New York, Jun 14 2010 11:10AM
The soccer stars and Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), Didier Drogba and Zinedine Zidane, today launched a
television announcement exhorting the world to make a concerted effort to
help millions of people free themselves from poverty.
"There can be no spectators in the fight against poverty," said Mr. Drogba,
the national captain of Côte d'Ivoire and a striker for the English Premier
League club Chelsea.
"We all need to be on the pitch to improve the lives of millions of poor
people in this world," he added during the launch of the public service
announcement that will be broadcast during the World Cup now under way in
South Africa.
The multilingual TV spot aims to bolster efforts to meet the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), eight internationally-agreed targets which aim to
reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease, inadequate
shelter and gender inequality by 2015.
"The World Cup brings people around the globe together to support their
national teams, and we need the same kind of passion to end poverty and
hunger," said Mr. Zidane, a former French national captain.
"The 2015 target for the Millennium Development Goals is a few years away,
so the time to make a difference is now," he added.
Mr. Zidane and Mr. Drogba's video can be viewed on UNDP's new football
website, www.kickoutpoverty.org, which gives people the opportunity to join
the fight against poverty.
Jun 14 2010 11:10AM
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