I
n September 2000, all the 191
Member States of the United Nations
adopted the Millennium Declaration
(GA Resolution A/54/2000) which
outlined measures necessary to attain
peace, security and development. This
was further elaborated in the
subsequent UN Secretary-General's
Report entitled "A Road Map Towards
the Implementation of the UN
Millennium Declaration" (GA Resolution
A/56/326). The Millennium
Declaration, among other things,
mainstreamed a set of inter-connected
and mutually reinforcing goals into the
global agenda. In subsequent meetings,
an agreement was reached among the
UN, OECD/DAC, World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) on
key elements of a framework of this
global agenda in the context of goals,
targets and indicators, collectively
referred to as the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs
comprise ambitious global targets set
for 2015 as follows:
Halving extreme poverty and
hunger
Achieving universal primary
education
Promoting gender equality
Reducing under-five mortality by
two-thirds
Reducing maternal mortality by
three quarters
Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS,
malaria and TB
Ensuring environmental
sustainability
Developing a global partnership for
development, with targets for aid,
trade and debt relief
Through the Millennium Summit, the
General Assembly gave the SecretaryGeneral
and the UN system the
important mandate of supporting
national governments in implementing
the Declaration. Accordingly, the entire
United Nations family of Member
States, international organizations,
funds, agencies, programs, the private
sector and civil society have an
obligation to ensure achievement of the
goals set in the Millennium Declaration
and MDG targets.
The MDGs are hinged on two main
principles: First, national ownership,
where the processes and products for
monitoring progress towards the MDGs
must be nationally-driven and inspired.
Secondly, capacity development, where
priority will be accorded to investments
in capacity building for monitoring as
well as the use of data for informed
policy-making and programming.
The Kenya Government’s commitment
to the Millennium Declaration was
underlined by high-level participation in
the Summit. The Government in
collaboration with partners is therefore
expected to play a crucial role in
facilitating realization of the goals set in
the Declaration.