“The agreed deadline of 2015 is fast approaching. We do not have a moment to lose. We need to make greater strides towards balanced and sustainable development. We also need to intensify our talks on what lies beyond 2015,” said Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro at the General Assembly’s Development Dialogue on 14 June.

With support from DESA, the meeting was convened by the President of the General Assembly, Joseph Deiss. It featured both a formal and informal plenary meeting, with two panel discussions entitled “MDG implementation and accountability: women’s and children’s health as an engine for progress” and “Advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015”.

Although there are many examples of progress around the world, there is still much to be done prior to the 2015 deadline and stakeholders were encouraged to “think big” in the final push to meet the goals.

Mr. Deiss said that an important development in the implementation and accountability of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 had been the launch in 2010 of the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. He also highlighted the agreement in May on a new 10-year agenda for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), also known as the Istanbul Declaration.

“The ultimate goal is to transform economies and societies of these countries so that the category of ‘Least Developed Countries’ no longer exists,” said Mr. Deiss.

Mr. Deiss also stressed that despite the extremely positive developments in the global fight against diseases and poverty, it must not be forgotten that in many countries and in several sectors, the MDGs may not be achieved by their target date.

“This reality confronts us with the fundamental challenge of turning commitments into action and action into results. In making a tangible difference on the ground in the lives of the poor, we demonstrate that the UN is reliable, credible and accountable,” Mr. Deiss said.