With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders are meeting at a UN summit in New York (20-22 September) to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

The high-level meeting of the General Assembly is being held to take stock of the progress made so far towards the MDGs – which include slashing poverty, combating disease, fighting hunger, protecting the environment, and boosting education – and to accelerate progress to reach the Goals by their 2015 target date. A PAHO delegation led by Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, PAHO Director, and Dr. Socorro Gross, PAHO Subdirector, along with a group of selected technical staff, are participating in the event.