Jun 24 2010
Externship at the United Nations!
I have been given the great opportunity of externing at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the United Nations Millennium Development Campaign office. The office is located at the United Nations headquarters in New York, New York. The United Nations Millennium Campaign, entitled End Poverty 2015, began in the year 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit where 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration and promised to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in order to end extreme world poverty. The Campaign is very historical because, among other reasons, we are the first generation with the knowledge, resources, technology, and skill to end extreme world poverty.
There are eight MDGs that set clear targets for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. They Goals are the following: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development. All of the Goals are very much intertwined with one another and thus, success in one Goal represents success in all the Goals.
Heads of state have set the deadline for achieving the eight MDGs by 2015. Although there have been unimaginable accomplishments around the globe in ending extreme world poverty, many of the world’s regions are not on track to achieve several of the MDGs by 2015. With only five years left before the deadline, it is imperative that heads of state, NGOs, and other organizations take bold action immediately. A High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly will be held in New York this September, marking the largest gathering of heads of state in the past ten years. At this United Nations (U.N.) Summit, heads of state will meet to discuss how to achieve the MDGs in the upcoming five years. Here is where my externship comes into play.
My main duty this summer is to create a report describing the current status of each MDG and make recommendations as to what needs to be done in order to achieve the MDGs. This report will be used in the compilation of information that will be presented at the U.N. Summit in September. The externship requires a very broad perspective in addressing the rights and health needs of billions of people who come from every background imaginable. The MDGs, and the work and research that I perform during the externship touches upon many different global aspects including, but not limited to: international trading regarding trade tariffs and barriers; conflict prevention; global governance and treatises; international health; and economic development.
With that said, I am looking forward to an eventful summer!
Celisse Williams