RECORD-SETTING ACTIVISM EVENT DRAWS MILLIONS OF PARTICIPANTS
SEATTLE, Oct. 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) has been chosen by the United Nations Millennium Campaign to support its Stand Up, Speak Out day of global poverty awareness on Oct. 16 and 17, 2007. The Millennium Campaign selected WE because of the company's digital expertise and global reach.
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Last year, more than 23 million people across 100 countries around the world stood up in support of the world's poor. This year, millions more are planning to stand up to show their solidarity with the poor and marginalized. Stand Up, Speak Out events around the world will raise awareness of poverty issues and emphasize the global effort to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on behalf of those suffering from poverty, hunger and disease.
Grab a Friend and Get Involved
-- Find or start an event in your area:
http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/en/events.
-- Wear your white bracelet: http://www.noexcuse2015.org.
-- Literally stand up against poverty: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org.
-- Break the Guinness world record: http://www.one.org/press/202.html.
-- Encourage our leaders to enforce the MDGs on behalf of the poor:
http://www.endpoverty2015.org/goals.
The Global Movement
-- Football fans are scheduled to stand up and cheer for one minute
during a game in Nigeria.
-- Non-profits in downtown Chicago will hold an outdoor festival to
raise awareness of the need.
-- Eighth graders in Sri Lanka are planning an event to educate their
peers about the issues.
-- In Japan, people are encouraged to stand up in public places,
including buses and trains.
Join the Conversation
-- Watch Stand Up, Speak Out videos on YouTube.
-- Visit the blog: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/blog.
-- Read about MDG progress:
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/mdg2007.pdf.
-- Stand Up and Speak Out on Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live Spaces and
Flickr.
-- Hear what Shakira, Michael Douglas and Lenny Kravitz think:
http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/media/video/voices.
-- Get event materials: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/en/materials.
The Facts
-- More than 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day, with nearly
half the world's population (2.8 billion) living on less than $2 a
day. (UN Human Development Report, 2003)
-- UNESCO's 2007 Global Monitoring Report states that universal primary
education would cost $11 billion a year -- half what Americans spend
on ice cream annually.
-- Globally, an estimated 15.2 million children have lost one or both
parents to AIDS; 80 percent of these children live in sub-Saharan
Africa. (UNICEF, 2005)
About Stand Up, Speak Out
Stand Up, Speak Out is the growing movement of people no longer prepared to stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and inequality. The Campaign was launched in October 2002, two years after 189 government leaders from almost every country in the world agreed at the September 2000 Millennium Summit to a set of eight time-bound targets that, when achieved, will end extreme poverty across the planet. Working at both the national and international levels, the ambition of the Campaign is to inspire a global movement to achieve the Goals and eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. More information can be found at http://www.standagainstpoverty.org.
About Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide is a multiservice global public relations agency. Founded in 1983 and independently owned, the agency was named PRWeek's Large Agency of the Year for 2004, and was named Best Agency to Work For in 2004 and Best Large Agency to Work For in 2006 by the Holmes Report. The agency has over 700 employees, 15 offices around the world and six global practices -- Technology, Healthcare, Public Affairs, Corporate Communications, Consumer Marketing and Digital Strategies. More information can be found at http://www.WaggenerEdstrom.com .
Waggener Edstrom, Innovation Communications(SM) and the Waggener Edstrom Worldwide logo are either registered trademarks of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
