There are only five years left to reach 2015 in achieving the MDGs. World leaders are once again gathering at the United Nations High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in September 2010 in New York to assess some of the likely outcomes on present trends, identify some of the weakest areas of performance, and identify priorities for accelerated action. This looks at some of the key drivers which have propelled MDG achievement in the region, and which are likely to remain as important as before in the region's quest for reaching the Goals by 2015. It focuses specifically on three areas where increased and sustained policy attention would be required: hunger and food security; health and basic services; and basic infrastructure - areas where many of the countries in the region appear to be facing significant challenges.