The preparatory meeting for the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) 2005 High-level Segment took place on Wednesday and Thursday, 16-17 March 2005, at UN headquarters in New York.

The meeting focused on “achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, as well as implementing the outcomes of the major UN Conferences and Summits.” Roundtable discussions were held on eradication of poverty and hunger, education and literacy, health and mortality, global partnerships and financing development, gender equality and the empowerment of women, environmental sustainability, and implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, at the country level: how to advance recommendations on an MDG-based approach to poverty reduction.
The outcomes of the preparatory meeting will feed into ECOSOC’s High-level and Coordination Segments, which will take place as part of the substantive ECOSOC session from 29 June to 27 July 2005, at UN headquarters in New York. The High-level Segment will address “Achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, as well as implementing the outcomes of the major United Nations Conferences and Summits: progress made, challenges and opportunities,” and the Coordination Segment will address the theme, “Towards achieving internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.” IISDRS coverage of this meeting.