Sister Celisse Williams' work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the United Nations Millennium Development Campaign Office.

I was given the great opportunity of externing at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the United Nations Millennium Development Campaign Office. The office is located at the United Nations headquarters in New York, New York. The United Nations Millennium Campaign, entitled End Poverty 2015, began in the year 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit where 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration and promised to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in order to end extreme world poverty. The Campaign is very historical because, among other reasons, we are the first generation with the knowledge, resources, technology, and skill to end extreme world poverty. The mission of the Campaign is to take a bottom-up approach in supporting and inspiring citizens from around the world to take action in monitoring and holding their governments accountable in achieving the MDGs.

UN Summit in 2000

There are eight MDGs that set clear targets for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. The Goals are the following: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development. All of the Goals are very much intertwined with one another and thus, success in one Goal represents success in all the Goals.

Heads of state have set the deadline for achieving the eight MDGs by 2015. Although there have been unimaginable accomplishments around the globe in ending extreme world poverty, many of the world’s regions are not on track to achieve several of the MDGs by 2015. With only five years left before the deadline, it is imperative that heads of state, NGOs, and other organizations take bold action immediately. A High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly was held in New York this past September, marking it as the largest gathering of heads of state in the past ten years. At this United Nations (U.N.) Summit, heads of state met to discuss, among other things, how to achieve the MDGs in the upcoming five years. This is where my externship came into play.

Millennium Development Goals

My main duty this summer was to create a report describing the current status of each MDG and make recommendations as to what needs to be done in order to achieve the MDGs. I performed internet-based policy research and analyzed key global policy issues related to the MDGs such as the outcome of the G8/G20 Summits, the U.N. Summit on the Economic and Financial Crisis and the U.N. Summits on Millennium Development Goals in 2005 and 2008. I prepared synthesis reports on the implementation status of country commitments that were made at the Summits including, inter alia, the achievements realized by each country and the existing gaps that prevent MDG achievement. I participated and represented the Campaign in various U.N. meetings and I co-coordinated several side events that took place during this past U.N. Summit.

Celisse Williams, pictured far right

The externship required a very broad perspective in addressing the rights and health needs of billions of people who come from every imaginable background. The MDGs, and the work and research that I performed during the externship touched upon many different global aspects including, but not limited to: international trading regarding trade tariffs and barriers; conflict prevention; global governance and treatises; international health; and economic development. I was fortunate to be able to return to the Campaign in New York during the U.N. Summit and see the fruits of my labor culminate in a successful ending. I am extremely grateful for my experiences and I hope that I have left a path for others to follow.

Posted by:  Andrew Quietmeyer, written by Celisse Williams