Contact: Dr. Joseph Chavady, 850-390-4837, info@121intl.org

CARONPORT, Saskatchewan, Canada, Oct. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Christians are good allies in the fight to end global poverty. He said that from his earliest days as a boy in South Korea, he dreamed of working for the United Nations. He wanted to make a difference in the world.

Dr. Joseph Chavady of the Canadian based One to One International Ministries is available for comment on the following statements attributed to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General stated, "Faith has always been at the heart of the United Nations. We are a little younger than the National Association of Evangelicals. At our founding in 1945, 42 non-governmental organizations were involved in the creation of the new United Nations. Fourteen of those were faith-based. Today, 4000 non-governmental organizations are accredited to the United Nations -- 400 of them faith-based. 2008 should be a year of new directions. The United Nations can, and must, do better. That is why I recently established the MDG Africa Steering Group -- to generate fresh thinking and mobilize the political will to effect real change. We need the National Association of Evangelicals, Micah Challenge and others in the faith community."

During the meeting (Mr. Ban Ki-moon, speaking at a meeting of international Micah Challenge leaders and America's National Association of Evangelicals) the leaders were told about the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- promises made by world leaders in 2000 to alleviate poverty by 2015.

Ki-moon continues, "When the world's Governments go to Bali in December, I hope that friends like you (referring to Christian organizations like Micah Challenge) will remind them of the sacred trust we have invested in them. Please, join me in this great cause. With faith and will, we can make the difference."

Dr. Joseph Chavady states, "As Christians we cannot close our eyes to extreme poverty and suffering. We must make it a priority to eradicate it. With God's help we have the wisdom and power to do it. Let the coming years be our opportunity to eliminate extreme poverty from the face of the earth."