PNG joins UN campaign

TODAY, Papua New Guinea will join 116 other countries in the world to participate in the “Stand up action” an initiative of the United Nations millennium campaign.
The campaign is to encourage citizens to remind their governments of their commitment towards attaining the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and to fight poverty.
In Port Moresby, UN staff will be doing a “stand up” to mark the day in front of the Deloitte Tower at 10am.
Salvation Army PNG is organisating events in the evening to be held at their multi-purpose hall at Boroko to mark the day.
Salvos media officer Capt John Kerari said this was an opportune moment for PNG and the world to join hands and alert everyone that there were glaring inequalities in distribution of the world’s resources over the millennia.
This is also a global civil society advocacy movement aimed at reminding leaders of their promises to end poverty and achieve the MDGs by 2015 and make the world a better and safer place for all.
The campaign, set up by the UN in 2002, is a massive global society movement which takes place from Oct 16-18 annually.
PNG became the 117th member country when the campaign was launched on the eve of Independence in Port Moresby by the Community Development secretary Joseph Klapat and the UN millennium campaign for the Asia Pacific region deputy director, Minar Pimple.
It was then Mr Klapat revealed that PNG was nowhere near achieving any of the goals before the deadline of 2015.
He claimed that this was through misguided priorities by successive governments who had put the country way off track.
Mr Klapat said the only Government agencies which had made headway in implementing the MDGs were the education and health departments.
This has resulted in gross discrimination and suffering, where the majority of the world’s population do not have adequate food, shelter, or access to education and health care services.