Bangkok--15 Oct--UNISBKK
Thailand events are part of global plan to mobilize one percent of the world’s population
The Royal Thai Government and the United Nations will join forces this week to highlight the need to stamp out poverty and inequality in Thailand and around the world.
On Friday, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Thailand’s Deputy Interior Minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, and the UN Resident Coordinator a.i., Tomoo Hozumi, will attend a walk against poverty in Ayutthaya Province, at which they will make pledges in the fight against poverty and for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the provincial and community levels in Thailand. More than 10,000 people are expected to take part.
The event — organized by the UN Millennium Campaign and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, in partnership with the Thai Ministry of Interior — are, along with thousands of other similar events planned throughout Thailand, part of a series of global events for the Stand Up Against Poverty campaign. The campaign aims to mobilize more than one percent of the world’s population — over 67 million people — on 17-19 October to demand that world leaders deliver on their promises to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the MDGs by 2015.
The eight MDGs, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015, form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and leading development institutions. Last year, more than 43 million people took part in Stand Up Against Poverty events around the world.
In Thailand, at least 180,000 people living below the national poverty line are expected to visit poverty reduction “clinics” — information centres set up by the Ministry of Interior, aimed at encouraging domestic and individual savings, health promotion, and empowerment of the poor.
Members of the media are invited to attend the walk against poverty, which will be followed by a press conference.
The event will take place at 9:00 a.m. at:
Ayutthaya Provincial Hall
123 Moo 3 Tumbon Klong Suan Plu
Asia Road, Pra Nakorn Sri Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya Province
Tel: +66 (0) 35 336 647
For more information, please contact:.
UN Information Services
Tel.: +66-2-288-1861-9
Fax: +66-2-288-1052
Email: [email protected]