Let’s work together for a better Yemen by 2015 [Archives:2005/877/Local News]
Under the auspices of Her Excellency, Ms. Amatel-Aleem Al-Susowa, the Minister of Human Rights, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in cooperation with the United Nations Information Centre, launched Sunday, 4 September 2005, a documentary video and posters. These media products aim to increase public awareness about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the means by which they can be achieved in Yemen by 2015. The products were prepared within the framework of UNDP's Advocacy Campaign that is being implemented since February 2005 to strengthen ongoing efforts to achieve the MDGs in Yemen and to ensure their effectiveness and sound implementation. At the launch which brought together a number of distinguished journalists and media representatives from different official and non-official media institutions, the posters were exhibited and the film was screened.
The documentary film provides a general overview of the MDGs at both the international and national levels with a view to increasing understanding among citizens of current development trends in Yemen and elsewhere, emphasizing the need for joint action at the different levels to reach the Goals. On the other hand, the posters portrayed, in a simplified artistic form, the eight MDGs to maximize reaching out to the broader society. The posters skilfully conveyed the message of the advocacy campaign currently being implemented by UNDP under the theme: “Let's work together for a better Yemen by 2015”.
At the launch, Her Excellency the Minister of Human Rights stressed that reaching development goals requires the maximum degree of awareness, commitment and national responsibility to ensure reaching the MDGs by the specified year. She also emphasized the need for making dramatic changes in mentalities and behaviours alike, a goal that can only happen through collaborative efforts. Moreover, she called upon the media to contribute to creating an enabling environment and mobilize support for reaching the MDGs. The Minister of Human Rights regarded UNDP's advocacy campaign as a sincere effort to reflect, in an audio-visual form, the importance of the MDGs in making a way for positive change in existing realities.
From his part, Dr. Mutahar Al-Abbasi, the Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, emphasized the commitment of the Government of Yemen to develop comprehensive plans and programmes geared towards achieving the MDGs in Yemen. Dr. Al-Abbasi also pointed out that achieving the Goals in light of the massive development challenges requires much more human and financial resources, which in turn can only be secured if the eighth MDG related to creating a global partnership for development is fulfilled by the international donor community. The Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation also urged the media sector to play its crucial role in increasing awareness about the MDGs and highlighting the national efforts being exerted to achieve them in Yemen.
Dr. Hashim El-Zein, the Acting UN Resident Coordinator and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Yemen ascertained that the “United Nations seize all opportunity to help countries scale up their efforts to reach their development goals at today's world of great complexity and inequality. All concerned UN agencies are exerting their best efforts to improve capacities, physical and institutional infrastructure, as well as to stir dialogue between policy makers and beneficiaries of development programmes to ensure that people's concerns are taking into account by decision and policy makers”. He also noted that the UN System's agencies provide)each in its respective area of expertise)financial and technical support to help Yemen reach the Goals by 2015.
Moreover, Ms. Dena Assaf, the Acting Resident Representative of UNDP indicated that the campaign's aim is to “create a forum for dialogue among the different development partners and stakeholders, along with concerned government bodies, to ensure that sound procedures and policies are in place to facilitate reaching the ambitious MDGs within the given timeframe. She also expressed her happiness that the workshops and advocacy events)which have thus far been implemented within the advocacy campaign)have produced a set of valuable recommendations to enhance the role of respective sectors in ensuring the achievement of the MDGs in Yemen. She also commended the initiatives taken by some participants at the aforementioned workshops and events in organizing follow up advocacy events in the regions and within their scope of operations. “This serves UNDP's goal of maximizing outreach to the largest number of development actors and citizens possible in different parts of Yemen”, Ms. Assaf concluded.
The advocacy campaign comes in response to the major development challenges in Yemen and in recognition of the fact that, if current trends persist, Yemen is unlikely to meet all of the MDGs by 2015, with a modest possibility of reaching the two goals related to achieving universal primary education and reducing under-five child mortality. Therefore, the campaign stresses the need for joint action, made possible through effective dialogue. Such dialogue brings hope of reaching courageous and decisive solutions for existing problems, ensuring effective mechanisms and procedures, as well as guaranteeing a culture of participation, transparency and accountability. This also includes monitoring the implementation and learning from past lessons and experiences.
Mr. Khaled A. Ishaq, UNDP Communications Analyst, “This event is to raise awareness among people about the Development Millennium Goals (DMGs) and how to get people understand those goals and how they are related to them and the issue is how to get people understand that these goals are theirs not the government's. This event comes as step forward in terms of implementing the rest of campaign that the UNDP is organizing. Some components of the campaign is to target schools, children and other events to let people discuss with officials. Most of these events have already organized in the past including workshops that have been done with civic society organizations and media that all have the same purpose that is how to promote the theme of this campaign which is “let's work together for better Yemen by 2015”
In conclusion, all speakers lauded the theme of the campaign and urged for adopting this theme, both in form and in substance: “Let's work together for a better Yemen by 2015”.
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