Press Conference on 2010 Citizen Ambassadors Campaign

 

The six young winners of the second annual “Citizen Ambassadors to the United Nations” video contest told reporters at Headquarters today of their desire to make the world a better place by raising awareness of the Millennium Development Goals.

Selected this summer by a panel of United Nations officials and contest partners, they have been designated “UN Citizen Ambassadors” and were expected to be the guests of honour at the 2010 United Nations Day Concert in the General Assembly Hall tonight.  They are:  Adetoye Oremosu, age 32, from Nigeria; Mansour Albadran, 18, from Saudi Arabia; Olga Shibaeva, 28, from the Russian Federation; Gerardo Mendoza Capetillo, 23, from Mexico; Adam Burtle, 29, from the United States; and Connor Parker, 19, from Australia.  Their visit today was also to include a meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a special tour of Headquarters.

This year’s campaign asked contestants to address the Millennium Development Goals, the eight time-bound objectives aimed at achieving tangible improvements by 2015 in the fields of poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child mortality, education, gender equality and sustainability.  World leaders gathered at Headquarters from 20-22 September debated international progress on the Goals, which were set forth in the Millennium Declaration a decade ago.

The winning videos were chosen from more than 400 entries in a contest which required entrants to express their personal experiences and views on how best to achieve the Goals.  Hosted via YouTube on the United Nations Channel from 23 June to 23 August, the contest was organized by the Department of Public Information, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and TV5Monde.  It is part of a series of initiatives launched by the Secretary-General with the aim of increasing awareness of the Organization’s work, and engaging younger people through the Internet and online social networking.

Ms. Shibaeva said she was happy that the United Nations had given ordinary people a chance to share their ideas with others.  Mr. Albadran said his aim was to persuade world leaders to work for a better future.  Mr. Burtle said he intended to encourage the use of vaccines for potentially lethal childhood diseases, such as measles.  Mr. Parker said he wished to curb Government bureaucracy to help reach the Goals, while Mr. Mendoza Capetillo wanted to motivate people to work towards the Goals.  Mr. Oremosu said he aimed to improve his country’s education system so people could emerge with the skills required to build the economy.

Juan Carlos Brandt, Chief of the Public Information Department’s Outreach Division, introduced the six winners.  Five winners were chosen during the inaugural campaign in 2009.

The winning entries are featured on the campaign’s official website, www.uncitizenambassadors.org.

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For information media • not an official record