About Five Thousands Ukrainians Joined Stand Up Against Poverty

Ukraine, 17 October, 2007: Today the "STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST POVERTY" initiative took place for the first time in Ukraine devoted to the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In different cities of Ukraine 4926 people symbolically stood up to support the global movement against poverty and set a new Guinness World Record.

Schools and universities, youth centers and civil society activists stood up against poverty and inequality and spoke out for MDGs in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskiy, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson and Ivankiv, Borodyanka, Slavutych.

UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Mr. Francis O'Donnell stated «Eradicating poverty and inequality is the strategic goal of all countries in the world. No one should stand aside of these problems because only by addressing these challenges our world becomes better place for living of all people".

Mr. O'Donnell said that the STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY initiative was launched in 2006. On this day last year, 23.5 million people stood up against poverty in a 24 hour period setting a new Guinness World Record. And he continued "I hope due to Ukraine's and other countries support, last year Guinness Record will be at least doubled".

On October 17, 2007 millions of people worldwide physically and symbolically stood up and demanded their governments keep their promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. They called on political leaders to deliver more and better aid to the poorest nations, implement fairer trade conditions, cancel debt, ensure gender equality. Events were taking place in over 100 countries. These events ranged from major rallies and concerts to gatherings in school assemblies, town halls and refugee camps.

Key public event in the capital of Ukraine took place in the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. «We are confident that to eradicate poverty on the global scale as many as possible people have to take at least small but concrete step", said President of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Prof. Sergiy Kvit.  "This is the policy of our University to do our best so that the opportunities for young people are not measured by wealth status».

In Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Mr. Francis O'Donnell delivered the lecture and conducted debates with the students on addressing poverty and inequality. After that at 13:00 he announced the Declaration against Poverty and together with students and President of the Academy Prof. Sergiy Kvit took part in the STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY momentum.

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For additional information and photos, please contact UN Department of Public Information: Ms. Veronika Vashchenko, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , +38.044.253.9363, Mr. Sergiy Grytsenko, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , +38.044.254.0035.

 About «STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY»:

The campaign was initiated in 2006 as International civil initiative to fight against poverty, this year it coincides with International Day of Poverty Eradication on 17 October. The event is to mobilize people all over the world who will stand up to support global movement against poverty. The event will take place in the 24-hour period from 9pm GMT on October 16th to 9pm GMT on October 17th.   

In 2006, more than 23 million people in 87 countries stood up and took action to end with extreme poverty, illiteracy, hunger and dangerous diseases. STAND UP is a global advocacy effort to set an official Guinness World Record - the greatest number of people mobilized ever.

This year a number of events to support movement against poverty are planned in over 100 countries. They will include meetings and concerts, gathering in school parliaments, municipality and refugees camps www.standagianstpoverty.org

 
About UN in Ukraine:

United Nations Office in Ukraine was opened in 1992. United Nations Country Team consists of 13 International Organisations, Agencies, and Associated Institutions with resident missions and programmes, they are: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) , the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commisioner For Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Also active are UN related organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,the World Bank, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). www.un.org.ua

 
About Kyiv-Mohyla Academy:

The original Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, founded by the Metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mohyla in 1615, was one of the most distinguished and earliest among higher educational institutions in Eastern Europe. Status of collegiums was gained in 1632 (the establishment of Harvard (1632), Yale (1701) and Princeton (1746) universities). Status of academy was adjudged to collegium in 1658. By the decision of Holy Synod of Russian Empire Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was closed in 1817. 19 September in 1991 Academy was revived on its historical territory as University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The 1^st  admission of students took place in 1992. Status of National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy received from Intersectional republic accreditation commission on 30 June 1994. National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy licensed with the highest fourth level of accreditation. www.ukma.kiev.ua