Day 1

From early this morning the Melbourne Convention and Education Centre began to fill delegates of (non-governmental organisations) NGOs from all around the world. They have have come to Melbourne to evaluate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in the lead up to the September MDG Summit in New York, in particular, the role of MDGs.

The Opening Ceremony was addressed by key UN Officials and Australian representatives. Mr Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, spoke powerfully about the immense progress that UNAIDs has made in pursuit of MDG 6 (combat HIV/AIDs and other diseases). He called on NGOs to continue working towards the goals for zero deaths AIDs related causes; zero new infections; and zero discrimination. He further advocated for a collaborative approach to achieving all the MDGs and spoke how programs designed to fight HIV/AIDs should also be targeted to advance the other priorities of the MDGS, including gender equality, maternal health and child health.

The final session of the day was a roundtable discussion on how NGOs can work with government to achieve the MDGs. A formidable all female panel of global health advocates engaged with the audience to discussion this challenge and their broader experience working to pursue the MDGs. The panel represented organisations from across the world, including the Afghanistan Institute of Learning (AIL), African Action on AIDs (AAA), World Vision and Cuban development programs. Prof Sakineh Yacoobi of AIL described the work of her organisation which successfully delivers quality education to around 400 000 Afghanis with an emphasis on gender equality, integrity and leadership, targeted to both men and women. The session ended with reflections on leadership 'To be a leader is to have vision...To be a leader in a community is to give people a vision of themselves' - Ruth Bamela Engo Tjeo (AAA). Prof Yacoombi emphasised the importance of trust and communication in leadership, and Dr Aleida Guevara of Cuba threw out the final challenge 'Don't say what has to be done, do what has to be done.'

Links

The following are some valuable websites:

For information about the UN DPI/NGO Conference itself, visit: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/ngoconference/pid/8223

For Melbourne students, there is a range of public events being convened to coincide with the conference. Details of these are available at the following website: http://makinghealthglobal.com.au/

Live streaming of plenary sessions will also be available via the same address.

For information on the Millennium Development Goals, visit: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ 

Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs

From Monday, Melbourne will play host to the 63^rd annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference titled “Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs”. The high-profile event will attract hundreds of non-governmental organisations and civil society groups to Melbourne from around the world, with the conference delegation totalling over 1,500 people. It will be the first time Australia hosts a United Nations event of this size and only the third time that the DPI/NGO Conference has been held outside of United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The 2010 Conference will focus on global health as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals, an issue of importance to both the Government of Australia and the non-governmental community. Health issues are central to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have been internationally accepted as leading global development initiatives since their adoption as part of the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000.

Key health-related Millennium Development Goals include Goal 4, reducing child mortality; Goal 5, improving maternal health; and Goal 6, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. However it is generally acknowledged that health underpins all of the MDGs and is vital to each of their fulfillment.

Two-thirds of the way to the 2015 deadline set for achieving the goals, in September the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will host world leaders at a summit in New York to accelerate progress. The Melbourne Conference provides civil society with a collective voice to take to this crucial meeting.

Both AMSA and the IFMSA is pleased to have a delegation of Australian medical students attending this week’s Conference in Melbourne. During the next few days, AMSA’s delegation will post their views and experiences of the event below.

 

Welcome

This blog has been created to share the views and experiences of medical students attending the 63rd annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference in Melbourne. Students are attending the event as members of a joint delegation of the Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) and the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA). We look forward to receiving your comments and feedback!