Secretary-General Kofi Annan was due in Monterrey early this afternoon, when he would attend a meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Susan Markham, Conference Spokeswoman, said. He would attend the Summit tomorrow morning.

Jeffrey Sachs, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Millennium Goals, said consensus had been reached on the need to spend vastly more money ($27 billion) on health.

Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP, said that, while there would be a huge role in the Millennium campaign for the United Nations, World Bank and other institutions, the real energy would come from civil society.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA, said one sure way of dealing with illiteracy and health was investing in women -- that was an investment with guaranteed high returns.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO, said that investing in people was crucial and would yield enormous benefits, allowing millions of people to emerge from poverty.

United States Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said Americans did not lack compassion or a charitable spirit. Getting results was the issue - meaning, substantial increases in the earned income level of the world's people.

Poul Nielson, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said only 3 per cent of foreign direct investment (FDI) went to sub-Saharan Africa and that was where official development assistance (ODA) became important.

Members of the NGO Caucus of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) this afternoon described the Monterrey consensus as a step backwards from all the commitments made over the years to help alleviate poverty in LDCs. Monterrey should be about immediate and concrete mobilization of resources, because people were starving now.

NGO representatives from the United States and the European Union said that, in the Monterrey consensus, the absence of concrete commitments for achieving poverty eradication had undermined the relevance of the whole consensus. Caroline Wildeman, European NGO caucus, said that the ODA commitment made by the Union was "face saving and inadequate". The resources necessary to reach the Millennium Development Goals went far beyond the extra money that would eventually be available in 2006. Aldo Clieri, from the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C., said the conditions attached to the money provided by the United States were so subjective they could be used for political purposes.

At a press conference entitled "Business Investing in Africa", it was reported that Africa presently received only about 1 per cent of total investment flows. The private sector had a great deal to offer Africa, but the potential had not yet been unlocked, said The Earl Cairns, Chairman of the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Another aspect of the discussion had been about how to offset the risk of investments, such as through the banking centre and insurance polices. Training and education had also been discussed. There was a lot of "over-governance" in Africa -- government had a lot of business, and private business could not compete with it.

The Co-Chair of Ministerial Round Table B2, Eveline Herfkens (Netherlands), said it was necessary to ensure that, while a minister in charge of agriculture was helping to boost production, his colleague was ensuring a proper market for the increased production.