PI/1652
26 May 2005
Pavarotti to Promote Millennium Development Goals During Dublin Concerts
NEW YORK, 25 May (UN Headquarters) -- United Nations Messenger of Peace, Luciano Pavarotti, will promote the Millennium Development Goals during two of his concerts organized in Dublin on 26 and 28 May. In celebration of the United Nations 60th anniversary, the world’s celebrated opera singer has offered to screen UN public service announcements (PSAs) and promotional videos during his Worldwide Farewell Tour of more than 40 concerts to be held this year and into 2006.
Mr. Pavarotti was designated by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a UN Messenger of Peace in 1998 in recognition of his work to promote UN causes and his contributions to humanitarian projects.
During the Dublin concerts, Pavarotti will screen four public service announcements from the media campaign “Only with Your Voice” produced by the UN Millennium Campaign. The spots are part of a series of PSAs, featuring UN Messengers of Peace, Goodwill Ambassadors and other high-profile personalities, which are intended to raise awareness of the world’s commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and call people everywhere to action.
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Heads of States promised to work together to make a better world for all by 2015. On behalf of their people, they signed the Millennium Declaration, promising to free men, women and children from the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty. Eight goals were adopted, committing rich and poor countries to work together to create a better world for all. To raise awareness of the world’s commitment, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan established the Millennium Campaign encouraging people’s involvement for the realization of the Goals.
Eveline Herfkens, UN Secretary General’s Executive Coordinator for the Millennium Campaign said: “We are the first generation that can end poverty. Today the world has the money, the know-how and the plan. …. But we are falling behind, as in many countries there is not enough political will to make this into a reality. So it is of great importance that people in the world add their ‘voices against poverty’ to make sure that this important message is multiplied and heard. This great opportunity given by Pavarotti, during his series of concerts, to bring this to his audiences and add his great voice to this cause, is of great importance to reach many people around the world.”
The UN Millennium Campaign is supporting the national Irish Campaign: “Make Poverty History” and other national campaigns that are calling on world leaders to fulfil their obligations to end poverty by addressing critical issues of global trade, the debt burden on developing countries and increased overseas aid.
Mr. Pavarotti has already screened United Nations PSAs at sold-out concerts of audiences totalling more than 50,000 in Johannesburg, Dubai, Paris and Belgrade, promoting child rights, the International Year of Microcredit, and the Millennium Development Goals and poverty eradication.
The United Nations Messengers of Peace programme is coordinated in the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information.
For more information on the Messenger of Peace Programme, kindly contact Yvonne Acosta, Department of Public Information, tel.: 1 212 963 7214; e-mail: acostay@un.org. On the Millennium Campaign, kindly contact Lucille Merks, Millennium Campaign Office, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), tel.: 1 212 906 6779; e-mail: Lucille.merks@undp.org; website: www.millenniumcampaign.org.
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