The High-level Event in Brief

The High-level Event (HLE) on the Millennium Development Goals will take place at UN Headquarters on 25 September 2008. It will be jointly convened by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly to review progress, identify gaps and motivate commitments to bridge the gaps to ensure that the MDGS are achieved by 2015. It will be a special informal event bringing together Heads of State or Government, as well as leaders of the private sector and civil society. The HLE will provide an opportunity for world leaders to announce concrete plans and proposals to translate commitments into action and help accelerate implementation of the MDGs. Moreover, the HLE will send a message to the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar (November) from the highest political level, re-committing all actors to a robust global partnership for development.

While showcasing MDG success stories, the event will also acknowledge the uneven progress so far, the reasons for the uneven track record, the major challenges ahead, and the urgency of stepping up implementation of commitments.

The format of the HLE will be 3 thematic Roundtables:
  Poverty and Hunger
  Education and Health
  Environmental Sustainability.

In addition, there will be two cross-cutting themes: Gender and developing a Global Partnership for Development.

The outcome of the HLE will be a summary from the UN Secretary-General, which will highlight stepped up commitments for the achievement of the MDGs.

The opening and closing of the High-level Event, as well as the three parallel thematic roundtables, will be broadcast on UN TV and on the Internet.

For further information regarding the HLE, including the official programme and the list of partnership events, please click on the following link: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel

Please find below the most recently updated information regarding civil society participation.

Civil Society Participation in the High-level Event

Considering the fact that the HLE on MDGs will be taking place in conjunction and in parallel with the General Debate of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly, access to the United Nations complex for civil society, the private sector and the media will be restricted.

6 CSO representatives (3 from the North and 3 from the South) will be invited to participate as speakers in the 3 Roundtables (2 CSOs/Roundtable).

The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) and the Millennium Campaign have been identified by the United Nations as focal points for civil society engagement in the HLE. A consultation process was set up in June-July 2008 in order to seek a small number of nominations for speakers representing civil society organizations at the Rountables.

NGOs, trade unions and UN bodies are being consulted to propose candidates who fulfill the following criteria:

  The individuals and organizations they represent should have an explicit and consistent record of having worked on the MDGs;

  The individuals and organizations should be widely acknowledged as representing a key constituency with a significant base;

  The individuals should be articulate and competent to address the questions posed in the specific Roundtable, gender implications and the MDGs in general in any UN language and;

  Preference will be given to fresh and different voices focused on poor and excluded groups.

The final list of nominations will be forwarded to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and invited NGO/CSO speakers will receive an invitation letter before September, in time for them to organize their travel arrangments.

A certain number of seats may also be available for NGO/CSO observers during the High-level Event. A specific meeting ticket will be required to be an observer. More information regarding these tickets will be provided in the course of August. 

Source: http://www.un-ngls.org/