GENEVA/RABAT, 7 November 2008: Football stars Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane announced that the sixth annual Match Against Poverty will take place in Fès, Morocco on 17 November.
As Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ronaldo and Zidane will each captain an international team of world renowned footballers for this friendly game. The primary objective of the event is to mobilize the public in the fight against poverty and to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to halve world poverty by 2015.
Between 2008 and 2015, the target date for accomplishing the MDGs, there will be eight games, each promoting one of the eight goals, and the proceeds from each game will go to projects which address the goal highlighted.
In Fès, the theme will be centered on the first Goal, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The funds will be allocated to UNDP anti poverty projects around the world, including a national project in Morocco.
The two football champions have been the driving force behind the Match against Poverty since 2003. Ronaldo, who is recuperating from an injury that has kept him out of action for several months, is eager to return for this very special game.
– We need to team up against poverty to help fulfill the MDG commitments by 2015, said the Brazilian player. – It is extremely motivating to see that the Match Against Poverty is reaching wider and wider audiences. This is the match that we all need to win, he said.
Zinedine Zidane, who retired from active football in 2006 but who is committed to continue playing in the Match Against Poverty, echoes Ronaldo’s sentiments: – Every year I am looking forward to playing this game for such a just cause and this year’s edition is a very special one for me, not just because it is the first time that we are playing outside of Europe but also because it will take place in North Africa, said the French star.
UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş said this year’s Match takes on special importance as it comes eight years before the MDG deadline.
– We are now more than halfway towards the target date – 2015 – by which the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved, he said. – Despite many significant achievements, we need to continue our campaign to reach them. Initiatives like the Match Against Poverty, initiated by our Goodwill Ambassadors Ronaldo and Zidane, are an important contribution, he said.
Proceeds from the previous five Matches have benefited anti-poverty projects ranging from support to female entrepreneurs to the construction of sports centres for street children and the disadvantaged. Funds have gone to support projects in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Comoros, Cuba, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Viet Nam.
As in past years, the Match is supported by the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). In partnership with UNDP, the Match is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Morocco, the Wilaya of the Fès Boulémane region, the Commune Urbaine de Fès, the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football, and the Association pour le 1200 Anniversaire de la Fondation de Fès.
Kilde: www.undp.org
