NEW MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS WEBSITE FOR YOUTH TO BE LAUNCHED ON 17 OCTOBER

Note to Correspondents

NEW MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS WEBSITE FOR YOUTH TO BE LAUNCHED ON 17 OCTOBER

Recognizing that there are 2.8 billion people under the age of 25, and that youth participation in finding solutions to global problems is vital to the future of the planet, the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information is launching a new website for youth on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The web site, designed by the United Nations Cyberschoolbus, a United Nations educational web site, will be launched on 17 October -- the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The site can be accessed at www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/mdgs/index.html or www.millenniumcampaign.org/youth and is available in both HTML and Flash.

The Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor noted that “young people are enthusiastic about helping others and they often have fresh ideas on how to do this.  And now they can access perhaps the most comprehensive source of information for young people about the MDGs that is currently available on the Internet to assist them in directing their thoughts and energies towards the achievements of these important goals.”

The web site, a joint venture between the Department of Public Information and the Millennium Campaign, creates an engaging interactive environment where information is discovered by rolling over objects and solving puzzles, and text is presented in a manner that simulates what it is like to read from a book.  This innovative site not only presents information in an age appropriate manner, it also includes original content written by youth around the world about actions that youth are taking to achieve the Goals.

With over 200 million youth living in poverty, 130 million illiterate, 88 million unemployed, and 10 million living with HIV/AIDS, it is vital that young people have a place they can go where they can learn about the issues, express their ideas, talk to their peers and find out how they can become more involved in helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  This new web site aims to achieve all of these objectives.

About the United Nations Cyberschoolbus

The United Nations Cyberschoolbus (www.cyberschoolbus.un.org) is managed by the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information.  It creates educational materials for schools around the world about the United Nations, its achievements and the social issues on its agenda.  Its main objective is to build a global online community of teachers and students, to make the issues the United Nations deals with more accessible to young people, and to provide opportunities for them to participate in finding solutions to global problems.

About the Millennium Campaign

The Millennium Campaign (www.millenniumcampaign.org) was launched in October 2002 to encourage citizens around the world to hold their Governments accountable for the promises they made at the September 2000 Millennium Summit.  Working at both the national and international levels, the ambition of the Millennium Campaign is to inspire a global movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and eradicate extreme poverty by 2015.

For more information, please contact:  William Yotive, Global Teaching and Learning Project, Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.:  +1 212 963 1400, email:  yotive@un.org; or Colleen Werthmann, tel.:  +1 212 963 8589.

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For information media • not an official record