25 September 2014: At its fifth annual meeting in New York, US, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Advocacy Group showcased successes and urged greater efforts in the remaining 462 days to attain the MDGs. The Group convened a meeting of 300 eminent persons, and released a collection of short articles, titled ‘Accelerating Action: Global Leaders on Challenges & Opportunities for MDG Achievement.’

In their introduction to the publication, Group Co-Chairs Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, and Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, called on all concerned to recommit to harder work ahead, observing that “The MDG deadline…is not the finish line of a race, and there will be neither medals nor rest.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the MDG Advocacy Group at a Leaders’ Breakfast, saying that while the MDGs have transformed the lives of millions of people, greater progress is needed on ending hunger and child malnutrition, reducing child and maternal mortality, and improving access to sanitation. He called for “full support” in building a strong successor framework to the MDGs, noting that mechanisms for effective partnerships and multi-stakeholder accountability will be critical to the success of the post-2015 development agenda. The breakfast meeting was organized by the MDG Advocacy Group and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.

The ‘Accelerating Action’ publication outlines approaches taken by various countries and organizations, for example, on Botswana’s approach to combating AIDS, and on the UN’s collaborative work across agencies and other stakeholders, including the movement for Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Alliance.

Ban formed the MDG Advocacy Group in June 2010 to engage eminent persons in building political will and mobilizing global action toward the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. The group includes government and industry leaders, activists and authorities on development, such as Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank, philanthropist Ted Turner, singer-songwriter Bob Geldof, former First Lady of South Africa Graca Machel, and Hiromasa Yonekura of Sumitomo Chemical Company. [UN Press Release] [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [Remarks of UN Secretary-General to Leaders’ Breakfast] [Publication: Accelerating Action: Global Leaders on Challenges & Opportunities for MDG Achievement] [MDG Advocacy Group Website] [Webcast of Deputy UN Secretary-General’s Remarks]