Millennium Development Summit - Cape Town

Red Button Design have a much coveted speaker's spot at this year's UN MDG Summit in Cape Town, May 3rd & 4th.

On Friday, Amanda will address the summit's distinguished audience outlining "Design Against Dependency" (our 15-step theory of change) using the Midomo water purifier as a case study. Later that day James will participate in a panel discussion "Analysing Bottlenecks and Constraints to Accelerated Water Development".

This is an unparalleled opportunity for us to take to the global stage with our life-saving design. Cross your fingers for us, we'll let you know how it goes..

"The UN describes the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – as a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. These goals have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

Progress towards reaching the goals has remained uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the goals, while others remain off-track to realize any. The major countries that have been achieving their goals include countries like China and India due to clear internal and external factors of population and economic development. However, areas needing the most reduction, such as the Sub-Saharan Africa regions have yet to make any drastic changes in improving their quality of life.

The role of business in creating employment, wealth and services has been grossly overlooked in the entire MDG campaign

The private sector only gets a brief mention in the Millennium Development Goals. Yet it is business –entrepreneurs, employers, investors and workers – who are best positioned to help areas such as Africa and the rest of the developing world achieve the Goals.

At this event some of the world’s key solution providers will be available to showcase their products and services and speak about the importance of engaging them as an equal partner in promoting sustainable development and making the MDGs a reality for all."