1 world: 1 goal

In September of 2000, world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss what the UN’s role should be in the new millennium.

The result of this meeting was the United Nations Millennium Declaration. From this declaration, the General Assembly derived eight goals aimed at raising the quality of life of people around the globe.

The following are the Millennium Development Goals:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Running a parallel course is another campaign. A campaign aimed at bolstering support for one particular goal; a goal that is believed to be the foundation stone to achieving many of the others.

Primary education for all. For free.

There are currently 75 million children around the world who are not in school. The positive effects of educating these children would reverberate through their communities, nations and the world. There would be a sharp and immediate drop in deaths from diseases like HIV and malaria, and the effect on domestic economies would be immense. It would alleviate the lives of millions who live in extreme poverty and open up a world of opportunity for so many for whom the future is a dark, hard place.

1 Goal is the brain child of the Global Campaign for Education in partnership with FIFA and championed by Queen Rania of Jordan. The aim is to amass 30 million signatures in support of the universal right to education by the close of the final game of the 2010 World Cup.

30 million signatures to demand world leaders fulfil the commitment they made when they signed up to the Millennium Development Goals.

The numbers are compelling. It would cost $11 billion to provide the world’s children with one year’s primary education. This roughly equals the amount of money spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in one month. It is also what Americans spend on their pets in three months.

1 Goal is not asking for money, rather it is leveraging the solidarity of sport to create a platform for collective advocacy. As millions around the world tune in to watch their teams compete, FIFA and 1 Goal will be encouraging every football fan to sign up to the petition.

Queen Rania used her speech at this month’s LeWeb 2009 conference to issue a call to action to bloggers, tweeters and all users of social media to use the power of the net to spread the word about 1 Goal.

In September 2010, the General Assembly will convene to review the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Goals. 1 Goal will be there on behalf of its global ‘team’ to remind them of their promises.

Let’s all be a part of it.