The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) shares your prioritisation of poverty, education and health as the most challenging goals for our purposes today.

At the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent last November, all governments of the world endorsed the outcome declaration, entitled “Together for Humanity” in the strong belief that none of the major humanitarian challenges facing the world can be resolved by any organisation, or any government, acting alone.

We have spoken of the need for effective and constructive partnerships between governments, intergovernmental organisations and civil society many times, but too often this aim remains far from practical realisation.

Yet it is an absolutely essential prerequisite to achieving the MDGs.

We will continue our efforts to bring National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies into national planning to deal with the risk and vulnerability which is produced by poverty, the absence of education or rampant disease.

A basic but often forgotten tenet of the Millennium Declaration is that: the goals are built around needs, and these needs in detail must be identified at the community level when it comes to implementation.

We will therefore also continue bringing the communities and their real needs into policy and programming discussion at the national level.

It is the only way forward to adequately recognise economic, social, geographic and other disparities.

It is the only way to ensure that programmes are delivered in a way which neither discriminates for or against anyone.

The search for partnerships must be intense.

It must involve innovation – don’t just convene the same groups and speak about doing more of the same. Identify problems and challenges with fresh thinking, and don’t be afraid to take challenging action.

And, in the spirit of partnership, share plans and results with others facing similar challenges, and do so on the basis of honest statistics and other data.

It is, in this context, worth noting too that statistics and data on progress as often presented mask the reality of despair.

The tendency to average out a nation’s poverty or other levels does not enable a real understanding of either national, communal, or any individual’s reality.

President, Besides renewed and reinforced partnerships our concern extends to two additional issues:

We are, firstly, concerned by the fact that the non-achievement of the MDGs per se implies a continued impact on human risks as they define humanitarian vulnerability.

We are ever more concerned that continuing population growth, environmental degradation, conflict, economic and financial crisis, slowed economic growth and inflation will expose every human to growing risk potentials which in turn will further negatively affect every individual’s vulnerability status.

Furthermore, Climate Change in its consequences, such as raising seawater levels or the increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, is an issue of a scale that will multiply risks and impede on vulnerability to an extent that it will change every individual’s identity.

Secondly, we are concerned that that there must be no gaps in funding action under each MDG. It has to be common sense that, while there might be other factors adverse to achieving the MDGs, without adequate funding no progress in implementation can be made.

And, it should go without saying, in this context, that funding for adaptation measures in response to Climate Change, has to be subject largely, if not fully, to additionality.

Our National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are anxious to share our experience and expertise.

We do this, within our own Global Agenda, with the clear intention of delivering results which assist the achievement of the MDGs.

Our priority areas touch in different ways on each of those within this thematic debate, but for the purposes of showing what we do in a measurable sense I will offer just one reference.

The IFRC published, in 2006, a booklet describing its activities in support of the achievement of the MDGs.

It is available at the IFRC website and remains valid in demonstrating measurable action, and providing illustrative examples of measures taken by National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to advance the common goals.

In addition, a baseline survey done by the IFRC on our ability to reach those most vulnerable showed that in 2005 our programming reached an estimated 158.5 million people.

From this, President, and conscious of the time limits you have set for our interventions, we ask the following:

We all must be reiterative, accountable and transparent in demonstrating all our will to achieve the MDGs.

Governments must commit themselves to the building of meaningful partnerships.

The implementation of MDGs and Climate Change adaptation must progress in complimentarity and synergistically.

Consented funding levels must be reached sooner rather than later bearing in mind the additionality aspect for funding of Climate Change adaptation.

Without that, and without the involvement of individuals in the communities in the design, implementation and monitoring of MDG-related programmes, the achievement of the MDGs by 2015 will remain a noble dream and fail human reality.