A/RES/64/299 Millennium Development Goals. We reaffirm the need for a strong United Nations to meet the challenges of the changing global environment. 15. We recognize that all the Millennium Development Goals are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. We therefore underline the need to pursue these Goals through a holistic and comprehensive approach. 16. We acknowledge the diversity of the world and recognize that all cultures and civilizations contribute to the enrichment of humankind. We emphasize the importance of culture for development and its contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 17. We call on civil society, including non-governmental organizations, voluntary associations and foundations, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders at the local, national, regional and global levels, to enhance their role in national development efforts as well as their contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and we commit ourselves as national Governments to the inclusion of these stakeholders. 18. We acknowledge the role of national parliaments in furthering the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. A mixed story: successes, uneven progress, challenges and opportunities 19. We recognize that developing countries have made significant efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and have had major successes in realizing some of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals. Successes have been made in combating extreme poverty, improving school enrolment and child health, reducing child deaths, expanding access to clean water, improving prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and controlling malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases. 20. We acknowledge that much more needs to be done in achieving the Millennium Development Goals as progress has been uneven among regions and between and within countries. Hunger and malnutrition rose again from 2007 through 2009, partially reversing prior gains. There has been slow progress in reaching full and productive employment and decent work for all, advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women, achieving environmental sustainability and providing basic sanitation, and new HIV infections still outpace the number of people starting treatment. In particular, we express grave concern over the slow progress being made in reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal and reproductive health. Progress on other Millennium Development Goals is fragile and must be sustained to avoid reversal. 21. We underline the central role of the global partnership for development and the importance of Goal 8 in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We recognize that without substantial international support, several of the Goals are likely to be missed in many developing countries by 2015. 22. We are deeply concerned about the impact of the financial and economic crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. It has reversed development gains in many developing countries and threatens to seriously undermine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. 4