Myanmar calls for intensified efforts to fully achieve millennium development goals

Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin on Monday called for intensified efforts and accelerated actions to fully achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the next two years. He made the call while speaking at the annual general debate of the 68th UN General Assembly session, which runs through Oct. 1. "We are fast approaching the deadline for the MDGs. With less than 850 days to go, we are now in a sense of urgency to look back our past journey and chart the way forward," said the minister. Agreed upon by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, the MDGs set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/ AIDS and malaria reduction, and a global partnership for development, all by the end of 2015. U Wunna Maung Lwin underlined that despite laudable advances made in meeting several of the global MDGs in the past 13 years, there remains imbalance and variations in achievement across regions and within countries. "Therefore, we need to intensify our efforts and accelerate actions to the full realization of the MDGs in the remaining short span of time," he said. In many developing countries, especially the least developed ones, noted the minister, a large proportion of populations is still grappling with poverty, hunger, economic and social disparity and environmental degradation. "It is therefore most pertinent and timely for the United Nations to set the Post-2015 Development Agenda, emphasizing on enhancing our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, protect the environment and to bring about inclusive and sustainable economic development," he said. U Wunna Maung Lwin added that the key implementation gaps of the MDGs and the poverty agenda need to be addressed over the next two years, as the international community maps out a sound roadmap towards a post-2015 development agenda. "In this regard, national efforts must be assisted by international support and enabling environment. The role of the global partnership for development must also be strengthened," he urged.