We parliamentarians, meeting at the 123rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva in October 2010, welcome the declaration Keeping the promise: United to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, approved at the 2010 high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The IPU recognizes the widely held view that progress towards achieving the MDGs has been uneven. Despite significant achievements, considerable challenges lie ahead. The IPU therefore welcomes the commitment by the United Nations and its Member States to give top priority to the MDGs over the next five years so as to ensure their speedy implementation.

The IPU has endorsed the need for greater accountability in international development cooperation. Governments must also be accountable for the MDGs in their own countries. It is imperative that the MDG national reports are tabled and discussed in parliament, not only to guarantee accountability, but also to make the pursuit of the Goals an inclusive national exercise. Without good governance, both on the national and international levels, the MDGs will not succeed. We urge all parliaments to do everything in their power to place the MDGs high on their agenda, to identify modalities to further support MDG-related efforts, and to ensure that their governments honour the promise of meeting the MDGs.

The IPU has worked energetically towards achieving the MDGs, in particular those relating to gender equality and the empowerment of women, child and maternal health, HIV and AIDS, and environmental sustainability. It has also undertaken valuable work in the area of parliamentary scrutiny of development aid. As a vital partner in the global effort to halve world poverty by 2015, we pledge to continue working to mobilize parliaments in these efforts as the deadline approaches.

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Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 123rd Assembly and related meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union" in PDF format (file size approximately 587 Kb). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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