As a prelude to the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17, 2010) , the official stand-up-against-poverty count is slated for September 17th – 19th, 2010, to coincide with the United Nations meeting in order to put pressure on world leaders to attend to poverty. Since the world leaders will meet on September 20th – 22nd, the following event will happen on September 17th – 19th:

When world leaders gather at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in September, the voices of their citizens will follow them, telling them, loudly and clearly:
“We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!’

Poverty Action for Change Coalition (PACC) agreed that they would have a stand-up-against-poverty event on location at Fairy Lake Park, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, on September 17th at 7PM . They can also have a short meeting at the same time for anyone wishing to help organize this event.

For those who cannot attend the official stand-up-against-poverty count event, people can still be counted towards a new world record for those standing against poverty by pledging online and vowing to stand while pledging. So you can stand up at home or at the park or wherever as long as you report it in (on September 17th – 19th). The link is on the website of Poverty Action for Change Coalition should you need it: http://www.povertyacc.com/GetInvolved.

Poverty Action for Change Coalition will be looking to call a meeting for organizers – anyone from all organizations attached to poverty – interested in collaborating as well on the committee of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

By the way, the Poverty Action for Change Coalition (PACC)  also named (and now delivered) a new program that they have rolled out in cooperation with the York Region District School Board, which they named “PACC to School”. Poverty Action for Change Coalition Chair, Tom Pearson, said, “what PACC did – distributed about 100 backpacks stuffed with supplies, calculators and other school supplies in the communities, and delivered them via a neighbourhood BBQ! Hey, how can you beat that!” As well Operation Sparrow‘s Spotlight Theatre School also performed in one of the communities, and they hoped to expand Operation Sparrow’s Spotlight Theatre School next year!

CONTACT:

PACC (Poverty Action For Change Coalition)
Mailing address
21 Dunlop St. Suite
200 Richmond Hill, ON,
L4C-2M6

Phone: 905-836-7931
Toll Free: 1-888-365-5226

Media only call: 289-221-0928

Both Poverty Action for Change Coalition (P.A.C.C.) and Make Poverty History (York Region Chapter, Ontario, Canada) have been hosting an annual event alongside events held world-wide on October 17th, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, for the past five years – last year, those attending helped set a new world record for those standing at one time against poverty. They hope to do even better on October 17, 2010 at Fairy Lake Park in Newmarket, Ontario!

Participants are wanted as York Region’s  growing event of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty would like to grow even more this year by adding information booths, activity area for kids, path-side singers/performers and the inclusion of some native cultural history representation. They also hope to have more talent/art/media displayed this year as well. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty event also typically attracts politicians, concerned residents, anti-poverty advocates, those living in poverty and random passersby!

Poverty Action for Change Coalition would also like to strike up a collaborative committee made up of concerned residents and organizations to help shape the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty event this year and help plan and execute it.

As Poverty Action for Change Coalition receives no government funding, they will look to accept donations to help pay their costs and think a donation of  a minimum of $50 per booth(payable to P.A.C.C.) is reasonable for those interested to set up a display – considering Poverty Action for Change Coalition  fights not only for the rights of low incomers but also lobbies for funding directly and indirectly for numerous groups and non-profits. Spots will be made available only to those groups assisting in those lives of people in poverty or marginalized by low income.

Please let Poverty Action for Change Coalition know how you would like to assist!

Contact info for Poverty Action for Change Coalition:
Mailing address
21 Dunlop St. Suite
200 Richmond Hill, ON,
L4C-2M6

Phone: 905-836-7931
Toll Free: 1-888-365-5226

Media only call: 289-221-0928

Please mark your calendar for Sunday, October 17, 2010 as the International Day for Eradication of Poverty at Fairy Lake Park, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada This remarkable event is growing each year!! Book your organization’s info booth… while they last! (Contact: 289-221-0928).

