Annan hails charity soccer game for helping global fight against poverty

“It’s time to score goals for development,” United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to tonight’s Poverty Soccer Game, a special match being held in Basel, Switzerland, to raise money for anti-poverty projects in developing countries.

Some of the biggest names in the sport will take part in the game, with profits from ticket sales, sponsorship and international television rights going to fund the global fight to raise living standards among the poor.

Mr. Annan thanked the players Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, both goodwill ambassadors for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), who are captaining the two teams in tonight’s match.

He also voiced appreciation for “the many football players who have given their time and talent” to the cause of development. “Efforts like yours encourage all of us – individuals, governments, organizations, communities and business – to find ways of teaming up for a world in which all people can achieve their full potential.”

While pointing out that poverty, hunger and disease kill one child every three seconds, the Secretary-General found cause for hope. “We have a plan of action to change this,” he said, citing the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon at a UN summit in 2000.

Those targets – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education – “form a blueprint for building a better world in the twenty-first century,” he said in the message, which was delivered by UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.