World connects for TEDxChange as MDGs turn 10

(2010 AND, Geocentre consulting, MapData Sciences Pty Ltd.)

On September 20, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TED co-host a live event in New York City that will be streaming online for free to discuss ten years of progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the future of global public health.

Melinda French Gates, renowned philanthropist and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, noted the discussion will address the following questions in addition to the MDG 10 progress report:

-  What does the future hold for global health and development?
-  And how can we all be a part of making a better world?

She expressed via an online open letter her "hope... that TEDxChange will act as a catalyst for our continued conversations about the future we will make together."

Joining Gates as TEDxChange speakers are:

 - Graça Machel, president of the Foundation for Community Development, grant making organization to reconstruct post-war Mozambique
 - Hans Rosling, professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute in Sweden and co-founder of the Gapminder Foundation, illustrates the statistics of global development trends
 - Mechai Viravaidya, founder and chairman of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a Southeast Asian family planning and HIV-AIDS awareness non-governmental organization
 - Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew, a hip hop group from Sierra Leone known as "the voice of the voiceless"

The 90-minute webcast airs on TED.com at 11am EDT with satellite events taking place in 40 nations around the world including 12 nations (Bolivia, Brazil, Germany, Japan) that will also stream their event: http://www.livestream.com/tedxchange

On September 20-22 the world's leaders also come together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to discuss the progress and challenges of attaining the MDGs by 2015. To learn more about the UN Summit, go to: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/

And, for more information on the MDGs and their targets, visit: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm