ONE (SINGAPORE)

I do not consider myself an activist, nor an advocator of passion or worldly grievances. But here is something that really caught my attention. A small unassuming poster pasted in a corner of the Science Lift.

What is ONE(SINGAPORE)? It is a site dedicated to raising public awareness on issues of poverty, and taking concrete actions to make poverty a history. On 17th October 2007 (TODAY), masses around the round world will be gathering in one voice in an event known as STAND UP, TAKE ACTION against poverty. Around the world over 100 million people in over 2,000 events across more than 100 countries are registered to Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty and for the Millennium Development Goals in a bid to remind world leaders they have only a few more years to keep their end of the promise – the eradication of global poverty by 2015.

EVERY THREE SECONDS

A CHILD DIES

FROM EXTREME POVERTY

“Almost half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the world’s poor.”

Former UN Secretarial General Kofi Annan

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”

Nelson Mandela

Here in Singapore, more than 4000 people participated in the event – up from just 29 a year ago. Students at Raffles Girls School, Hwa Chong JC, Hwa Chong Secondary School, Raffles Institution and NUS all raised their voices to demand that world leaders do the right thing – more and better aid, debt relief, fair trade, gender equality, public transparency and accountability.

This is the largest social mobilisation in the history of the world – an 85 percent increase, 20 million more people than last year. Of the 43.7 million who “joined the call” during a 24-hour period on 16-17 October, nearly 33 million were in Asia. In India alone, 18 million people stood up to say it’s not right to live in a world where every three seconds a child dies from poverty.

Stand Up. Speak Out. Take Action. More than 43 million people from 127 countries have Stood Up and Spoken Out to demand a more urgent political response to the growing crisis of global poverty and inequality. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – from farmers in rural Nepal to students in Africa to entrepreneurs and celebrities here in Singapore – people are calling on world leaders to honour their promises to meet the Millennium Development Goals and create a world without poverty.

On 17th Oct, where will you stand?

- The Benthic Canine

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~ by Elvin Yio on Friday, October 17, 2008.