Home » CAREERS » UN appoints Nigerian, Akin Adesina into high-profile MDG advocacy group

Akinwunmi AdesinaA Nigerian, Mr Akin Adesina, has been appointed into the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Advocacy Group that will drive the rapid achievement of the Goals across the globe.

Announcing the 17-man man high-profile committee in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said they were “eminent personalities’’ who had shown outstanding leadership in promoting the implementation of the MDGs.

Adesina is the Vice President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and he would lead a think-tank on MDG 1- elimination of extreme poverty and hunger.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain are co-chairs of the group.

Other members of the group include Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, CNN founder Ted Turner and Jeffrey Sachs of The Earth Institute and a Professor at Columbia University.

Ban told reporters at an event that also marked the launch of the UN MDG 2010 progress report that other “distinguished’’ personalities from China, India, Japan and Britain would join the panel.

“As you can see, (this is) a real collection of superheroes in defeating poverty,” he said.

He said the group `would support him in building political will and mobilizing global action to make the forthcoming September MDG Summit a turning point in the collective effort to achieve the Goals by the 2015.

NAN reports that the summit is coming ten years after world leaders adopted the eight key development goals aimed at reducing extreme poverty by half by 2015.

Ban said the MDG Advocacy Group was made up of “some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers.”

“We need to emerge from the September Millennium Development Goals Summit with concrete national action plans for realizing the goals,” he said.

“These advocates can help get us there.

“They will help generate political will and mobilize a global grassroots movement to meet the MDGs,’’ he said.

On the MDG 2010 report, the UN chief said the annual assessment report shows an uneven progress in reducing poverty.

The report says the world had made huge strides in certain areas such as reducing extreme poverty and tackling HIV and AIDS, but still lags in other critical areas like improving maternal health and increasing access to decent sanitation.

According to the UN report, the proportion of people living on less than 1.25 dollars a day in developing nations has dropped from 46 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2005, largely due to improvements in China and other nations in Asia.

The figure is expected to drop to 15 percent by the target year of 2015.

The report also cites big gains in getting children into primary schools in many developing countries, especially in Africa.

It also cites “strong interventions in addressing AIDS, malaria and child health” and “a good chance to reach the target for access to clean drinking water.”

News Agency of Nigeria

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • email
  • PDF
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Sphinn
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay

2 Responses to “UN appoints Nigerian, Akin Adesina into high-profile MDG advocacy group”

  1. Ola Omosanya June 27, 2011

    There is no doubt about the fact that what Ban has done is laudable. With these leaders who are focused and are not plagued by material gains, the purpose for which they were put together is achievable.

  2. CHRISTOPHER EHIS OMOKHUALE August 5, 2011

    A NIGERIAN SEEKING FINANCE FOR AGRO INDUSTRIAL PROJECT
    I AM A NIGERIAN LIVING IN BARCELONA .SPAIN. CURRENTLY, I AM AN INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURAL MACHINE INVENTOR AND DESIGNER WHICH I WISH TO USE TO HELP INDUSTRIALIZE THE AFRICAN CONTINENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE. I AM ONLY LOOKING FOR VOLUNTARY ORGS , GOVERNMENTS, INVESTORS , SPONSORS, LOANS , MONETARY CASH GIFTS,OR PARTNERS THAT COULD FINANCE BIG INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS BECAUSE THE SKY IS OUR LIMIT. AFRICA IS A COUNTRY BLESSED WITH SO MUCH MINERAL RESOURCES WHICH WE OPENLY OUT OF STUPIDNESS ALLOW OTHER TO EXPLOIT BECAUSE THEY MAKE US BELEIVE THAT WE CANNOT DO IT ON OUR OWN. AFRICANS NEED TO TAKE EXAMPLE FROM THE CHINESE. TEN YEARS AGO, THEY WERE NOTHING, BUT TODAY, THEY ARE THE SECOND RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I DO CALL ON ALL AFRICANS TO TRY TO MOVE BACK HOME AND DEVELOP THEIR COUNTRIES WITH THE EXPIRIENCE THEY HAVE AQUIRED IN THE WESTERN WORLD. I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN EUROPE FOR 20 YEARS AND HAVE SEEN A LOT, KNOWING FULLY WELL THAT IT IS NOT A MAGIC, BUT JUST COMMON SENSE. LET US ALL PUT OUR LITTLE EFFORT. ´´´NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU , BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY¨´AFRICA IS A CONTINENT OF MORE THAN 1 BILLION PEOPLE AND IT IS A BIG MARKET FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT. LACK OF FOOD PROCESSING MACHINERIES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HUNGER AND STARVATION IN AFRICA DUE TO SEASONAL SPOILAGE.
    CONTACT ME:
    TWITTER…CEOMOKHUALE
    FACEBOOK: CHRISTOPHER EHIS OMOKHUALE
    TELEPHONE..0034-931246722
    MOBILE….0034-619354193
    FAX.. 0027-865671781
    EMAIL: [email protected]