Ngħajtu Kontra l-Faqar - Media Coverage

Political will still lacking to eradicate poverty – President Abela

Today, for the first time, people are able to eradicate extreme poverty because they have the means and the resources, but political will is lacking, said President George Abela, speaking at an event to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Held in Republic Street, Valletta, the event was organised by the local Millennium Development Goals campaign STOPoverty! in collaboration with the Third World Group and Valletta Local Council.

The World We Want Report

There is no way anyone can follow all the reports that are coming out daily. Which country, which bank, which company will win the race to the bottom? Then all the other reports: about the environmental, financial and food crisis. Social Watch has provided us annually ‘the state of our world’ through a compilation of 140 comparable indicators at national levels: from child mortality and education to women’s participation in education, economics and politics. The Amnesty human rights reports bear witness to great human suffering as well as incredible courage through facts and stories. The UN, particularly around the 2010 summit on the MDGs, has provided us with libraries full of detailed progress reports a range of other indicators. But where are the voices and faces of children, youth, socially excluded, women and men living in poverty?

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a citizen’s movement around the world in which individuals, groups and organisations work and fight to improve our lot. We try to claim what is the birthright of each and everyone of us since the Universal Declaration of Human rights: healthy, educated peaceful, secure and democratic lives with food, jobs, a political voice and a perspective for our children. Regardless of where and when we were born. Regardless of our gender, sexual preference, our race, colour or creed. We wear a white band on our wrist and wish to wind a white band around our planet: the band that joins us in our fight for justice, peace and the future of our planet and all that lives within her.

Continue reading the report here

STOPoverty in partnership with the Valletta Local Council and Third World Group is organising an event to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last year has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September (High-Level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the General Assembly) to accelerate progress towards all the MDGs by 2015, taking into account the progress made towards the internationally agreed development goals. Coming amid mixed progress and the economical climate that continues to threaten the global effort to halve extreme poverty the summit was a crucially important opportunity to redouble efforts to meet the Goals

The MDG 2010 review summit was a key moment for civil society across the world to take action and call for a robust action plan to deliver the MDGs. The simple fact is that 189 world leaders made a historic promise at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. It’s time for the citizens and civil society to hold their leaders to account for these commitments as we are running out of time. In fact events/actions/campaigns by UN agencies, non-governmental organizations such as the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) are expected to be held on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17th October) to push for the achievement of the MDGs.

The Maltese MDG Campaign, STOPoverty! Neqirdu l-Faqar!, in partnership with Third World Group and Valletta Local Council will organize a campaign in the lead up of the 17th October 2011 to support the UN in its efforts to boost progress towards the MDG as well as to push locally for the eradication of poverty.

We hereby cordially ask whether your organisations and yourselves as individuals will be willing to support this campaign.

A detailed program of the event is below for your information.

Date: Saturday, 15th October 2011

Venue: Valletta

09:45 – Opening Speech by Dr. Alexiei Dingli, Mayor of Valletta & Dr. George Abele, President of Malta, Great Seige Square
10:15 – Opening of the symbolic running lanes, Republic Street
10:15 – Opening of NGOs information stands, Great Siege Square
10:15 – Opening of Boards "Today I Am Grateful For ______", Great Siege Square
10:30 – Opening of Photographic Exhibition Hunger Free Women, The President’s Palace
11:00 – Tama Tnabar Exhibition, Republic Street
11:45 - Forum: "Il-Faqar f' Malta; Jien kif nista' nagħmel differenza?", Aċċess Valletta, Triq Melita
12:00 - Jamming Session, Great Seige Square
13:00 – Closing, Great Siege Square

STOPoverty on Education 22

Dear Friends,

CGAP, UNMC and others have come together to put pressure on the EU to keep their aid promises. EU aid is under the severe risk of being marginalized and there seems to be hardly any effective pressure from civil society to turn this around. We need to take action now.

Next week, GCAP, UNMC and others are meeting the EU president and high level delegates in Strassbourg. Together we will call for them to honour their previous aid commitments that are now under severe pressure to be neglected, causing more poverty, injustice and unnecessary deaths.

We do need more voices in the petition. So we ask you to sign the petition by not later than June 15th. The petitiation is available online at: http://www.unitedagainstpoverty.org/direct?lang=en&branding=false

Standup 2009

Read the press release here

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

View the exhibition opening in the gallery here

Media coverage:

http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=57246
http://www.maltainsideout.com/5184/malta-marks-stop-poverty-day/
http://www.manicmalta.com/mmdiscus/messages/1353/7530.html?1255414522
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=111&CalendarEventID=1061
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091016/local/stand-up-to-poverty
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=95331

Activities 17th October

Events to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Read the PR here

Photographic exhibition: Hunger Free Women Speak Out!

On the 15th of October ActionAid’s photographic exhibition about Women, Right
to Food & Land will be launched at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event will start at noon. Hunger Free Women Speak out, will be inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Tonio Borg. The exhibition will run from the 15th to the 22nd October, from 9:30 to 16:00h..
For more information click here

Theatre Production: Ceda l-Imbatt

On the 17th of October Theatrencore will perform Ceda l-Imbatt (in Maltese).
Following the performance a discussion will be held about poverty, the Millennium Development Goals and the Mediterranean region. Ceda l-Imbatt will be held at MITP, St. Christopher Street, Valletta, at 20:00h. This event is held in collaboration with KOPIN & Schools2communities Project.
Click here for sypnosis

Workshop: Art Campaigning Management

On the 19th of October Adrian Mamo will lead a workshop about Art Campaigning Management at St.James Cavalier from 6pm-8pm, Fair Trade refreshments will be available. Attendance is free of charge however places are limited to the first 40 persons applying. For further information about this workshop please email Mahira Sheikh on: mahira0129@gmail.com. This workshop is being coordinated by I SHOP FAIR network of ethical consumers' network.

Stand Up Take Action Activity

Between the 16th and 18th of October the Stand Up Take Action activity will be organised in Malta and Gozo. The Maltese public is urged to stand up for one minute to remember the poor of the world and to symbolically urge governments to keep their promises. The Maltese public is encouraged to send us the number of Stand Ups and pictures (if any) on standupmalta@gmail.com. The Stand Up is being coordinated by Schools2Communities project.
For more info click here

Dead Mums don't cry

11.00 to 11.15 - Davinia Vella from Amnesty International on ' Securing Women s Rights - Worldwide'

11.15 to 12.15 - Introduction and screening of Dead Mums Don't Cry

12.15 to 13.00 - Discussion opened to the plenary on the main theme of the documentary

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Click Here to download the PR of the seminar on the Millennium Development Goals and the Stand Up activity.

Seminar on the Millennium Development Goals
By the Maltese NGDO Platform, in collaboration with StoPoverty!, Kopin and Global Action Schools

The 17th of October, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the Maltese NGDO Platform, in collaboration with StoPoverty!, Kopin and Global Action Schools, is organising the first National Seminar on the Millennium Development Goals. This will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre between 9.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m..
Further details click here

StoPoverty! is an Awareness Campaign by Maltese Civil Society Organisations calling on governments to stand by their commitments in favour of the world's poor to Reach the UN's Millennium Development Goals by 2015

It is part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty. GCAP is a growing alliance of organisations, networks and national campaigns committed to eradicating poverty.

We will be working together in 2005 to take action across the world to force world leaders to tackle the causes of poverty, and meet and exceed their own promises on the UN's MDGs.

We are working in solidarity with hundreds of organisations across the world to put the interests of the poorest people in the world at the top of the political agenda. This is our chance to ask politicians and leaders what they are going to do to eradicate poverty, and to demand that they do it now.