We hope you enjoyed the Energizing the Millennium Development Goals KNOWLEDGE EXPO, held from 3 to 5 May, 2006.

The Expo took place during the fourteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14), which this year focused on the topics of energy for sustainable development, industrial pollution, climate change and atmospheric pollution. This website was designed to give you access to presentations, exhibit posters, and other materials featured at the Expo. The Expo showcased best practices via interactive exhibits and demonstrations on a variety of energy and MDG success stories, with a select group of partners presenting information on their energy-related initiatives and programmes.

Background

Energy is central to sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts. It affects all aspects of development -- social, economic, and environmental -- including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related issues. None of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be met without major improvement in the quality and quantity of energy services in developing countries.

The current 2006 - 2007 cycle of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14 and 15) is focusing on energy as one of its core themes. As such the international community has a renewed opportunity to strengthen actions to deliver modern energy services for the poor as an essential component of MDG-based development strategies. But because energy has such cross-cutting impacts, special efforts must be made to consolidate our positions and present a solid message to the international community: Access to energy services is necessary to achieve the MDGs. The purpose of the Knowledge Expo was to collect our best practices and lessons learned on a common 'Energy for MDGs' platform, in order to deliver this unified message.

UNDP thanks the following organizations for their participation and contribution to the Knowledge Expo: