Beirut – UN Staff and Lebanese Youth Stand Up for MDGs

UN Staff and Lebanese Youth Stand Up for MDGs in Beirut

A group photo of the youth at the Stand-Up event

Around 200 young people, including UN staff, university and Model UN school students and members of Lebanese civil society organizations stood up at the UN House in Beirut and pledged to work for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Lebanon.

Marking the onset of a campaign to stand up, take action and make noise for the MDGs in Lebanon, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Beirut organized with the Lebanese American University (LAU) a ceremony to highlight the importance of the MDGs and to issue recommendations on their achievement in Lebanon.

Attending the ceremony were heads of UN agencies, UN Staff, senior Lebanese officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, several ambassadors and diplomats as well as school and university students and faculty members.

Eight students from LAU gave a power point presentation on the eight MDGs their implementing in Lebanon. They also shared success stories and challenges. As part of the presentation, they presented a set of recommendations revolving around the eight goals, including a call for an comprehensive social development strategy, efficient poverty measurement mechanisms and an accommodating environment for children. They also pleaded for better national strategies and policies for agriculture and water resources, implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all Types of Discrimination against Women, and addressing maternal and child health issues.

Model UN student Khaled Kabbara then read an oath in the name of Lebanon’s youth, pledging to deploy all possible efforts to raise awareness among civil society actors and spur the country’s legisl-ative and executive authorities into achieving the MDGs by the year 2015.

Finally, students handed a proclamation and the recommendations to a representative of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri and to UNIC Beirut Director Bahaa Elkoussy to forward to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.