Koforidua, May 13, GNA - The Director for Millennium Development Goa= ls (MDGs) and Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), Reverend Albert Kwabi, has called for the involvement of all stakeholders in the MDGs. He said people should not only think about what the government could= do for them but rather what they could do to help themselves.

He attributed the built up of filth in the environment to "gong-gong= " not being beaten by chiefs any more, to summon the people to take part in=

communal labour, adding, "That was one main reason why the environment wa= s filled with filth. Rev. Kwabi was speaking at a public forum organized by the MDGs and the GCAP in Koforidua on Friday, aimed at making the communities know the rol= e they would have to play in achieving the MDGs. In a presentation, Mr Abekah Ansah, a representative of the Ghana Statistical Service, said the MDGs were eight goals to be achieved by 201= 5 that responded to the world's main development challenges. He said the MDGs were drawn from the actions and targets contained i= n the millennium declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments, during the UN Millennium Summit in Septem= ber 2000. He said Eastern Region had the second lowest poverty rate in the country with 15 percent of the population living below the poverty line.

Mr Ansah touched on the MDGS that seeks the achievement of universal=

primary education, saying that it ensured that all boys and girls complet= ed a full course of primary schooling. He said the MDGs also sought to promote gender equality and empowerment.