Law campaign
Call to stand up against poverty and inequality
Stand up and Speak out is a worldwide call to take action against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals. During the 24 hour period between Oct. 16th at 9pm GMT and Oct. 17th at 9pm GMT, millions of people around the world literally Stand up and Speak out to show that they refuse to stay silent or seated in the face of poverty. This year the campaign calls for support to break the world record so that people can break the record of broken promises.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and Inequality has been observed in the country as elsewhere across the world with a call 'stand up and speak out against poverty and inequality. Different organisations have drawn up various programmes, including rally, open-air concert and gathering, to highlighting this year's theme 'Stand Up Against Poverty and Inequality. People's Forum on MDGs (PFM), an alliance of 200 private organisations and trade union centres, holds programmes simultaneously in 30 districts, including Dhaka, to mark the day.
The People's Forum in association with Campaign for Popular Education (Campe) and Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) organised rally, concert for youth and children's assemblies at educational institutions. Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) also holds a rally on the premises of Nagar Bhaban, which was inaugurated by Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
"It is very difficult to remove poverty from our densely-populated country because three-fourth people are still now under the poverty line. Concerted efforts are needed for eliminating poverty from our society," he said while addressing the rally.
The People's Forum, a broad-based coalition of civil society groups, along with other partner organisations organised a mass gathering at Rabindra Sarobar Mancha at Dhanmondi.
"These efforts is a part of global mobilisation that aspires to achieve the biggest ever mobilisation against poverty in more than 100 countries showing courage and demand for a more political response to the growing crisis of global poverty," said Forum Convener Rasheda K Chowdhury. The Hunger Project, Karmajibi Nari (KN) and Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) also participated at the programme.
