FAQ Guide to the MDG Summit

This week, government and civil society leaders will convene at the 2010 UN Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) Summit in New York to evaluate progress on reaching the MDGs.

President Obama is scheduled to speak Wednesday, September 22, at 4:45 pm and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton will speak Tuesday, September 21, at 9:30 am.

Given the significance that the Obama administration is placing on the UN Summit, InterAction has
drafted the following FAQ Guide to inform policymakers on the MDGs and the UN Summit.

What are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of eight development-focused goals, 21
identifiable targets, and 60 indicators to which world leaders agreed at the 2000 Millennium Summit
in a collective effort to, among other things, reduce extreme poverty and child mortality, fight
epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, and develop a global partnership for addressing the world’s most
vulnerable populations by the year 2015.

What is the purpose of the September 20-22, 2010 UN MDG Summit?

There are only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs. Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon has characterized the Summit as a “crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts
to meet the Goals.” This is the time to build on progress made before the setbacks which occurred
during the global food and economic crises of 2008 and 2009.

Has the Administration released anything in preparation for the Summit?

Celebrate, Innovate, & Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond outlines the United States’ strategy for
meeting the MDGs.

What are InterAction’s suggestions for President Obama in his remarks at the UN MDG Summit?

InterAcion is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs focused on the world’s poor and
most vulnerable people. We welcome the Obama administration’s commitment to achieving the
MDGs and urge President Obama to forcefully promote the following, resulting in every foreign
assistance dollar being used for its maximum value:

1. Announce the release of a U.S. Global Development Strategy providing specific

recommendations for operationalizing the principles in Celebrate, Innovate, & Sustain;
2. Explicitly designate USAID as the U.S. government’s lead agency in the interagency process to
reform and carry out international development and build on important internally-led reform efforts
currently underway in the agency; and
3. Give special mention to MDG-8, especially global partnerships, because partnerships impact
on all of the MDGs.
What should Members of Congress do to support the Millennium Development Goals?

On September 16, 2010 Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA, 9th) introduced H. Con. Res. 318,
which endorses the UN Millennium Declaration that created the Millennium Development Goals.
InterAction urges the House and the Senate to pass the resolution in a bi-partisan manner in a show
of support for the global effort to address poverty and its negative effects. Furthermore, we implore
Members of Congress to sustain their engagement on the MDGs through the authorization of and
appropriations for pertinent programs and to continue to partner with the NGO community on
innovative solutions to sustainable development.

For more information, please contact Steven Rocker srocker@interaction.org or Vanessa Dick
vdick@interaction.org