The Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, Salil Shetty, will be the guest speaker at a special event at The Westin Dublin on 28th April 2010.
The event, which is being organised by the children’s development charity Plan Ireland, aims to widen the debate about issues facing children, particularly girls, in the developing world.
Other speakers at the event will include Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD, Rodney Rice of RTE and David Dalton, CEO, Plan Ireland. The event will be introduced by Plan Ireland’s Ambassador for children, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh.
Salil Shetty’s task is an onerous one. Having played a pivotal role in the global advocacy campaign for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in over 50 countries, he is tasked with eradicating world poverty by 2015. This powerful anti-poverty campaign is a unique global partnership of the UN with 189 countries, NGOs, trade unions, faith groups, local authorities and the media calling for greater accountability from governments in the fight against hunger, disease and illiteracy.
According to Salil Shetty: “The long-standing solidarity of the people of Ireland with the developing world, particularly Africa, is the envy of many other developed nations. With five years to go to realize the Millennium Development Goals and the upcoming UN Summit to review progress in New York, the international community and the Irish people will look to the Government in Ireland to regain its pride of place by reconsidering the drastic cut in foreign aid.”
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals which the UN set out to achieve by 2015 in response to the world’s main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
The eight goals are to:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a Global Partnership for Development
“The Millennium Development Goals are the global targets for everyone who seeks to eradicate poverty by 2015. It was an extremely ambitious Campaign when it started in 2000 and remains so. 10 years on progress has been made. It’s vital that we push on over the next five years and reach as many of the goals as possible,” said David Dalton, CEO of Plan Ireland.
Andrew Henning, General Manager of The Westin Dublin, is happy that they can play their part in helping this worthy campaign: “We are proud and delighted to be able to support the Millennium Campaign by hosting this important event in The Westin Dublin.”
The meeting is open to the public. Register by contacting Plan on 01 6599 601 or info@plan.ie.
For press information or interview opportunities please contact:
Wayne Cronin
Fuzion Communications (Dublin)
T: +353 1 633 6790 | M: +353 86 868 4555 | E: wayne@fuzion.ie
