They are in the trenches every day feeding, clothing, teaching, empowering and fighting diseases. They are the ones that the world’s governments and world bodies depend on to carry out plans that help make the world a better place. They are nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). More than 4,000 of them met in New York for three days starting Sept. 7 to examine goals set by heads of state at the United Nations five years ago to improve life for every human being. 

“The issues they discussed are the very same issues that we as a church are addressing,” said meeting attendee Heather-Dawn Small, director of Women’s Ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist World Church. “We want to eliminate poverty, abuse, improve health and education globally, particularly among women.”

These issues were at the center of a September 2000 U.N. meeting of some 189 states. Participants gave themselves 15 years to eradicate and reduce some of the world’s ills.

The objectives, called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), set out to:  eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. In the closing statement of the Millennium declaration, governments pledged to “spare no effort to make the United Nations a more effective instrument for pursing all of these priorities.”

The recent meeting was the 58th Annual Department of Public Information/Nongovernmental Organizations and came a week before the 2005 World Summit where world governments were expected to revisit the progress made in implementing the MDGs. With the topic “Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal,” the meeting gave NGOs an opportunity to look at these goals from their experience working in the trenches.

Workshops and plenary sessions centered around the challenge of partnerships, implementing the MDGs with a focus on human development, and eradicating poverty on a realistic timeline. One particular session focused on how the United Nations and NGOs can form more effective partnerships. When examining the progress of the MDGs, participants pointed out that progress was varied and nonexistent in some places.

One concern was that the MDGs were not being uniformly met because NGOs were not as involved in planning, said Small.

“NGOs are a crucial part of this plan,” she added, “because we [churches and other private organizations] work directly with the people.”

Meetings like this conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet potential partners and share resources to better the world, Small said.

“The challenge is how do we as a world church bridge the gap between evangelism and the needs of the people we are trying to evangelize? One solution is to partner with other NGOs outside the church, and work together to meet the needs of the people we want to share the gospel with,” she explained.

The meeting concluded with attendees putting together a document that outlined ways that NGOs can help governments achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It was presented to world leaders at the 2005 World Summit, which was held Sept. 14 to 16.