Millions take stand against poverty

More than 23 million people "stood up" against poverty around the world through a 24-hour protest period on Oct. 15-16. "The Guinness World Records have officially verified that the first ever world record has been set for the most number of people to Stand Up Against Poverty in multiple locations over 24 hours," the group Global Call for Action against Poverty (GCAP) announced on Oct. 17. GCAP organized the protest day in partnership with the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Oct. 17 is the UN International Day for Poverty Eradication. GCAP spokesperson Kumi Naidoo said, "The turnout is a record, and way beyond what we had hoped." The widespread participation nevertheless in the Stand Up campaign had "given the poor a chance to have a voice, to feel they are a part of an emerging global movement," Naidoo said. "So many organizations are working out there on a day to day basis, and this was an opportunity to feel they are a part of something big, even though their day to day reality is a lonely one." Most of the events in the Stand Up protest recently happened in developing countries. The Guinness Book of Records gives the number 23,542,614 participants at 11,646 events around the world. At each event, people stood up and pledged their solidarity with the world's poorest people and demanded that governments take urgent action to end poverty and inequality and to meet and exceed the Millennium Development Goals, GCAP said in a statement. Some of the highlights of the protest were: In Jaipur, India, 30,000 cricket fans, with support from legendary batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, stood up at the start of the India vs England cricket match. In the United States, United Nations Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown, Queen Noor of Jordan and Swami Ramdev, the Indian yoga guru, stood up with thousands in Times Square, New York. Hundreds of thousands stood together for one minute at an anti-poverty music concert in Mbare slums in Zimbabwe capital, Harare. Schoolchildren across Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank stood up together to highlight the injustice that not all children can afford to go to school. Organizers in Bangladesh have reported figures of over half a million young people who stood united in gigantic white human chains across 64 districts of the country. Malawi's President Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika joined thousands at a rally against poverty in the capital. In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "stood up" and vowed to stamp out poverty. In Mexico, several hundred thousand people stood up at football matches, led by nine football clubs.