On 6 May 2008, in London, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown took a step further to advance the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Call to Action, an initiative launched in July 2007 that has the support of 14 heads of state and 21 major private sector leaders to encourage the international community to accelerate progress to reach the MDGs.

The Business Call to Action event, organized jointly by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UK Government, was attended by the Presidents of Rwanda and Ghana as well as over 80 business leaders, UN officials and members of think tanks. The event sought to galvanize a global partnership of innovative and creative initiatives from the private sector to promote poverty reduction in least developed countries to meet the MDGs. Concrete actions were announced by a number of businesses in attendance, and are expected to generate employment opportunities and potentially improve the lives of poor people across Africa and Asia.
During the event, UNDP Administrator Kermal Dervis highlighted that innovative business leaders from the North and the South are changing the way traditional business operate, making markets more inclusive and generating more wealth to groups that were previously excluded. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated that European leaders will meet in Brussels next month to discuss what else can be done to scale up MDG achievements, which will feed into the G-8 Summit in July. The President of the UN General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, noted that many business leaders present at the Call to Action event would be invited to announce new initiatives and champion specific MDGs during the High-Level MDG Summit at the UN in New York, US, on 25 September, which he will convene jointly with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Links to further information
Business Call to Action
DFID MDG Call to Action
UNDP News, 6 May 2008
UN News Centre, 6 May 2008