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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on time, a UN spokesperson said Wednesday.
In a statement released by the spokesperson, Annan said the Human Development Report 2005 launched Wednesday by the UN Development Program spells out much of what is at stake in the negotiations on the draft outcome document for next week's World Summit.
"The report reminds us that our generation is the first with the resources and technology to allow people to lead the life they choose and free the entire human race from want," the secretary-general said. "The Millennium Declaration enshrines a global partnership for development, affirmed and elaborated at Monterrey, in which sustained political and economic reform by developing countries is matched by direct support from the developed world in aid, trade, and debt relief."
Annan said it is plain that a dramatic scaling up of action is needed now if "we are to make this framework a reality, in order to achieve the MDGs by the target date of 2015, and to overcome some of the massive inequalities that divide humanity.
"It is equally plain that action on development must be matched by action on security and human rights, since each depends on the other," he stressed.
Annan pointed out that this report shows that, with boldness and vision from all, 2005 can be the year in which the international community sets out, with the determination and resources necessary, to free millions from poverty, save millions of lives, and build a world that is freer, fairer and safer for all its inhabitants.
"I urge member states to heed this timely message, and to use next week's summit to launch us on a global effort to make this vision a reality," the secretary-general said. "I commend the ideas and analysis in this report to all citizens, civic organizations, governments, parliaments and international bodies who are working to achieve the MDGs."
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2005)
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