UN General Assembly
2008

Millennium Declaration, the decisive tool in the fight against poverty, to promote peace, security and human rights, and to ensure a sustainable environment. It provided the framework for eight precise goals accompanied by clear time frames — the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). My message today is a simple one. The international community cannot afford to fail in the implementation of the MDGs, in spite of the threefold food, energy and environmental crisis seriously affecting the whole planet. To achieve the goals that we set ourselves at the dawn of the new millennium, we will have to step up our efforts and pursue concerted action in the only universal forum we have — the United Nations. Eight years ago, we drew up together a scorecard with quantified goals and defined the steps to be taken to reduce poverty, fight hunger in the world and combat pandemics. Eight years ago, the situation was very alarming; we could not have imagined that things were to get worse. Since then, we have been faced with the energy