17 October 2007

Bonn, Germany: Staff and friends of the United Nations Volunteers programme gathered today to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and to support the Stand Up Against Poverty campaign to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

UNV headquarters staff joined forces with colleagues from other UN organisations on the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany, and staff from the neighbouring organisations including Deutsche Welle and Deutsche Post. A total of 350 people gathered to hear the Millennium Pledge and to release balloons as a symbolic act signalling their support for the Stand Up campaign.

The campaign encouraged a record number of people to stand up and speak out in order to persuade world leaders to meet the MDGs by 2015 and break the cycle of poverty. Last year, more than 23.5 million people in over 80 countries set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people to “Stand Up against Poverty".