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In March 2000, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan published his report, 'We the Peoples': The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, listing the major challenges in the world. The report presented an action plan that included halving the relative amount of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, guaranteeing basic education to all children and reducing HIV-infection rates by 25 per cent by 2010. The key message of the Secretary-General's Millennium Report was that the welfare of the world's people is our shared responsibility. In an interdependent world, no nation is an island and people's fortunes are interlinked. The current situation, in which the majority of the global population lives in poverty while the minority lives in abundance, is not only wrong; in the long run, it is unsustainable.


Freedom from want and freedom from fear are fundamental rights that we must fulfil together. Mr. Annan's report and the issues related to it were addressed in depth at the Millennium Summit of September 2000 in New York. This historic meeting was jointly presided by Namibia and Finland, and I had the honour of acting as co-chair together with President Sam Nujoma of Namibia. The Summit offered a unique opportunity to find ways to respond to the global challenges and elaborate ideas on achieving a fairer world. For Finland and the European Union (EU), it was important to be able to agree on ambitious, concrete and achievable goals that would give direction to the whole United Nations system in maintaining peace and security and in supporting Member States' development efforts in a globalized world. The EU underlined the need for placing poverty eradication at the centre of development efforts. Along with the responsibility of each country for its own development, international economic assistance would be required.


Member States acknowledged in the Millennium Declaration that globalization offers great opportunities, but that its benefits were unevenly shared and its costs unequally distributed among and within countries. A challenge was set to make globalization a positive force for all the peoples of the world. The Summit also drew attention to the need for greater civil society participation in solving international problems and making the United Nations a functioning multilateral system. The views and visions of civil society on the role of the Organization in the new century were presented to the Summit by the Millennium Forum, which was organized in May 2000. As many as 1,200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had participated in the event that focused on several major themes, including peace, poverty eradication, human rights, sustainable development, the challenges of globalization, and strengthening and democratizing the United Nations.


In September 2005, the largest-ever United Nations Summit was organized in New York, based on the proposals made by the Secretary-General in his report, In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development and Human Rights for All, which was presented, in effect, as a five-year progress report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. The overriding theme of this report was the triangle formed by development, security and human rights. Mr. Annan wanted to ensure that the commitments made to combat poverty were carried out in a way that would bring results, and it was in this connection that I worked with him. The proposals of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, set up by the International Labour Organization (ILO), gained the international community's support. As part of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it was agreed to incorporate targets concerning fair globalization and decent work for all, including women and young people, in both national and international policies, as well as in national development strategies. Promoting employment is now recognized as an effective anti-poverty policy.


The 2005 World Summit reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to the goals of the Millennium Declaration and marked the importance of the MDGs as the common policy framework for the entire UN system. Its main focus was to review progress in the areas where the Goals had been set five years earlier. The unanimously adopted final document of the Summit listed progress achieved in the implementation of the MDG agenda and confirmed new commitments to increase public development funding. National plans to advance the MDGs were also agreed upon. Security, development and human rights, and their interdependency and link to gender issues, formed the basis of the document.


The main achievements, from Finland's point of view, included references to fair globalization, decent work, the rights of indigenous peoples and gender equality, as well as the rule of law -- the implementation of the latter was recently advanced with the creation of a unit in the UN Secretariat in New York. The decisions to establish the ¹ú²úAVbuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council were also priorities for Finland and the EU. Finland was a member of the Human Rights Council during its first year of operation and has taken an active role in the ¹ú²úAVbuilding Commission through the presidency of Ambassador Marjatta Rasi in the advisory group of the ¹ú²úAVbuilding Fund, as well as by providing financial support for the body. As these institutions progress, UN reforms can significantly contribute to achieving the MDGs and strengthen and promote the status of women in society. A more efficient United Nations is needed for a better world.


At midpoint towards their implementation, the MDGs have turned out to be an enormous challenge, but have also provided an extremely valuable tool in promoting peace and development in the world. The Goals have brought about greater cooperation between the different development actors, increasing the coherence and results of their actions. In addition to Member States, other actors, such as civil society and the private sector, have accepted the MDGs as cornerstones of their international development actions.


According to most international assessments, global progress in the MDGs has been significant. We can be proud of the positive results in certain areas, such as gender equality, access to skilled care at birth and universal primary education. At the same time, however, it is clear that progress is insufficient and uneven. Child mortality at the global level, for instance, is at an all-time low, and yet, faster progress is needed to reach the MDG target of reducing it by two thirds before 2015. Greater efforts, including significant increases in financing, will be needed for the international community to achieve the Goals by the target date. A major task lies ahead for the whole UN system and its partners.


I believe that the MDGs are still achievable if we combine our efforts. But we must act urgently and show our commitment to the promises we have made. Africa and the least developed countries must continue to be the centre of focus, as has been reiterated on several occasions. In addition, as pointed out by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, achieving the MDGs will require good governance, increased public investment, economic growth, enhanced productivity capacity and the creation of decent work. It is important that this international effort involves everyone: Governments, parliaments, NGOs, the private sector and individuals.


I am convinced that through our own actions, we can attain the Millennium Development Goals. From the beginning, Finland has been fully committed to the MDGs, which are at the centre of our development and UN policies. These Goals also guide our development efforts within the European Union. The European Consensus for Development is based on the MDGs, which are among the priorities of the EU, as well as in the national priorities of Finland for the sixty-second session of the General Assembly in 2007. In this work, it is crucial that our aspirations become achievements, in order to create a brighter future for all and to transfer global insecurity into global responsibility.