In this petition, we are asking The Hon Julie Bishop MP who is the Australian Foreign Minister to be the official Champion for a series of Design Forum which will be the focal point for a conversation asking how we might use our networks to improve the delivery of child survival.

The official Champion of the 2015 Design Forums will lend their weight and passion to a process that will generate innovative ideas and drive progress. 

The Design Forums are the culmination of a citizen-led initiative aimed at improving the delivery of child survival, highlighted by a recent stunt involving an epic quest where Matt Jones, an Australian soldier turned social entrepreneur, ran 10 sub-marathons each of 24 km in 10 cities across 10 countries to open this conversation about child survival. The Design Forum will be held in each of the cities where running took place.

With an initial focus on Papua New Guinea and mindful of the Millennium Development Goals as we fast approach the new Post-2015 Agenda, we need a significant Champion who will be an ardent supporter of the success that will come from using our networks to explore new approaches to tackling the issues of child survival. The Design Forums will provide a space for innovative insights and deeper understanding enabling the type of knowledge exchange and transformational perspectives for taking action that makes a significant difference for those greatest in need.

Bill and Melinda Gates highlighted child survival as an important issue in their 2014 Annual Letter showing that good progress had been made in recent years, but still data from UNICEF indicates that there more than 16,000 children under the age of five will die every day from largely preventable causes. 

Our Champion must have the character to represent this initiative with distinction. It was the Howard Government that signed Australia up to the Millennium Development Goals and its ambitious targets in areas such primary education, child mortality and maternal health. The Hon Julie Bishop MP was a supporter then, and maintains a keen interest in both the Millennium Development Goals and in Papua New Guinea as Australia's Foreign Minister. She challenges us to find new paradigms for development assistance and has demonstrated commitment to building bridges as a means to stand in one another’s shoes and see issues from each other’s perspectives. 

Could there be a better Champion for such an important conversation to inspire action? In her Maiden Speech to the Australian Parliament she stated: "I have always had an intense conviction that individuals can make a difference to the life of their times."

Please sign and share this petition requesting The Hon Julie Bishop MP to be our Champion for a series of Design Forums to be held in 2015 to help improve the delivery of child survival.