MAKE POVERTY HISTORY - 2005

News Release

For immediate release: April 6, 2005

The campaign welcomes Jeffrey Sachs, UN Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, to Ottawa

Today, the campaign welcomes Jeffrey Sachs, UN Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, to Ottawa. Here to launch in Canada the recently released report of the UN Millennium Project entitled “Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, Dr. Sachs is a supporter of the Make Poverty History campaign.

As such, we were invited to participate in a hectic schedule of promotional and political events alongside Dr. Sachs. There was a lively Civil Society Dialogue, hosted by the United Nations Association of Canada, which attracted over 100 NGO representatives where we issued a call to action, as well as a press conference at the Parliamentary Press Theatre featuring Make Poverty History co-chairs Maria-Luisa Monreal of l’Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale and Gerry Barr of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.

To close the day, we hosted a Reception to Make Poverty History on Parliament Hill for Members of Parliament and Senators – a unique opportunity for elected officials to learn about the campaign, meet the steering committee, and hear about the Millennium Development Goals from Dr. Sachs.

This represents our big “coming out” to politicians in Ottawa – let’s just say we’ve put them on notice about this unprecedented campaign and the steps we expect them to take to achieve an end to poverty.