24 Hours of Action Starting Today

PRNewswire NEW YORK October 15

NEW YORK, October 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Millions Expected to 'Stand Up And Speak Out' on the International Day for Eradication of Poverty

- Online Press Conference on 18th October at 13.00 GMT

On Tuesday October 16th, at 9:00 p.m. GMT, millions of people from all over the world are expected to begin mobilizing in the largest ever call to action against poverty and inequality and in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

The mobilization will continue for 24 hours and hundreds of events will mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The actions are organised by the UN Millennium Campaign, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) alliance and a wide range of partners around the world. "Stand Up and Speak Out" calls on ordinary people to show courage and demand a more urgent political response to the growing crisis of global poverty and to demand that world leaders meet and exceed their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals.

The events will be verified by Guinness World Records to compare with the 23.5 million who took part last year.

Information available at www.standagainstpoverty.org

Events include:

INDIA -- a march of 20,000 Dalits in Madhya Pradesh, Indian's first female President Pratibha Patil holds a poverty-focus meeting with women from 20 states, his holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation will mobilize millions globally and at his ashram in Bangalore, and renowned yoga guru Swami Ramdev is also leading millions of his followers.

KENYA -- 25,000 schools and 93 prisons will take a stand and speak out against poverty. The People's Parliament in Nairobi is hosting discussions about how poverty and debt affect Kenyans.

PALESTINE -- 1 million Palestinian children in public and private schools, as well as UNWRA schools throughout the West Bank and Gaza, are calling for faster action to end poverty. Also, the Poverty Requiem" will be performed in Ramallah, free healthcare is being provided in the West Bank all week and civil society delegations have lined up high-level meetings with ministers.

AFGHANISTAN -- a youth kite-flying event will take place in Kabul in the morning of the 17th, followed by rallies in three cities calling for job creation policies and an end to corruption.

LONDON & NEW YORK -- The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will lead UN staff and civil society in a stand up moment at UN Headquarters in New York, while the Deputy Secretary General Dr. Asha Rose Migiro will join Kumi Naidoo of GCAP and others at a white band wrap of City Hall in London.

OCTOBER 18th -- ONLINE PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE GUINNESS RECORD

The number of people who take part will be verified by Guinness Book of Records and announced at 14.00 GMT on October 18th. An online press conference will be held with UN Millennium Campaign and GCAP spokespersons.

When: 14.00 GMT (October 18th)

What: Join the online press conference by logging on to:

http://standagainstpoverty.org/press/conference

The press conference will take the form of a live video feed and journalists' questions will be submitted via a chat interface on the web page. No password is necessary to join, you will need Adobe Flash Player.

    
    Web site: http://www.whiteband.org
              http://www.endpoverty2015.org
              http://www.standagainstpoverty.org
              http://standagainstpoverty.org/press/conference