History

 

On 18 December 2006, UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş and Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation Leire Pajín signed a landmark agreement to programme €528 million over the next four years through the UN system. The aim was to accelerate progress towards key Millennium Development Goals and related development goals in selected sectors and countries. This agreement paved the way for the establishment of the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F), which was launched in the first quarter of 2007. The MDG-F represented a key element in Spain’s Multilateral Cooperation for Development Policy, and provided a significant boost to the UN Reform process, particularly in realizing the Delivering as One vision at the country level.

The year 2005 witnessed an unprecedented increase in international support to development. At the UN World Summit that year, leaders reaffirmed their dedication to meeting internationally-agreed development goals, including the MDGs, and to commiting the resources, partnerships and efforts required to achieve them. The MDG-F supported these poverty-reduction efforts, promoting the kind of development which enhances individual and collective rights, capacities and opportunities.

With its contribution, the Government of Spain demonstrated its firm commitment to international development and to a strengthened multilateral system, and the United Nations in particular. The Spanish Master Plan for International Cooperation (2005-2008) outlines Spain’s policy, advocacy and financial priorities in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In line with these priorities, the establishment of the MDG Achievement Fund was a landmark in this expanding institutional partnership.

Quick Facts

  • The MDG-Fund was established in 2007 through a landmark agreement signed between the Government of Spain and the UN system with the aim of accelerating progress on the MDGs.
  • With a total contribution of approximately $US 900M, the MDG-Fund financed 130 joint programmes in eight programmatic areas in 50 countries around the world, in addition to global partnerships, thematic knowledge management initiatives and the JPO and SARC young development professionals training programmes.
  • Our programmes covered nutrition, youth and employment, gender equality, environment, culture, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, water resources management and private sector development.
  • We worked with almost 2000 partners from community organizations, national and local governments, NGOs, UN Agencies and the private sector, taking into account a gender perspective in all our work.
  • All our programmes were joint programmes, meaning they brought together an average of six UN Agencies in a collective effort, thereby strengthening the UN system’s ability to deliver as one.
  • The MDG-Fund also led a social justice initiative to put the issue of social exclusion and inequality firmly at the centre of the fight against poverty and all efforts to achieve the MDGs.