Cairo – The Millennium sails arrived Cairo yesterday 8 December, after a 45 day journey starting from Aswan, making a total of eight stops in the governorates on its route. In each stop the sails were greeted by the locals with music, drama, and more in an attempt to highlight the need to end poverty. 

Sailing the Nile celebrates the International Volunteer Day and the spirit of volunteerism without whom Sailing the Nile would not have been viable. Hundreds of volunteers throughout the journey made it feasible to advocate for the Millennium Development Goals and highlight the need to end poverty in upper Egypt. 

"The word volunteerism in Egypt used to mean either volunteering in the military or to volunteer donations but I see advancements in its definition as it's become associated with development. All the work that took place within Sailing the Nile for the Millennium Development Goals from Aswan to Cairo was based on that of volunteers" said Hesham EL Rouby, Chairman of Youth Association and Development.

SAILING THE NILE FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN BRIEF

In 2006 18 United Nations Agencies, the Egyptian Government, civil society and the private sector joined efforts in an innovative initiative to raise awareness and trigger local action around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The key idea was for eight feluccas (Egyptian sailboats), each with an Egyptian styled MDG symbol on its sail, to stop in eight cities between Cairo and Aswan.
The stops were used to launch a series of events celebrating human rights, development and youth volunteerism. Local committees were set up in each participating Governorate where hundreds of young people were mobilized to volunteer for development. 

At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Heads of Government, including Egypt promised to end poverty by 2015. They signed the Millennium Declaration, promising to “free men, women and children from the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty”, committing developed and developing countries alike to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs call for a global partnership to address the most critical issues of our time. 

A GLOBAL DEAL
What the world is like in 2015 will be a reflection of how countries worked together to achieve the MDGs.
The deal makes clear that it’s the primary responsibility of our governments, to achieve the first seven Goals covering poverty, hunger, education, women’s rights, health and the environment.