Muslim Aid at the Event “Ending the Poverty: Why Strong, Accountable Institutions Matter” at the UN General Assembly

RB News

October 1, 2014

New York -- Transparency International, UK Aid from the British People, and Freedom and Justice jointly convened an event, “Ending the Poverty: Why Strong, Accountable Institutions Matter”, at the United Nations 69th General Assembly on September 24, 2014. Over 200 delegates from around the world were invited to the event. Muslim Aid was one of the invitees to the event, and the delegation of Muslim Aid includes Dr. Hamid Azad, CEO and Dr. Abdul Bari, Secretary, both from Muslim Aid Headquarters in UK, Dr. Wakar Uddin, the President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Muslim Aid America, and Asmaa Ahmed, the Country Coordinator for USA.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, delivered the Keynote speech with opening remarks followed by a question session. Prime Minister Cameron spoke on fighting poverty through fighting corruption in Government institutions and other entities. He has articulated the importance of transparency and accountability in Government and other institutions in reducing the poverty. The prime Minister outlined a number of details on how to devise strategies in reducing poverty through effectively addressing series of corruption issues that are deeply engraved in the system of governments and institutions in many parts of the world.

The speech by Prime Minister David Cameron was followed by John Mahama, the President of Ghana, who delivered the speech with the same theme, through outlining some examples of his experience in his country where transparency and reducing corruption were pivotal in progress of Ghana’s economic development. Helen Clarke, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), spoke on various developmental issues in over 170 countries and territories that UNDP operates. In her remarks, Mrs. Clarke clearly indicated that ill-defined accountability and weak government systems are often the cause for corruption that hinders and slows down the development. She further stated that honest and effective government is a high priority, and accountable and transparent institutions are extremely important in reducing poverty as it deeply affects average families in many countries. Dr. Huguette Labelle, the Chairman of Transparency International, also spoke on a similar theme of accountability in system of governments and institutions.