By Meg Davis

On June 14-15, the United Nations convened informal
hearings in the General Assembly for NGOs on the Millennium Development Goals.
The hearings were to prepare states for the more high-profile summit on the
MDGs scheduled for September 20-22. Unfortunately, while the NGO presentations
were diverse and international, turnout by member states was relatively low.

The MDG hearings were divided between four themes: one on
national strategies and global structures, one on accountability in the fight
against poverty, one on sustainable development, and one on future policies. At
each session, a group of three or four NGO speakers gave presentations,
followed by shorter responses from other NGOs and comments by member states. In
practice, due to time constraints and the formal setting of the General
Assembly hall, the format favored reading of prepared statements over a more
interactive discussion.

Among these presentations, some standouts included a
biting speech by Ms. Tarcila Rivera Zea from the International Indigenous Women’s
Forum calling for more inclusion of the needs of indigenous peoples in the MDGs,
and a thoughtful discussion of patent barriers to treatment access in
developing countries by Joan Hu Yuanqiong of the China Access to Medicines
Research Group.

Unfortunately, during this session, we counted only sixty
representatives scattered around the member states’ tables, about a third of
whom appeared to be working on their laptops (perhaps they were taking notes).Hopefully,
as Ms. Merlie Mendoza of Caritas Manila noted, the sparse attendance by member
states did not reflect a lack of seriousness about the MDGs.