..Press Release.......UNESCAP News Services

Date 13 October 2006
Press Release No. N/37/2006

UN IN ASIA PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON POVERTY WITH GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) -- The 2006 United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has a different flavour this year. The commemoration will be in conjunction with the “Stand Up Against Poverty Campaign” which aims to set an official Guinness World Record for the most number of people to Stand Up Against Poverty.

The UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty program will take place at the UN Bangkok on 16 October from 10 a.m. The programme will include the launch of the report “The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2006”, from UNESCAP, ADB and UNDP on anti poverty progress, or lack of progress, in this region.

Participants will also view the Celebrity Voices viewing and speeches with anti poverty messages for this year’s theme, Working Together Out of Poverty.

Bangkok will also host the global event The Stand Up campaign, aiming to set an official Guinness Record for the most number of people to Stand Up Against Poverty.

The regional UN Millennium Campaign in the Asia-Pacific is expecting 15-20 million people in this region to stand up.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said: “The challenge to stand up against poverty has captured the imagination of people around the world. We are standing up for the Millennium Development Goals; we are standing up to hold leaders to their promises; we are standing up because until we meet the Goals, we will not give up.”

The “STAND UP” campaign is occurring around the world. More than 500 events in over 50 countries are currently registered on www.standagainstpoverty.org to take part in the challenge. Everyone is standing up to remind their governments that the promise to help the billions living in extreme poverty must be kept.

HUMAN INTEREST ASIA-PACIFIC “STAND UP” Stories
 Elementary schools in Tsunami struck Aceh STAND UP - Durueng and Krueng Raya in the suburbs of Banda Aceh will host STAND UP moments for children who were victims of the Tsunami. Some are orphans. While now they are located in permanent schools, these students were studying in tents for about 18 months.

 Nepalese Women STAND UP - Women Acting Together for Change (WATCH) will organize impoverished rural women from more than 30 districts of Nepal who will come together to stand up.

 Yoga educator leads STAND UP - Swami Ramdev, India’s leading yoga and ayurveda educator will be initiating STAND UP moments across his 20,000 Yoga Training Centers in India. Swami Ramdev will also be making a special trip to New York to attend the Times Square event.

NOTES TO EDITORS: You or your representatives are invited to attend the observance of The UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Monday 16 October, starting at 10:00 hrs at Meeting Room 3, the UN Conference Centre, Bangkok.

For further information, please contact:

David Lazarus, Chief
UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: (662) 288 1861/ 62/66
Fax: (662) 288 1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

MORE INFORMATION:

www.unescap.org/pdd/calendar/PovDay/2006/index.asp
www.standagainstpoverty.org/

1. The Millennium Development Goals, or the MDGs were adopted by 189 countries in the year 2000. The eight goals commit rich and poor countries to work together to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, ensure all boys and girls complete primary school, promote gender equality, improve the health of mothers and children, reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, protect the environment, and create a global partnership for development by ensuring rich countries give more and better aid, debt relief and trade opportunities to poorer countries.

2. The official time for the Guinness World Record attempt runs from 10.00am (GMT) October 15 to 10.00am (GMT) October 16. The entry of the Guinness World Record into the official record book will be for “The greatest number of people to stand up for a given cause, at multiple locations, within 24 hours”.

3. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed since October 1993 and is designed to put people living in poverty themselves at the center of the commemorations. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty seeks to promote increased awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and serves to remind all people that sustained and concerted effort is vital to achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015.

4. The UN Millennium Campaign was established by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2002. The Millennium Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

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