Te Kaunihera mo te Whakapakari Ao Whanui Ao Aotearoa/Council for International Development

New Zealanders join record-breaking event

MORE than 20,000 New Zealanders took part in an anti-poverty campaign last weekend – joining 173 million people worldwide and breaking the world record for the largest number of people to participate in a global event.

Local organisers say the total participation of 21,233 New Zealanders was twice the expected number.

“More than 20 schools participated and the event had cross-party support, with MPs from National, Labour, the Green Party and United Future all attending the event in Wellington’s Civic Square” says Edmund Barker, Stand Up campaign coordinator.

The  Guinness  World  Record event counted 173,045,325  people gathered  at  over  3,000  events  in  more  than  120  countries,  demanding  that  their  governments  work to eradicate  extreme  poverty  and  achieve  the  Millennium  Development  Goals  (MDGs).

“The  more  than  173  million  people  who  mobilised  this  weekend  sent  a  clear  message  to  world  leaders  that  there  is  massive,  universal,  global demand  for  eradicating  poverty  and  achieving  the  Millennium  Development  Goals,”  said  Salil  Shetty,  Director  of  the  United  Nations  Millennium  Campaign. 

“In  particular,  we  have  seen  citizens  determined  to  show  their  governments  that  they  will  hold  them  accountable  for  keeping  their  promises  to  end  hunger,  improve  maternal  health  and  abolish  trade‐distorting  agricultural  subsidies. They  will  not  accept  excuses  for  breaking  promises  to  the  world’s  poorest  and  most  vulnerable  people,  who  have  already  been  the hardest  hit  by  the  global  food,  economic  and  climate  crises  they  had  no  role  in  causing.” 

Currently  one  billion  people  around  the  world  are  hungry  and  500,000  women  continue  to  die  annually  as  the  result  of  pregnancy  and  childbirth. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.

The event, now in its fourth year, is organised globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in partnership with a range of organisations including the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). See www.standagainstpoverty.org for more details. 

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