At the dawn of this century, at the Millennium Summit, world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to peace and security, human rights and good governance. They agreed on a set of time-bound targets, encapsulated in the Millennium Development Goals, to reducing extreme poverty, hunger, needless disease and other global social and environmental ills by 2015. And they recognized that these objectives demand that we must all practice mutual respect and accept shared responsibility.
This year we mark Human Solidarity Day with the resolve to work together to bridge the remaining gaps to reach the Millennium Development Goals and define the path we will follow after 2015 to achieve a more sustainable future for all. We all have a role in overcoming today's economic, political, environmental and social challenges, and we must all share the costs and benefits of sustainable development according to needs and ability. This is the essence of justice, fairness and equity. It is the meaning of solidarity.
On this Human Solidarity Day, I urge people from all nations, faiths, cultures and traditions to work together in common cause to keep the promise made at the turn of the Millennium and leave a legacy of peace, prosperity and sustainable progress for generations to come.
Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations