Message by Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme On the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 17 October 2004 Youth - A New Voice for the Millennium Development Goals

In the four years since the Millennium Development Goals were agreed at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 - targets which include halving poverty, removing hunger, putting every boy and girl in school, stemming the spread of infectious disease such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and halting the crisis in the environment by the year 2015 - they have become a global agenda for change. There is a recognition that for the first time in human history we have the knowledge and the track record - extreme global poverty actually halved between 1980 and 2000 - to halve poverty again. The question is do we have the political will and determination, and hence the resources, to achieve the MDGs by 2015 and help build a more just, safe and prosperous world for all? As world leaders prepare for the high-level event at the UN General Assembly in September 2005 which will review the first five years of progress on meeting the MDGs, it is clear that in terms of the progress needed to achieve the Goals in the next ten years, this is a defining moment for the world to make the course changes necessary to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. It is, therefore, not only a review, but also a unique opportunity to inject new vigour and a renewed commitment to meet the goals by the 2015 deadline. And it is an agenda for young people. It will make or break the world they will live in. For many, achieving the goals will quite literally mean the difference between the chance to fulfill their potential and bring up their own children with opportunities they were denied, or if we fail, they will see a world of deteriorating opportunity, prosperity and stability that threatens their future. Vital to the success of getting the MDGs on track now is civil society mobilization, where young people in particular have a critical role to play. Young people not only represent the future, they are also a rich source of the kinds of innovative solutions needed to address some of the most pressing problems facing us today. As such, young people have the potential to be a powerful force as advocates for the MDGs and agents for change in their societies, and already, thousands of young people, in the North and South alike, are showing what is possible in the fight against global poverty in their own communities and across borders. On this day marking the commitment we-the-peoples have made to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in our world, let us commit ourselves to ensuring that voice of youth - the dreams, ideas and initiatives of young people – is heard.