Rotarian Adrian Brewer, of international water charity Roll Out the Barrel and Amanda Watkin, Secretary of RIBI met with Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group, to discuss how 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide can support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs are:
- to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- achieve universal primary education
- promote gender equality and empowerment of women
- reduce child mortality rates
- improve maternal health
- combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
- ensure environmental sustainability
- develop a global partnership for development
Adrian Brewer said: “The MDGs are very similar to Rotary’s six areas of focus, so we were pleased to get this rare opportunity to meet Helen Clark to see how we can help. We discussed how Rotarians could use their skills and expertise to best support the post 2015 MDGs through sustainable development projects.”
The Rotarians also heard how beyond 2015, the next Global Development Agenda would be responding to the challenges faced by developed and developing countries alike. Helen said: “It will be a sustainable development agenda with poverty eradication as a central imperative. Perhaps water and sanitation is the start point in this global challenge. The importance of women and children having sufficient clean water and adequate sanitation cannot be over emphasised, it affects their health, education and general well being.”
Helen, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, who is expected to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations, also indicated that a major area where Rotarians could help is in passing on their business and administrative skills and demonstrating how these can be used in the most effective and sustainable way.
Adrian concluded: “In the 21st century, water and sanitation must be a moral imperative if we are ever to help communities lift themselves out of incomprehensible poverty.”
