São Paulo - Brazil has a vital leadership role to play in the fulfillment of the so-called goals of the millenium. This was the assessment made by Carlos Lopes, representative of the United Nations Development Program in Brazil. "It is important for Brazil to continue leading the developing countries in the struggle for the goals of the millenium, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has an essential role in this," Lopes affirmed yesterday (9), in São Paulo, at the opening of National Citizenship and Solidarity Week

Lopes emphasized the relevance of the eight development goals of the millenium, set forth by the UN in 2000 and approved by 191 countries. The goals form a set of eight major targets to meet by 2015, through concrete steps by governments and society on behalf of the elimination of poverty, reduction of inequalities, and commitment to the sustainability of the planet. "For the first time there exists a consensus that poverty is everybody's problem," he said.

Oded Grajew, president of the Ethos Institute for Social Responsibility and one of the leaders of the movement for citizenship and solidarity in the country, also underscored Brazil's importance on the world stage for the fulfillment of the goals of the millenium. "Brazil has all it takes to be the major ethical and social leader of the planet, the country that will guide the world to other values," he affirmed.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Mylena Fiori
Translator: David Silberstein
08/10/2004