UN joins campaign to stand up against poverty

"Stand Up Against Poverty" has been confirmed by officials with the Guinness Headquarters as "the single largest coordinated human movement" against poverty with over 23.5 million participants worldwide in a period of 24 hours, announced UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor here Tuesday.

The global "Stand Up Against Poverty" initiative, spearheaded by the UN Millennium Campaign, is part of the activities to mark the 14th International Day for Eradication of Poverty.

It is aimed to maintain momentum from the G-8 and 2005 World Summit and remind world leaders about the commitments they made there.

Participants stand up from a squatting position as a symbol of their will to take action on poverty and hunger, then they will jointly read a pledge as "members of a generation that intends to defeat extreme poverty."

Within a period of 24 hours, over 500 such events were staged in more than 50 countries worldwide. Through these activities, organizers wish to demonstrate to policy makers the growing global support for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals ( MDG) and for the strengthening of development policies in both developed and developing countries, Campaign Executive Coordinator Eveline Herfkens said.

In New York, thousands gathered in the city's Times Square on Sunday night to "stand up" and call for action against poverty.

"We cannot stay seated when tens of thousands of people die of poverty every day," the crowd recited as the Times Square crystal ball made its first-ever appearance outside of New Year's Eve.

The participants appealed to leaders of the wealthy countries to keep their promises for debt cancellation, more and better aid and trade rules that help fight poverty.

They also urged leaders of the developing countries to tackle inequality, root out corruption and make saving the lives of their poorest citizens a top priority.

On Monday, several hundred UN staffers joined the global campaign to call for action against poverty in the world body's New York headquarters.

Led by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, they stood up to read their pledge. "We are 6 billion voices. We want to end poverty in our lifetime."

In 1992, the UN General Assembly declared Oct. 17 the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The observance aims to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty in all countries, particularly in developing countries.

Source: Xinhua