School children join MDG campaign

AS the sun rose over Koki last Friday morning, about 300 children and their teachers gathered on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby in a dawn service to remember the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The United Nation MDGs campaign officer Eileen Kolma said the ceremony was to remember the eight Millennium Development Goals that world leaders, including from Papua New Guinea, committed to achieving by 2015.
With the Manus garamut beating in  the background, the children shared  their dreams and hopes.
Bowie Bigiglen from St John’s Primary said he wanted to become a doctor because he did not want to see many children and mothers dying and wants to help save their lives. 
Imelda Memho, a Grade 8 student, said: “I don’t like to see the way the country is run so I want to be the Prime Minister so that I can make decisions that will make sure all children can go to school and no children and mothers die.”
Child and maternal mortality for PNG were among the highest in the Pacific and the world.
All the children’s dreams were about helping to make the world a better place.
The dawn service was organised by the UN Millennium campaign and the civil society MDGs coalition as part of the “Stand up take action, make a noise for the MDGs campaign” in the lead up to the three day global MDGs review Summit which began at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
PNG is represented by a delegation led by the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, Paul Tiensten.
Joining the children were Unicef country representative and acting UN coordinator Bertrand Desmoulins, Unifpa country representative Asger Ryhl and the keynote speaker was Archbishop of Mt Hagen, Bishop Douglas Young.
Taking part in the event were children from the  Hope Worldwide Six Mile School , PNG Red Cross Special Education Centre,  St John’s Anglican Primary School and Ioubuna Kaupa Primary School.