Sub-Saharan Africa must scale up efforts to reach Millennium Goals, says Migiro
While noting the gains achieved by sub-Saharan African countries in recent years, the Deputy Secretary-General today
cited an urgent need to scale up efforts to meet the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
Despite recent gains, including economic growth and stability, progress towards achieving the MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa
remains "too slow" at the mid-point to 2015, Asha-Rose Migiro told members of the Secretary-General's MDG Africa
Initiative, which is designed to help mobilize international support for African States' own efforts.
"We want to ensure that when we reach 2015, we can say that the UN system has done everything possible to motivate the
international community to follow through on its commitments to support the MDGs in Africa," Ms. Migiro stated.
Despite commitments made by the world's leading industrialized countries to increase annual aid to Africa to $50
billion, assistance to Africa has not been scaled up, nor has it become more predictable, she noted, adding that "the
follow-up on commitments made to support the MDGs in Africa remains fragmented and does not draw on the full expertise
of the UN system and its partners."
To remedy this, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon established the MDG Africa Steering Group and associated Working Group
this past September. Together, they represent an "intensive effort to mobilize the full resources of the UN system and
its partners to achieve the MDGs in Africa."
Ms. Migiro added that the initiative will only be successful if it receives countries' support and cooperation. "Its
success also rests on the different governments' willingness to sustain their national leadership and ownership in
pursuing the MDGs," she added.
ENDS