SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES RAPPER JAY-Z AS ‘CHAMPION OF THOSE IN NEED’

AFTER AWARD GIVEN FOR WORK ON ‘WATER FOR LIFE’ CAMPAIGN

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message on MTV Networks Award to Jay-Z for the United Nations/MTV campaign on water and sanitation, in New York, 14 November:

I’m proud that this award has been given to Jay-Z for his work with the United Nations and MTV on “Water for Life”.

My man Jay-Z has been a wonderful partner to the United Nations, and a champion of those in need around the world.

More than one billion people have no access to safe drinking water.  Two billion lack adequate sanitation.  As a result, thousands of children die every day from diseases that could be prevented.

When world leaders adopted the Millennium Development Goals, they pledged to change all that.  They promised, by the year 2015, to cut by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.

Let us hold them to that promise.

Let us free all those without water and sanitation from this hard knock life.

Let us give them water for life.

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For information media • not an official record