing the Agenda
for Action.
7. At the G8 summit, the G8 reaffirmed its
promises on ODA and made commitments on climate change, food security,
malaria and health workforce coverage in African countries. In
Accra, the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at the beginning
of September agreed an ambitious "Accra Agenda for Action"
which included concrete commitments to improve the quality of
aid. DFID's international leadership and influencing, working
closely with the European Union (EU) helped reach a landmark international
agreement which all major donors, including Japan and the US,
have signed to help deliver commitments in crucial areas: a step
change in donor's use of partner government systems to deliver
aid, with a target to channel 50% of government-to-government
aid through country systems; strengthening of national, and for
the first time international, mutual accountability mechanisms,
allowing donors and partner countries to better hold each other
accountable for meeting their commitments, with a milestone agreed
for 2009; donors agreed to respect and support partner country-led
efforts to agree a better division of labour between donors at
country level—and for the first time at international level
too; we agreed to start dialogue on international division of
labour by June 2009; new policy commitments for donors working
in fragile situations, including through use of pooled funding
mechanisms where needed to support stabilisation and peace building;
or the first time and beginning now, donors will provide partner
governments with forward expenditure or implementation plans for
the following three to five years.
8. The MDG CTA team also worked to build
relationships with a huge range of stakeholders to encourage action
to accelerate progress on the MDGs by the broadest coalition possible.
In May 2008, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
HMG hosted the Business Call to Action where the PM along with
President Kagame of Rwanda and President Kufuor of Ghana welcomed
over 60 global CEOs who announced several new initiatives as part
of their core business that would also accelerate progress on
the MDGs. A further five companies announced initiatives at the
UN High Level Event in September. Meanwhile on 24 July, spearheaded
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, more than 1,400 robed bishops
and other faith leaders from all over the world conducted a "walk
of witness" through the streets of London to call on global
leaders to deliver the MDGs. The group was then addressed by the
Prime Minister and representatives including the Archbishop of
York, went on to attend the UN HLE in September.
9. On 17 July 2008 the UN Secretary General
and the President of the General Assembly formally announced that
they would convene the High Level Event on the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) on 25 September 2008.
10. The main objectives of this event as
stated by the UN Secretary General were to: review progress and
take stock of existing gaps at midpoint in the global effort to
achieve the MDGs by 2015; identify concrete actions needed to
scale up efforts to this end; and help ensure the MDGs and international
targets remain on track and the momentum is maintained beyond
the 2008 UN HLE.[2]
HIGH LEVEL
EVENT
11. At the conclusion of the UN HLE on 25
September, the UN Secretary declared, it had been an "inspiring
day at the United Nations". According to an initial statement
by the UN Secretary General the governments, NGOs, foundations
and business at the UN High Level Event made commitments totalling
approximately $16 billion. The definitive numbers that were committed
are now in the process of being finalised by the UN. The following
is a breakdown of some of these commitments as well as the UK
contributions. It should be noted that these are estimates at
this point while DFID reviews the full list of commitments issued
by the UN Secretary General and individual countries and stakeholders:
12. On malaria, a multi-stakeholder Malaria
Action Plan was launched involving governments, a number of leading
NGOs, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Together this
group committed to raising $3 billion to encourage further steps
towards universal coverage of bed nets and sprays by 2010, and
at least an 80% reduction in malaria deaths by 2015. The UK committed
to providing 20 million bed nets by 2010; increasing funding for
vaccine research of up to £5 million by 2010; and committing
£40 million to support the Affordable Medicines Facility
for Malaria, which the UK encourages the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) to host. This is in support of the
Global Malaria Action plan that was developed by Roll Back Malaria,
with contributions from 250 partner organisations, and launched
with Malaria No More, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and
the UN on 25 September.
13. On food, according the UN's latest figures,
the international community pledged at least $1.75 billion for
emergency food aid to stop the immediate tragedy of starvation
in the Horn of Africa, and for the rapid distribution of support,
including seeds and fertilisers for 30 priority countries in time
for the next planting season. The UK Government announced £40
million of emergency assistance, which is part of UK measures
to tackle the recent food crisis totalling around £800m so
far. In addition, the UK has already announced ongoing commitments
of over £1 billion through which the UK will continue to
support agriculture, food security and livelihoods in priority
countries.
