1,130,000 people have answered MY World, the United Nations global survey to citizens- voting for education, health, honest and responsive government and jobs as basis for a better future. The results from MY World are being presented to world leaders during the 68th UN General Assembly session in New York through a report and an innovative and interactive new exhibit called “Listening to ONE MILLION Voices.”
23 September 2013, New York. As the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly begins, the voices of the 1,130,000 people who have voted in MY World in 194 countries has reached the United Nations through an innovative interactive exhibition opened today, “Listening to One Million Voices” which brings to life the wealth of data collected from the survey all over the world and explains the results of this ground-breaking project through which the United Nations invites citizens to take part in the process defining the next development agenda.
MY World results offer a clear outline of what global citizens would like the next global agenda to include. The existing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) continue to be important as people’s priorities are ensuring access to education, healthcare, water and sanitation. However, survey results point to new issues which will need to be included in the future development agenda, the most important of these are better job opportunities and an honest and responsive government.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Gordon Brown and Benigne Mugwaneza Ishimwe the MY World Millonth voter, a 21-year-old Rwandan woman, pose for a photo during a tour of My World Exhibit. Danny Kaye Center, UNICEF, New York.
Claire Melamed, Head of Growth, Poverty and Inequality at the Overseas Development Institute said “What’s remarkable is the level of agreement from people across the world about what they feel is most important. The data shows that regardless of income, geography or gender people consistently place education, health, jobs and an honest government at the top of their list of priorities.”
Over 80% of participants in MY World are from developing countries, half of participants completed the survey using the ballot ‘pen and paper’ method, and over one third have low education levels and are likely to be living in poverty.
“This extraordinary scope not have been possible without the work of over 700 organizations across the world who have worked with us to ensure MY World could reach everyone, including those who are not usually consulted.” underlined Corinne Woods, Global Director of the UN Millennium Campaign “and there are extraordinary examples of this- such as the 774 members of the Nigerian Youth Corp who reached 145,000 people in each of Nigeria’s 77 states, the United Nations Volunteers who took the survey to women at maternal health centers in Haiti and the many volunteers taking MY World to the waste pickers in the slums of Dharavi, India”.
My World ushers in a new way of involving citizens in global decision making by introducing crowd sourcing in policy-making. Paul Ladd, Senior Advisor and Head on Post-2015, UN Development Programme underlines “MY World is supporting multilateralism in a new way –providing lots of information on the priorities of people all around the world, and helping governments come up with a new development agenda that responds to their needs”.
The results from MY World are being presented to world leaders during the 68th UN General Assembly session in New York, through a report and an innovative and interactive new exhibit called “Listening to ONE MILLION Voices.”
The exhibition, hosted at UNICEF Danny Kaye Visitor´s Center has also been organized in the framework of the UN General Assembly and will be open to the public from September 30 until November 28 2013 . A UN podium at the exhibition, signed by the Secretary General, invites all visitors to take the survey and have their say in what they envision their ideal world to be.
Until 2015, MY World will continue to invite citizens to have their say at the United so that their opinions can be heard during the process which will design the post-2015 agenda that will build on the MDGs.
Click here to access full report
To visit the exhibition:
“Listening to One Million Voices” exhibition
Danny Kaye Exhibition Center
UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, 44th St. (between 1st and 2nd Avenues) New York
From September 30 until November 28 2013
Weekdays from 9.00am to 6.00pm
Admissions Free
