1 March 2013: The 2013 Global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Conference (GMC), titled “Making the MDGs Work: From Advocacy through Implementation to Acceleration and Beyond,” aimed to maintain momentum for accelerating progress on the MDGs while considering how lessons learned from the MDGs can inform the development agenda beyond 2015.

Speaking at the conference, which was hosted by the Government of Colombia and held in Bogota, on 27-28 February 2013, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark described the post-2015 framework as the “next stage of implementation of the vision of the Millennium Declaration.” She emphasized continued effort on the MDGs “to build confidence and support” for the post-2015 development agenda, and recommended that the post-2015 agenda address inequality, which she said “has stood in the way of reaching the MDG targets.” Clark also highlighted the MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF), which 45 countries are using to reduce disparities in progress and speed up progress.

Also speaking at the conference, Amina J. Mohammed, UN Special Adviser, Post-2015 Development Planning, underscored the importance of international cooperation in achieving the MDGs, and recommended that the post-2015 framework address economic development, environmental sustainability and social inclusion. Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank, said key challenges remain in: conflict and fragile states; maternal and child health; and economic opportunities for women. He called for greater ambition in the future framework.

Discussions focused on: MDG breakthroughs and challenges; accelerating towards and sustaining progress on the MDGs; mainstreaming the MDGs; and the emerging agenda beyond 2015. At the conference’s opening ceremony, indigenous communities representatives launched the MDG Report for Indigenous Populations in Colombia.

The conference proceedings will contribute to a global report on MDG achievement and acceleration, to be released in advance of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Special Event on the MDGs in September 2013. [Conference Webpage] [UNDP Press Release] [UNDP Administrator Statement] [UN Press Release][MDG Acceleration Framework]