[Ftffacilitationteam] GCAP Asia press release on SUTA outcomes

[chona en gcap-senca.net]

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Press Release
October 23, 2008

In the wake of the historic, Guinness Record-breaking rally against poverty

Apart from the numbers, organizers tally up the emotions, moments and lessons of Stand Up

Last week, as governments across the globe stepped up efforts to ward off a financial meltdown, people from all walks of life came together in rallies and events held in 131 countries to "Stand Up against Poverty." As reports of economic slump despite fresh doses of economic stimulants hogged headlines, more than 116 million people made history, set a new world record and infused fresh doses of determination to the global movement against poverty.

"The mobilizations may not have garnered intense press coverage to make the whole world shudder at one fell swoop, but if you were a part of it, you will shudder at the spirit and the meaning of this whole exercise. We are talking of people of different races, classes, faith, gender, and other social divisions, coming together to take action against poverty. We are talking of millions of people simultaneously sending a message to their governments to fulfill their promises to end poverty, " said Joel Saracho, national coordinator of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in the Philippines.

More than 35 million joined Stand Up events in the Philippines. But the real story of Stand Up, Saracho stressed, is not about the huge numbers of people but about the emotions and the individual moments in the mobilizations that calls for people to "stand up because we can no longer take sitting down the suffering of poor people."

"The number of participants in the Philippines represents one-third of the Philippine population. But world record or no world record, the Stand Up event signifies millions of Filipinos taking the time to come together and say, Enough of hunger! Enough of poor mothers dying from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Enough of children dropping out of school because they need to work or because they simply don't have the money for school expenses," said Saracho.

"It has been a real challenge. We have had some good and bad experiences while organizing the Stand Up events in Bangladesh. One rickshaw puller became very upset, almost angry, during the mobilization. He told us that these days he could not afford to buy three meals for his family anymore. They have to survive on one meal only. His meager earnings from pulling rickshaw have dwindled even more as people nowadays prefer to walk in order to cut down on expenses. For him, surviving these days is extraordinarily difficult," said Tasneem Athar of the Campaign for Popular Education, one of the organizers of Stand Up in Bangladesh.

Homeless, jobless "Stand Up" to be counted

Homeless and jobless migrant workers in Singapore stood up to be counted.

"They are angry, upset and scared.  After leaving villages in South Asia with the promise of good jobs in Singapore, they find themselves cheated, in debt, without work and homeless.  They want justice," said Michael Switow, president of ONE (SINGAPORE).

ONE (SINGAPORE) led a Stand Up event during which people made a personal declaration to demand an end to poverty.

"At the event, the people spontaneously held hands.  Many shouted the words to the pledge that goes "We will Stand Up not just today but everyday to demand what's right. This is our Personal Declaration." Afterwards, the event manager at the venue approached me and said he had goose bumps and had never seen anything quite like it," said Switow.

Loretta Marie Perera, who will graduate this January from the Singapore Institute of Management, was one of those who "stood up' in Singapore.  

"When I stumbled upon Stand Up last week, I was truly inspired. I went about getting as many people as I could to Stand Up and take the pledge. It was slightly disheartening at first. But for every one person who didn't care, there were ten who did. I know there's a whole lot more to be done and I want so very much to be a part of that," she said.

"One participant who came from a very poor community in Kabul told me, "Poverty in Afghanistan will be eliminated only when our leaders listen to the voices of the poor.  They do not completely understand yet how it feels when you do not have enough to eat and you have no choice but to sleep with an empty stomach".  I would hear the same thing over and over, uttered by many other people who came to stand up. We really have to make our leaders listen and understand our suffering," said Sefatullah Habib, a medical doctor who heads the health program of the Kabul-based Sanayee Development Organization, which organized Stand Up events in Afghanistan.

In Uttar Pradesh, India, Stand Up participants burned an effigy of Ravana, the ten-headed demon from the epic Ramayana.  "We burned an effigy of Ravana as a symbol of the people taking action to end corruption. We need to eliminate corruption, which is one of the root causes of poverty and unemployment in our country," said Sandeep Bhatnaagar of Jupiter Academy, Uttar Pradesh

Stand Up numbers too large to ignore

A total of 116, 993, 629 people, representing nearly two percent of the world's population, were mobilized in more than seven thousand events held in 131 countries from October 17 to 19, GCAP and the United Nations Millennium Campaign announced in an online press conference from New York yesterday.  The figure exceeded the initial target of 67 million or 1% of the world's population. Asia mobilized the highest numbers, mobilizing more than 73 million people, twice over last year's total for the region.  

Collectively, the millions who "stood up" have set a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of people standing up for a cause. Last year, a total of 43.7 million people participated in Stand Up events globally.

The global action comes at a time when 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day, one woman dies every minute as the result of pregnancy and childbirth, an estimated 40 million are living with HIV/AIDS and the world spends $1.2 trillion on weapons annually but cannot find the fraction necessary to help meet existing overseas development assistance commitments.

For those who were involved in organizing the Stand Up events across the globe, the numbers are simply too large to ignore.  

"We have a significant increase in the number, scale and scope of mobilizations. We have multiplied the community of anti-poverty activists all over the world. Most important, this year these voices involved clear actions and commitments from individuals, groups, communities, institutions, networks, social movements and other civil society groups. They come from different age groups, but share the same message of ending poverty and coming together for equality," said GCAP Mobilization Officer Ben Margolis.

ENDS/

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is the world's biggest anti-poverty alliance. For more information, visit www.whiteband.org.

For details of all Stand Up events that took place across Asia, go to www.gcap-senca.net


For more information contact:

Lani C. Villanueva
Communications Officer, GCAP-Southeast North and Central Asia Secretariat
Tel. Nos. (632) 383 38 02 / (632) 799 27 51 / Email: villanueva.lani en gmail.com

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Chona Leah Ramos
GCAP SENCA Coordinator
tel: +632 3833802
fax: +632 4366054
mobile: +63 9209090053
chona en gcap-senca.net
gcapsenca en gmail.com
www.gcap-senca.net