Strong government accountability is crucial to meeting millennium development goals, UN assembly is told

The introduction of accountability and oversight at government level is key to achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs), a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly has heard.

Joy Phumaphi, who co-chairs a group tasked by the UN with looking at accountability in relation to the MDGs, said that the few countries that were due to meet targets on both infant and maternal mortality had all introduced strong oversight and accountability mechanisms.

“It’s clear that the use of an oversight and accountability mechanism has been central to the achievement of results and impact in these countries. In those countries…that are on track to achieve both MDG …