Strong and sustained progress in human development requires fundamental change. That change will happen only if women and men are at the centre of the action. The world has made inspiring commitments, including Education for All and the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS. Delivering on these commitments is fundamental to meeting the MDGs. But that should not be through yet more competing initiatives. Sustained advance requires financing that aligns behind national health and education systems and is harmonised with and complementary to other assistance. Effective use of the large new resource flows will require careful attention to mechanisms for delivering and monitoring results, and accountability to the poor communities that are being served. Practical actions include:

• Providing the funding for all boys and girls in sub-Saharan Africa to receive free basic education that equips them with skills for contemporary Africa. Secondary, higher, vocational education, adult learning, and teacher training should receive appropriate emphasis within the overall education system;
• Strengthening health systems in Africa so all can obtain basic health care. This will involve major investment in human resources, in sexual and reproductive health services, in the development of new medicines, as well as supporting the removal of user fees. Through coherent, integrated strategies, this approach could effectively eliminate diseases that devastate poor people, such as tuberculosis and malaria and other parasites;
• Delivering the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS urgently and as a top priority to ensure that appropriate services are available to all. Mobilising and integrating the international response behind coherent, comprehensive yet bold national strategies that take account of gender and power relationships;
• Enabling families and communities to continue to protect orphans and vulnerable children, through providing predictable financing streams for national social protection strategies;
• Meeting the G8 Water Action Plan commitments through increased funding for the Africa Water Vision to reduce by 75 per cent the number of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation by 2015, monitoring progress in 2007.

Of all the issues addressed in this report, the health, education and inclusion challenges are the most demanding in terms of resources. We recommend that these resources be provided in predictable, long-term streams, with a carefully sequenced steady increase in step with improvements in African governments’ capacity to deliver effective services.