The following news was a press release from EndPoverty 2015 millennium campaign:

AHEAD OF G-8, NEW ANALYSIS REVEALS AFRICAN COUNTRIES TOP LIST OF 20 COUNTRIES MAKING MOST OVERALL PROGRESS ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Report by the Overseas Development Institute and UN Millennium Campaign Reveals Many of the Poorest Countries are Making Most Progress on Millennium Development Goals

June 22, 2010 — As G-8 and G-20 leaders prepare to gather in Canada, new analysis issued by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the United Nations Millennium Campaign finds that, in absolute terms, many of the world’s poorest countries are making the most overall progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the set of promises world leaders made to significantly reduce extreme poverty, illiteracy and disease by 2015. Particularly relevant for G-8 countries are the findings which underline the importance of open trade and effective and timely aid in driving this success. For poor countries, political leadership, accountability and adequate budgetary allocations for the Goals are cited as key criteria to drive sustained progress.

Eleven of the 20 countries making the most absolute progress on the MDGs are amongst the poorest countries in Africa; half of African countries are on track to meet the target of halving poverty by 2015.

The analysis also finds that most low and middle income countries are making progress on most of the key MDG indicators.

“This study decisively establishes with hard evidence that much of the negative reporting on progress on the Millennium Development Goals is misleading,” said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. “Instead of lamenting that Africa might miss the MDG targets, we should be celebrating the real changes that have happened in the lives of millions of poor people, not least because of the unified effort between governments and citizens, supported by donors. The leaders and tax-payers of G-8 countries must now keep their aid commitments, with the confidence that their investment is making a tangible and large scale difference.”

“This study seeks to broaden the debate about MDG progress. The first findings show that progress is taking place, sometimes in unexpected places,” said Overseas Development Institute Director Dr. Alison Evans. “In a world where support for development is under increasing scrutiny, we hope that this work will contribute to a broader appreciation of how we assess progress to date.”

The new analysis contrasts national-level progress in absolute terms, as distinct from progress relative to global MDG targets. Absolute progress measures overall progress countries have made and relative progress measures how close they have come to specific MDG targets. Progress in absolute terms at the national level gives a fuller picture of the reality on the ground because performance against MDG targets hides significant differences between countries at the starting point (baseline year 1990), as well as differences in performance between countries since the MDGs were adopted in 2000. Both measures are needed to tell the full story of progress, particularly in low income countries.

The top 20 countries in absolute terms are:

Benin
Bangladesh
Mali
Honduras
Ethiopia
Mauritania
Gambia
Ghana
Malawi
China
Viet Nam
Burkina Faso
Uganda
Rwanda
Nepal
Nicaragua
India
Guatemala
Cambodia
Togo

The analysis focused on progress on Goal 1, which seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 4, to reduce child mortality; and Goal 5, to improve maternal health – all issues on the agenda of this week’s G-8. Amongst the findings:

• The largest number of reductions of deaths of children under the age of five occurred in regions with the highest initial levels of such deaths, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

• Even though the Goal of reducing maternal mortality has seen the least progress, access to maternal health services has improved in 80 percent of countries.

• Countries making the most relative progress tend to be middle income countries, such as Ecuador, China, Thailand, Brazil and Egypt.

The report identified a number of additional factors that contribute to progress on the MDGs: poor countries must have consistent leadership committed over an extended period of time to reducing poverty. They must make the public sector accountable to citizens and empower local governments and communities. Furthermore, they must prioritize investment in human development and budgets for health and education.

The research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UN Millennium Campaign. The analysis is based on the MDG database, with the exception of income poverty data for Africa, which are based on the ReSAKSS database. The data on equity – the distribution of progress within a country – are based on household Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster surveys. Where the available data permit, countries have been compared over the same time period against average annual rates of progress, irrespective of population size.

The analysis previews a fuller report to be released later this year, reviewing development progress over the past two decades, and a detailed score card on MDG performance.

Spokespeople available for interview:

UN Millennium Campaign
Salil Shetty, Director
Falu Njie, Deputy Director for Policy

Overseas Development Institute
Alison Evans, Director
Liesbet Steer, Senior Research Associate

Media Contacts:
Kara Alaimo United Nations Millennium Campaign
+1 212-906-6399
Kara.Alaimo@undp.org

Gareth Thomas Overseas Development Institute
+44 (0)20 7922 0431
g.thomas@odi.org.uk