Yunus Urges UN To Put MDG As Top Priority
Secretary General Bank Ki- Moon convened the second meeting on 22nd September of MDG Advocacy Group at the UN Head Quarters. Representatives of various countries and the media were invited to the meeting. First Lady of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser and Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus were invited to address the gathering to outline the role of the MDG
Advocacy Group towards achieving the UN Millenium Development Goals. Secretary General Ban attended the meeting, and the President of the General Assembly Professor Joseph Deiss of Switzerland presided over the meeting, which took place in the ECOSOC Conference room at UN Headquarters.
During his address, Professor Yunus emphasized that the UN MDGs were the most important decisions ever taken on basis of global consensus, to dramatically change the quality of lives of all poor people on the
planet. He said that we could not take the chance, to let the MDGs fail in any single country. He suggested bringing young people of the world, together with the massive power of technology and the support of social business, to ensure that MDGs are achieved in all countries. He also urged the UN to get ready for the next level of MDGs where the world would set the target to eradicate poverty from the world, and finally put poverty in the museums.
Members of the MDG Advocacy Group consisting of President Kagame of Rwanda, Graca Machel of South Africa, Bill Gates, Professor Jeffrey Sachs Bob Geldof and Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group of India also attended the meeting. Professor Yunus was invited to join the UN MDG Advocacy Group by UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon early this year.
