There is an urgent need to reverse the fall in official development assistance (ODA), said Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, as he set out key elements for a development agenda beyond 2015.

In a progress report to the UN general assembly on the millennium development goals (MDGs), Ban expressed concern at the drop in ODA - which comes under MDG8, the global partnership - over the past two years.“The global nature of many current challenges requires co-ordinated global action,” he said on Friday.

“I am very concerned by any developments or trends that threaten the global partnership for development, a core part of the MDG framework.”

ODA fell by 4 per cent in real terms last year, following a 2pc dip in 2011, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD attributed the drop in aid for the second year in a row to the economic crisis in Europe, but predicted a moderate recovery next year. Since reaching a peak in 2010, ODA has fallen by 6pc in real terms.

The report says ODA will remain crucial to leverage other finance, particularly for the least developed countries and those emerging from conflicts and disasters. It will be critical, it adds, for donors to establish a timetable for meeting ODA targets and enhancing the principles on development effectiveness, as set out in Busan, South Korea, where ownership of development strategy by aid recipients was emphasised.

Ban said the post-2015 development agenda would need to be supported by a renewed global partnership grounded on the values of equity, solidarity and human rights. He urged countries to meet the longstanding aid target of 0.7pc of gross national income. Only a few countries have met the target, with the UK expected to become the first G8 industrialised country to hit 0.7pc this year.

Ban said: “All partners should deliver on past commitments, particularly those on official development assistance, climate finance and domestic resource mobilisation.”

Developing countries are still waiting for rich countries to fulfil their 2009 commitment to put $100bn annually towards a climate fund. Ban's report to the general assembly said there had been substantial progress in achieving the eight MDGs and several successes in reaching specific targets globally and in individual countries.

However, the prospects for achieving all of the goals differ sharply across and within countries and regions, with more than 1 billion people living in extreme poverty.

Discussing approaches that have succeeded in reducing poverty, Ban underlined the importance of inclusive growth, decent employment and good wages, particularly in achieving MDG1 on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Targeted investments in public health, education, infrastructure and agricultural productivity played important roles, as well as reforms in agriculture in east Asia that have taken millions out of poverty.

Looking beyond 2015, when the MDGs expire, Ban said the key elements of a future development agenda should include: universality, to mobilise all developed and developing countries and leave no one behind; sustainable development, to tackle interlinked challenges, including a clear focus on ending extreme poverty in all its forms; and inclusive economic transformations, ensuring decent jobs, backed by sustainable technologies.

The MDGs will be discussed at the UN general assembly next month, where member states are also expected to reflect on the broad contours of a future development framework. Ban called upon member states to adopt a universal post-2015 development agenda, with sustainable development at its core.

He said: “Poverty eradication, inclusive growth targeting inequality, protecting and managing the natural resources base of the planet within a rights-based framework and cognisant of the nexus between peace and development - these are the overarching objectives of sustainable development.”

WaterAid, the NGO, said the report was a call to governments to honour the promises made on the unfinished business of the existing MDGs, including on water.

“The burden of death and disease continues to fall hardest on the world's poorest, who risk being left behind even further,” said Margaret Batty, director of policy and campaigns at WaterAid. “700,000 children under the age of five continue to die needlessly every year from a lack of access to water and sanitation - a situation that is untenable in the modern world. International leaders must now come together to bring about the transformative change that can be realised through everyone, everywhere having access to these basic but essential services by 2030.”

By arrangement with the Guardian