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September 15, 2010

Ban Defends MDG Goals as UN General Assembly Begins
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The United Nations General Assembly, meanwhile, has opened its
sixty-fifth session at UN headquarters in New York. President Obama and
other world leaders are expected to attend a summit on the UN’s
Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, beginning next week. In an
interview with Reuters, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rejected criticism
that the MDG is short on specifics for reducing poverty.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "You need to be realistic, and I
believe that this outcome document is the maximum and best which we
could expect at this time. Of course, you can expect much more, but we
need to always base our policies and priorities in considering the
realities on the ground. Now, I’m very much encouraged by this strong
element of this implementation plan of actions."

In other UN news, Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of former
Chilean president Michelle Bachelet to head the new UN agency intended
to promote women’s equality. The agency will be known simply as "UN
Women."



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