UN General Assembly
2009

failed and that these goals can never be met; that they represent a new utopia and therefore the only path 31 09-52228 remaining is to abandon any effort to meet those goals. Clearly that would be a cowardly and irresponsible attitude — the worst possible decision. It would mean leaving all those in need of human solidarity and compassion out in the cold. A second attitude would be to reconsider the goals and then extend the timetable to fulfil them; that would seem logical and reasonable. However, that reasoning encounters one obstacle — the fact that children, the poor and the women of the world cannot wait. The only real way to ensure fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals by the planned 2015 date, is for the General Assembly to work towards promoting true commitment among nations and governmental and non-governmental institutions to urgently assume their task to achieve economic and social development for all people affected by poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. It cannot be argued that the resources available to