Engaging Parliaments in the
Millennium Development Goals:
a Key Part of National MDG Strategies

a new publication of the Project, in Vietnamese and English languages

December 30, 2005. The Millennium Declaration marks a watershed in the history of the United Nations and the struggle against poverty and want. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) included within the Declaration sets out concrete, global development objectives and, for the first time, a timetable for their achievement. But the importance of the Millennium Declaration is not limited to the MDGs. In linking development, freedom and human rights, the Declaration stands as a succinct statement of humanity’s shared vision of a world in which all people enjoy prosperity, freedom and peace.

The Millennium Declaration and MDGs provide the framework for co-operation between the Government of Viet Nam and the United Nations agencies, including UNDP. The achievement of all of the MDGs and the full realization of the values of the Millennium Declaration motivate all of our work together. Viet Nam’s representative institutions at the national and local levels have a vital role to play in drafting and approving legislation that reflects the principles of the Millennium Declaration and raising public awareness of the Declaration and MDGs.

As this book moves towards publication, the world’s leaders are preparing to meet in the United Nations General Assembly to assess progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. The Government of Viet Nam will report on the country’s tremendous success in poverty reduction. Developing countries from the region and beyond will look to Viet Nam for advice on policies to accelerate progress towards the MDGs. Viet Nam’s representative bodies can take pride in their part in the development of these policies.

But even as we celebrate past achievements we must all recognize that the job is not finished. We cannot rest until all Vietnamese people enjoy the ‘larger freedoms’ described so eloquently by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The National Assembly and the United Nations in Viet Nam pledge to work together towards our common vision of a nation, region and world in which all people enjoy freedom from want, freedom from fear and the freedom to live in dignity.

Jordan Ryan UN Coordinator in Vietnam UNDP Resident Representative	Nguyen Si Dung VIE/02/007 National Project Director Deputy Secretary-General of the National Assembly of Viet Nam