Following the opening of the 69^th UN General Assembly debate, the MDG advocacy group Co-Chaired by H.E. Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and H.E. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, spoke at a breakfast gathering to showcasing the successes of the eight MDGs to deliver a more healthier, equitable and more sustainable future, and launching the MDG Advocates’ Leaders Report.

H.E. Ban Ki Moon elucidated that he established the advocacy group 5 years ago to mobilize support from members states, civil society, academia, parliaments and private sector to develop new and ground-breaking ideas and ways to accelerate the MDG implementations. He called the MDG advocacy group superheroes fighting to end extreme poverty. He then advocated for the support of the 17 new SDGs. Further the Co-Chairs of the advocacy group both pointed out that we can all be advocates of the MDGs.

President Kagame elucidated that the amount of time left for the expiration of the MDGs should not matter and the MDGs are a “floor not a celling” because being on track does not mean problems are solved. Prime Minister Solberg spoke of the courage of Malala Yousafzai, one of the contributed of the report, who she said is currently at school using her right to be educated. Next she asked us all to do “everything we can to prevent and end conflict while making sure that the generation of people living through these conflicts have access to education and health”.

Professor Jeffery Sacks promoted organizing and funding as a crucial means to solving problems in the world. Two speakers responded to his challenge. Prime Minister Solberg pledging that Norway will help bring quality education to a million more children in conflict areas. In addition, H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser elucidated that her foundation “Educated A Child” has supported 2.5 million children in 33 countries and their goal is to reach 10 million children by the 2015 – 2016 school year.

Meeting Title: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s MDG Advocacy Group’s Breakfast Session, Organized by the The MDG Advocacy Group & The Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM).
Date: September 25^th, 2014
Location: Delegates Dining Room, United Nations HQ, New York
Speakers: Opening remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Co-Chairs HE Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, and HE President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Other Speakers HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Christine (Stine) Bosse, CEO of TrygVesta Group, Chairman of Børnefonden / The Childrens’ Fund (Denmark), Ray Chambers, United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and For Malaria (United States), Dho Young-shim, Chairperson of the UN World Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation (Republic of Korea), Robert Edward Turner – III, Philanthropist, Chairman of the United Nations Foundation (United States), Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the MDGs (United States), Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, founder of the Grameen Bank (Bangladesh), Philippe Douste-Blazy , United Nations Special Advisor on innovative financing for development (France), with the participation of Dr. Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré, RBM Executive Director
Written By WIT Representative: Modou Cham
Edited by WIT Representative: Aslesha Dhillon