In the run up to the football World Cup, which kicks off next month in South Africa, some of Africa’s most renowned musicians have joined the United Nations to call for a commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of 8 internationally-agreed goals designed to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child deaths by 2015.
Watch the video here:
The ‘8 Goals for Africa’ song features 8 of Africa’s best known musicians: Yvonne Chaka Chaka from South Africa, Angelique Kidjo from Benin, Oliver Mtukudzi from Zimbabwe, Eric Wainaina from Kenya, Baaba Maal from Senegal, and the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa. World renowned jazz musicians Hugh Masekela and Jimmy Dludlu from South Africa are also instrumentalists on the track.
Ending extreme poverty by 2015 was the historic promise made by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed up to the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the MDGs by 2015. The MDGs are an 8-point road map with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. 10 years on, world leaders are meeting again this September in New York to review the progress made and renew their commitment to achieving the goals.
It’s up to all of us to make sure they keep their promise.
Find out more about the campaign on the 8 Goals for Africa website, download the song and start spreading the word today.