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Actions in 2006
The 2006 GCAP Global Month of Action began on 16 September, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank met in Singapore, and culminated on 17 October (World Poverty Day) in a global day of action, where 23,5 million people set the first-ever Guinness World Record for simultaneously standing up (physically!) against poverty.
Stand Up Against Poverty
With over 23 million people standing up to be counted, in 24 hours from October 15th to October 16th, Stand Up Against Poverty, Stand Up for the Millennium Development Goals, became “the largest mobilization of people in the history of Guinness World Record Breaking”!
From remote village communities in Northern Nigeria to schools in Canada, from local authorities in Philippines to football games in Germany, from neighbourhood groups in Gaza and Latin America to churches in Malawi, from Baba Ramdev and his followers in India to Times Square in New York, from civil society and educational institutions in Indonesia to anti-poverty campaigners in Italy, Spain and Australia, in almost 12,000 events spread across nearly 100 countries, people stood up together to tell their leaders in no uncertain terms: “We have to end poverty, illiteracy and disease. We have less than 10 years to go to achieve the Millennium Development Goals; we will not accept any more excuses”.
An initiative of the United Nations Millennium Campaign in partnership with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) the Stand Up challenge captured the imagination of people from all over the world. By literally taking a stand and being counted millions of people demonstrated to policy makers the growing global support for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and for the strengthening of development policies in both Northern and Southern countries.
Already, many leaders have taken note of this massive outcry including the President of Malawi, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (one of the largest regions in India), the emerging political leadership of Nepal and many many others.
A unique feature of Stand Up Against Poverty, Stand Up for the Millennium Development Goals was the largely grassroots nature of the actions taken. A very large number of activities that took place did not even get registered because they were in places that did not have proper communications facilities. Most of those who stood up were people dealing on a day to day basis with poverty and exclusion: indigenous people, Dalits, women and children.
The challenge took place as part of a broader month of anti poverty mobilizations organized by Global Call to Action Against Poverty’s (GCAP) and the official results announcement of the Guinness World Record were delivered on October 17th, the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP).
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International People’s Forum vs. the IMF and World Bank - ‘We Must Have a Voice’
