Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
62/205. Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017)

The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 47/196 of 22 December 1992, 48/183 of 21 December 1993, 50/107 of 20 December 1995, 56/207 of 21 December 2001, 57/265 and 57/266 of 20 December 2002, 58/222 of 23 December 2003, 59/247 of 22 December 2004, 60/209 of 22 December 2005 and 61/213 of 20 December 2006,
Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by Heads of State and Government on the occasion of the Millennium Summit, and their commitment to eradicate extreme poverty and to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger,
Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome,
Recalling its resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006 on the follow-up to the development outcome of the 2005 World Summit, including the Millennium Development Goals and the other internationally agreed development goals,
Recalling also its resolution 61/16 of 20 November 2006 on the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council,
Recalling further the outcomes of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly,
Expressing concern that, after the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997–2006), and midway to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals target date, while there has been progress in reducing poverty in some regions, this progress has been uneven and the number of people living in poverty in some countries continues to increase, with women and children constituting the majority of the most affected groups, especially in the least developed countries and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa,
Encouraged by reductions in poverty in some countries in the recent past, and determined to reinforce and extend this trend to benefit people worldwide,
Recognizing that mobilizing financial resources for development at the national and international levels and the effective use of those resources are central to a global partnership for development in support of the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,
Acknowledging that sustained economic growth, supported by rising productivity and a favourable environment, including private investment and entrepreneurship, is necessary to eradicate poverty, achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and realize a rise in living standards,
Underlining the priority and urgency given by the Heads of State and Government to the eradication of poverty, as expressed in the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields,
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997–2006);
2. Recognizes that during the implementation of the first Decade the international community adopted, inter alia, the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development, and the 2005 World Summit Outcome, which are mechanisms to focus national, regional and international efforts towards achieving poverty eradication;
3. Proclaims the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017) in order to support, in an efficient and coordinated manner, the internationally agreed development goals related to poverty eradication, including the Millennium Development Goals;
4. Reiterates that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in particular for developing countries;
5. Urges all Governments, the international community, including the United Nations system, and all other actors to continue to pursue seriously the objective of the eradication of poverty;
6. Reaffirms that each country must take primary responsibility for its own development and that the role of national policies and strategies cannot be overemphasized in the achievement of sustainable development, and recognizes that national efforts should be complemented by supportive global programmes, measures and policies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of developing countries, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership, strategies and sovereignty;
7. Reiterates the need to strengthen the leadership role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation for development, critical for the eradication of poverty;
8. Stresses the importance of ensuring, at the intergovernmental and interagency levels, coherent, comprehensive and integrated activities for the eradication of poverty in accordance with the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields;
9. Calls upon donor countries to continue to give priority to the eradication of poverty in their assistance programmes and budgets, on either a bilateral or a multilateral basis;
10. Recognizes that sustained economic growth is essential for eradicating poverty and hunger, in particular in developing countries, and stresses that national efforts in this regard should be complemented by an enabling international environment;
11. Also recognizes that, for developing countries to reach the targets set in the context of national development strategies for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the goal on the eradication of poverty, and for such poverty eradication strategies to be effective, it is imperative that developing countries be integrated into the world economy and share equitably in the benefits of globalization;
12. Further recognizes the importance of official development assistance as a source of financing development for developing countries, calls for the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments, including the commitments by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance by 2015, and urges those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments;
13. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session a report containing recommendations on how to make the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017) effective, in support of the poverty eradication-related internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;
14. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-third session an item entitled “Implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017)”.

78th plenary meeting
19 December 2007

Sources:
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/476/07/PDF/N0747607.pdf?OpenElement