On 12 September, senior UN officials briefed approximately 18 reporters on the Millennium Development Goals 2008 Report and the high-level event scheduled for 25 September in New York.

The briefing, organized by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Nairobi, was also an opportunity to introduce to the Nairobi press the new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative and United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Kenya. The briefing also included the Director-General of United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) and Executive Director of UN Habitat, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Kenya and one of the world's leading experts on the Millennium Development Goals, Mr. Jan Vandemoortele of UNICEF, New York.

Following the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2008 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York on 11 September, the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna organised a press briefing on 12 September at the Vienna International Centre. Approximately 40 representatives from the media, the UN system and civil society attended the press conference. UNIS Vienna Director Maher Nasser moderated the event.

In his introductory remarks, Mr. Nasser echoed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s confidence that the MDGs were achievable. Other speakers included Austrian State Secretary for European and International Affairs, Hans Winkler, National Director of Care Austria, Ulrike Schelander and Human Development Policy Adviser (United Nations Development Programme), Mr. Andrey Ivanov.

The briefing was followed by a question-and-answer session.

On 12 September at the Industrial Development Corporation in Sandton, Johannesburg, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Pretoria hosted an event to launch two reports: the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2008 and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Africa Report 2008. Over 50 people attended the launch, many of whom represented the national and international print and broadcast media.

UNIC Pretoria's Officer-in-Charge, Mr. Masimba Tafirenyika, chaired the event. The UNCTAD Africa Report 2008 was presented by Dr. Sam Gayi, Senior Economic Affairs Officer at UNCTAD and one of the authors of the report.  The 2008 Millennium Development Goals Report was presented by Mr. George Nsiah, United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i. and Mr. Udo Etukudo, Macroeconomics Specialist: Poverty Reduction, United Nations Development Programme. A question and answer session followed each report presentation and press kits were provided to all attendees.

The launch of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Report 2008 took place at the Swiss Hotel in Ankara, Turkey, on 17 July.
UNIC Ankara facilitated the launch in cooperation with UNCTAD officials. Journalists, policy makers, diplomats, government representatives from Turkey and representatives of least developed countries attended the event. At the launch, UN and Turkish Foreign Ministry officials discussed development partnerships with LDCs, one of the major themes of this year's report.  The report was simultaneously launched in several countries on this day.
 
Turkey has emerged as an important development partner of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Turkey hosted a major Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries entitled "Making globalization work for LDCs" in Istanbul on 9-10 July 2007 and also hosted a high level panel event, "Trade and Development for African LDCs' Prosperity: Action and Direction", in Izmir on 4-5 March 2008.