14. On health, figures currently suggest
the international community pledged $2 billion and launched a
major new innovative financing task force to be co-chaired by
the Prime Minister and the President of the World Bank. The task
force will report to the G8 next year, with the aim of recruiting
a million health workers and saving 10 million lives by 2015.
The Global Campaign for Health members announced in New York that
they intend to mobilise an extra $30 billion by 2015 to ensure
that by 2010, 4 million more children's lives are saved and 33
million more births are attended by skilled health workers. The
UK also announced £450 million over the next three years
to support national health plans for eight International Health
Partnership (IHP) countries. Both the £40 million for the
GFATM and the £450 million for the IHP would form part of
the £6 billion announced for health systems by the UK in
June this year.
15. On education, the launch of a "Class
of 2015" Partnership by a mixture of government leaders,
faith groups, the private sector and NGOs, to help get the education
MDGs back on track, increasing the prospects of getting 24 million
children into school by 2010. There were $4.5 billion worth of
pledges and commitments. The UK announced £50 million for
the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) as part of the
UK delivering on the commitment, announced in April 2006, to provide
£8.5 billion in support of education over 10 years. There
was also an announcement of a £5 million commitment for a
partnership with Comic Relief totalling £10 million (£5
million each) through which school children in the UK will raise
money for schools in Africa. As with the FTI funding it's part
of our delivering on our £8.5 billion commitment.
16. Additional commitments were made on
water and sanitation, including by the UK and Dutch governments;
and on other key areas including climate change and UN reform,
bringing the total, according to the UN, to $16 billion.
17. In terms of stakeholder representation,
some of the highlights included events on Malaria (with Bill Gates,
the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Malaria,
the President of Rwanda and Bono); Education (with the President
of the European Commission, the President of the World Bank, the
Archbishop of York, and Comic Relief); and Health (with the Prime
Minister of Norway, Bill Gates, the President of the World Bank
and the Executive Director General of the World Health Organisation).
18. At the conclusion of the HLE, the UN
Secretary General declared, "Today, we have strengthened
the global partnership for development. Your resolve to act is
evident. Yes, you have stepped up to confront growing challenges.
Now, I urge you to move with more speed and focus". The draft
outcome document with the list of commitments has been sent from
the UN to the Permanent Missions in NY and is now being finalised.
The agreed version should then be sent out by the UN shortly after.
19. The UK has three main objectives for
follow-up to the UN High Level Event:
— A. Tracking implementation of the
actions announced during the week (as summarised by the Secretary-General
on 25 September);
— B. Encouraging the UN to produce
better analysis of where the MDGs remain off track and what needs
to be done to get them back on track; and
— C. Maintaining a high-level, political
focus on accelerating progress on the MDGs.
20. These objectives will be pursued by
HMG, led by DFID, first through our work with the UN to track
the commitments made and their implementation at international
and country level. We will be working with the UN to support a
session at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to look at
rigorous monitoring of the commitments. In this respect, the next
major international meeting will be in Doha where the international
community will come together to review progress on financing for
development. This meeting must reinforce promises and explore
the impact of emerging development issues such as food security.
There are also a number of sector-specific meetings at which the
different commitments will be further highlighted such as the
proposed food security meetings, health Partnership meetings and
Fast Track Initiative meetings.
21. Second, DFID will work with the UN to
improve its analysis and encourage continued leadership. This
includes not only DFID's ongoing programme to help reform the
UN and improve its delivery, but also by supporting the UN Secretary
General and President of the General Assembly's proposal for a
GA resolution mandating an MDGs Review Summit in 2010.
22. Third, DFID will continue to work with
colleagues across Whitehall to maintain a high-level, political
focus between now and 2010 on accelerating progress on the MDGs.
This will be achieved through inter-governmental processes such
as the G8 and EU along with maintaining relations with the range
of key stakeholders who have contributed so much to accelerating
progress on the MDGs this year.
1 Note verbel 17 July 2008 (UN Ref: 17 July 2008 Rev) Back
2
Note verbal 17 July 2008 (UN Ref: 17 July 2008 Rev) Back
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