United Nations offices support engagement in Stand Up against Poverty

NEW YORK, 15 OCTOBER -- The annual global mobilization in support of the United Nations’ anti-poverty goals will kick off today in more than twenty locations worldwide with school children, business people, sports fans, farmers and concert artists taking part in public assemblies highlighting the plight of more than 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty.

The Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty campaign, being held 15-17 October in tandem with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, will bring together diverse civil society actors, supported by the UN Millennium Campaign, UN information centres and partners, to creatively draw attention to the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A 2011 study on “The Global Social Crisis” by the United Nations warned that between 47 million and 84 million more people fell into or were trapped in extreme poverty because of the global financial and economic crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia were among the most affected regions, but poverty grew in industrialized countries as well.

“For decades the United Nations has worked to free people from poverty. We have made great progress — but today those gains are in doubt,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October).“We can meet the challenges we face — the economic crisis, climate change, rising costs of food and energy, the effects of natural disasters. We can overcome them by putting people at the centre of our work…Together, let us listen to people – and stand up for their hopes and aspirations,”  he said.

Corinne Woods, Director of the Millennium Campaign, said, "As we draw closer to the critical 2015 deadline for MDG achievement, citizen mobilizations like Stand Up are more important than ever. Leaders need to hear the voices of voters speaking as one in support of MDG achievement. Stand up to let them know we expect them to make MDG implementation a priority today and every day till 2015 and beyond. "  

As part of the Stand Up mobilization:

• In Tehran, the Professional Football League Organization of Iran will commemorate the Stand Up campaign at Azadi Stadium during the match between Esteghlal and Rah Ahan FCs, while the Islamic Azad University will mobilize students throughout its campuses in Iran.

• In Omdurman, Sudan, in Kathmandu, Nepal, and in Antananarivo, Madagascar local music bands will hold concerts to draw attention to the Millennium Development Goals.

• In the poverty-stricken Kalawan district in Sri Lanka, more than 600 students of Rambuka Kalawana Vidyalaya will march to the village fair to interact with villagers and perform street drama, give motivational lectures and distribute high-yield seeds and plants helped along by their parents.

• In Brazzaville, Congo, more than one hundred school students will sport “Stand Up against Poverty” banderoles on their vehicles en route to the World Health Organization office to know more about the Millennium Development Goals.

• Further west, 500 of their counterparts in Accra, Ghana, will present a petition to parliament reminding the government’s commitment to meet the Goals’ 2015 deadline, while 200 students in Yaoundé, Cameroon will stage a Stand Up.

• On national TV in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a 90-minute TV debate will explore the challenges and strategies to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs in West Africa.

• In Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, hundreds of school children will walk along the town streets and display drawings and pictures of their impression of the MDGs. 

• In Chocó province in Colombia, young peoplebetween 9 and 15 years will participate in a photo and drawing contest on how poverty has affected their lives.

In the rest of the world, signature campaigns, anti-poverty rallies, photo and art exhibitions, debates and video shows are expected to mobilize thousands more in Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Russian Federation and Tanzania.

The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from rich and poor countries, as part of the Millennium Declaration agreed in the year 2000. These leaders agreed to achieve the Goals by 2015. The Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty campaign has mobilized people worldwide in support of the Goals, registering in 2010 more than 173 million participants, setting a new Guinness World Record.  Stand Up and Take Action is organized globally by the UN Millennium Campaign, in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

For more information about the Stand Up initiative, visit: www.standagainstpoverty.org

For information about the MDGs, visit: www.un.org/millenniumgoals

 

Contacts:

Mandy Kibel, UN Millennium Campaign, +1 646 781 4392, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address);

Vikram Sura, UN Department of Public Information, +1 212 963 8274, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Issued by the UN Millennium Campaign and the UN Department of Public Information