Raise your voice and remind world leaders to keep promises they made to fulfill the MDGs by 2015

Nairobi, 15 October 2008 – The United Nations Millennium Campaign and Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) has announced that over ten million Africans are expected to participate in this year’s Stand Up Campaign scheduled for October 17th – 19th 2008.

Globally the campaign aims to mobilize more than one percent of the world’s population -- over 67 million people – on October 17-19 to demand that world leaders deliver on their promises to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This will be almost one and half times more than the 43 million mobilized globally in 2007.

“This is an opportunity for Africans to demand accountability. We need to send a clear message to their leaders that they will no longer stay silent while promises to end extreme poverty remain unfulfilled,” said Tajudeen Abdul-raheem, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign.

“It’s incredible to see that in times of economic instability people are even more motivated to show their leaders that they want poverty eradication to remain at the top of the agenda. From the smallest villages to city streets, sports events and political lobbies, the sheer diversity of actions is staggering. We are showing the power of our growing movement in an unprecedented way this year,” said Kumi Naidoo, Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).

Amongst the millions of people Standing Against Poverty are individuals with compelling stories to tell, such as activist and journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu, who has dedicated his life to exposing and fighting bad governance in Tanzania. Ulimwengu will spearhead demands for the government to fulfill the MDGs by ensuring that poor people have access to clean portable water, improving access to healthcare (particularly for women and children), putting in place pro-poor development policies and improving service delivery in all key sectors. Ulimwengu is available for interviews.

Also Standing Against Poverty and available for interviews is James Njoroge Gitau, who lives in the Kariobangi slums in Kenya, surviving on less than one dollar a day. Gitau has mobilized more than 100 schools and churches to Stand Against Poverty and is organizing a medical camp to care for sick people in his community. Gitau is calling on his government to put in place
pro-poor policies, stop corruption and allocate resources for programs for the poor.

“Stand Up and Take Action” headline events in Africa include:

Lagos, Nigeria: 100,000 people are expected to gather on October 17-19 for a concert by Femi Kuti to commemorate the life of renowned Nigerian Musician Fela Kuti and demand that the government pay closer attention to the country’s poor people by investing more petro dollars in education, healthcare and other pro-poor development programs.

Pretoria, South Africa: On October 17, an expected 5,000 campaigners led by the workers’ trade union COSATU and the South Africa Council of Churches will march to Union Buildings, the official seat of government in South Africa, to demand guaranteed state social security schemes covering all children under eighteen. They will also call for the abolition of the value added tax on basic foodstuffs, the abolition of user fees on water, and the ratification of the UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In Harare, Zimbabwe, 5,000 people are expected to gather when Pastor G and Victor Kunonga perform at “Do the Right Thing” on October 18 to call on the government to improve service delivery in health, water and sanitation. Using the case of Chitungwiza, a heavily populated dormitory town of Harare with an estimated population of 1 million, the groups participating in the campaign are arguing that years of neglect of the water system and the government’s failure to provide safe drinking water has led to outbreaks of cholera and other related diseases.

In Togo, caravans will travel around the country to towns and villages, with each visit focusing on a specific MDG. The tour will culminate at a beach where 5,000 people are expected to gather to Stand Up together on October 19.

In Nairobi, Kenya on October 18, several top artists including Sarah Mitaru, Wahu and Jaky Malley Ringtone will join hands to host a concert aimed at protesting rising costs and reminding world leaders that Africans will not accept a new slavery through retrogressive trade policies such as the Economic Partnership Agreements. In Obama’s village of Kogelo in Nyanza province, citizens will come together to demand better services from government.

Across Africa anti-poverty campaigners will be calling on their governments to implement several key policy demands including:

• Accelerate fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• Provide affordable medicines and universal access to ARVs to all those living with HIV/AIDs
• Ensure food security and scrapping value added tax on basic foodstuffs;
• To make national budgets pro-poor and increase budget allocations in sectors like agriculture, water, sanitation, health, education;
  Abolish user fees on water ;
• Take visible action to guarantee full women’s participation in politics;
• Reject bi-lateral free trade agreements like EPAs which have harmful effects on lively hood;
• Demand autonomous policy space for African governments / citizens to determine our development agenda. Rising fuel /food costs and the current financial crisis should not be used as an excuse for not meeting the MDGs ;

About the Campaigns:

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a civil society alliance of social movements, international NGOs, trade unions, community groups, women’s organizations, faith and youth groups, local associations and campaigners working together across more than 100 national coalitions/platforms. GCAP is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions that address the issues of public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights; trade justice; more and better aid; debt cancellation; and gender equality and women’s rights. For more information, visit www.whiteband.org.

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments accountable for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals, formally adopted by 189 countries in the year 2000, are a set of eight specific goals which commit rich and poor countries to work together to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, ensure all boys and girls complete primary school, promote gender equality, improve the health of mothers and children, reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, protect the environment, and create a global partnership for development by ensuring rich countries give more and better aid, debt relief and trade opportunities to poorer countries. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org.

For more interviews or more information please contact:
Kenya
Sylvia Mwichuli
Tel: +254 729 467 197 Email: sylvia.mwichuli@undp.org

Linda Odhiambo
Tel: +254 722 816 296 Email: linda.odhiambo@undp.org

South Africa
Zukiswa Warnner
Tel: 27 83 690-0653 Email: hintsaec@yahoo.co.uk

Burkina Faso
Binta Carleen Mayaki Ouédraogo
Tel: 226 75 03 89 78 / 226 50 30 71 49 Email: bmayaki@gmail.com

Malawi
Mzati Willias Nkolokosa
Tel: 265 8 372 749 Email:mzatinews@yahoo.com

Mozambique
Jose Sixpence
Tel: 258 82 47 76 830 / 258 82 88 20 660 Email: j.sixpence@gmail.com

Nigeria
Bamidele Ololade
Tel; 234 803 307 2605 Email: omoluabi@yahoo.co.uk
Senegal
Oumar Sow
Tel: 221 775710619 Email: oumarsowfr@yahoo.fr

Tanzania
Femin Mabachi
Tel: 254 757 315326 / 255 784 315326 Email: fmabachi@yahoo.com

Uganda
Ceasar Mukasa
Tel: 256 712948804 Email: cmukasa@gmail.com

Zambia
Mutuna Mpanga Chanda
Tel: 260 97 717 522 Email: jtuna2002@yahoo.com

Zimbabwe
Sifelani Tsiko
Tel: 263 912 584782 Email: sifelani@ctdt.co.zw

Ghana
Akua Manfo
Tel: 233 244 511 090Email: admin@kofebean.org

For more information contact:
Nasser Ega-Musa
Officer in Charge
UNIC Nairobi
e-mail: Nasser.eg-musa@unon.org
Tel: 254 20 7624560
Mobile: 0735232539

or

Sylvia Mudasia-Mwichuli
Communications Coordinator, Africa
UN Millennium Campaign
e-mail: Sylvia.mwichuli@undp.org
Tel: 254 20 4453440
Mobile: 0723783688/0729467196

Notes to Editors: The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a civil society alliance of social movements, International NGOs, trade unions, community groups, women’s organizations, faith and youth groups, local associations and campaigners working together across more than 100 national coalitions/platforms. GCAP is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions that address the issues of; public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights; trade justice; more and better aid; debt cancellation and gender equality and women’s rights. Go to www.whiteband.org

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from the north and south, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to achieve the Goals by 2015. Our premise is simple, we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity