New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) Six Indians have been chosen for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) online volunteering award for their articles which helped spread awareness on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a statement said Friday.
The MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organisations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.
They include eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership for development.
‘India’s voluntary sector has a formidable challenge and at the same time fantastic opportunities ahead. If India does not achieve the MDGs, the world will not. The mobilisation of volunteers from all walks of life can help accelerating progress towards achieving the MDGs before the 2015 deadline,’ United Nations resident coordinator Patrice Coeur-Bizot said.
The six award winners who are among the total ten selected are Ritika Verma, Priyanka Ohri, Samarpita Mukherjee Sharma, Akanksha Gulia, Tarun Chawla and Radha Taralekar.
The volunteers, through their online work, focussed on the marginalised and disadvantaged, particularly through supporting local government efforts to address social exclusion in planning processes, mobilizing people to recognise the importance of the MDGs, the statement said.
They also initiated a Right to Information campaign in Orissa which aimed to raise awareness on MDGs, it added.
The awards are hosted by the German Positive Nett-Works Association.
