$2.5 billion in pledges towards boosting MDGs

24 September 2013 – With just over 800 days left to achieve the most ambitious anti-poverty programme the world has ever seen, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gathered yesterday at UN Headquarters heads of State and representatives of business, civil society and philanthropic organizations to fuel a final push to propel the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) across the finishing line.

The day-long meeting – formally called MDG Success: Accelerating Action and Partnering for Impact and convened by the Secretary-General – has so far generated some $2.5 billion in pledged funds towards boosting MDG achievement.

In his remarks at the opening of the event, Mr. Ban acknowledged that progress remains incomplete in reaching the eight goals to reduce poverty and fight diseases by the end of 2015. Although many MDGs agreed by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, are yet to be met, Mr. Ban told the meeting that success is within reach because people working together all over the world have proved that transformational change is possible in an accelerated timeframe.

"Poverty has plummeted, health has begun to improve and literacy has soared. What first seemed fanciful and naïve to some has become achievable."

So far the meeting has generated some $2.5 billion in pledged funds towards boosting MDG achievement. They include:

• The United Kingdom announced $1.6 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Global Fund over the three-year period of 2014-2016
• The World Bank announced at least $700 million in financing through the end of 2015 to help developing countries reach the MDGs on women's and children's health.
• The Swedish IKEA Foundation pledged $80 million over the next five years to fund UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) children programmes in India.
• Norway will contribute $75 million over three years to the "Reproductive, Newborn, and Maternal Health Trust Fund."
• Energia, the international network on gender and sustainable energy, committed over $10 million to strengthen work on gender equality and women's empowerment in the energy sector, particularly for universal energy access