Secretary-General, at Final Meeting with Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group, Says Ambitious 2030 Agenda Stemmed from Gains since 2000

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at his final meeting with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Advocacy Group, in New York today:

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, this is our final meeting together.  Thank you for your exceptional leadership over the past five years.  I am especially grateful to the two Co-Chairs, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway.

Thank you all for speaking out for struggling people who live in poverty, far from the global spotlight.  Thank you for lending your immense talents to this cause while taking care of your many other pressing responsibilities.  Thank you for bringing us to where we are today.

This week, the United Nations made history by adopting our new 2030 Agenda for a life of dignity for all people.  The monumental Sustainable Development Goals would never have been possible without success on the Millennium Development Goals.

To get an ambitious plan for 2030, we had to show results since 2000.  We met the first MDG, cutting poverty by half.  We put more girls in school, saved more mothers from death and forged an unprecedented global coalition.

I would say the “M” in MDGs also stands for “momentum”.  The MDGs propelled us to this new vision for the future.

I am deeply grateful for all of your support.  You were fighting poverty and taking a stand for human dignity long before you joined this Group.  You did not wait for an appointment from me to act, and I expect that, after this mandate expires, you will continue to work with the United Nations for a better world for all people.

The SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] point the way.  I will be building on your experience to set in motion global advocacy for the global goals.  This has to be a comprehensive effort that matches the ambition of this new vision with awareness around the world.

I look forward to our discussions.  Let us learn from the past — and look ahead to the future.  Thank you.