Between October 16 and 18, join millions of people around the world that will stand up and take action in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2005, at a high-level conference, Rights & Democracy stated that “[the MDGs] are intrinsically linked to the realization of human rights, particularly economic and social rights. Whether it be the right to food, the right to health, the right to education or the right to an adequate standard of living, many of the MDGs can be reinforced by the binding human rights obligations of States.”
Last year more than 116 million people stood up, asking world leaders to fulfill the promises they made at the United Nations in 2000 to end poverty and inequality. Help us break this Guinness World Record once again and send an even stronger message to our governments! Join the millions of people who refuse to remain silent in the face of poverty, stark violations of human rights and broken promises. Do a STAND UP event as part of your class or during a sport event, an expert panel, or any other events where people gather…
For more information and tools to create a STAND UP event between October 16 and 18, visit the website of the Canadian-wide campaign Make Poverty History at http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en/standup. There, you will find:
- A video about STAND UP which you can use at the event or circulate on Facebook;
- A Stand Up 2009 Resource Toolkit
- Attend a Stand Up
- A Sample Media Advisory
- A STAND UP Pledge to read aloud during your event
- A banner for your website, your blog and your emails
To know how to send your results (the number of people who stood up at your event) and be counted as part of the Guinness World Record 2009, get more easy ideas to create an event, and more useful information, you may also visit Oxfam Québec’s English website at http://oxfam.qc.ca/en/get-involved/standup2009.
The Rights & Democracy Network wants to hear from you!
The Network always welcomes pictures, videos, articles and descriptions of your activities. Be proud of your success during the STAND UP and write to us at nellydesrosiers@dd-rd.ca. Also note that you can upload your pictures on the international website of all STAND UP events throughout the world at www.standagainstpoverty.org.
To take action after the STAND UP event:
- Support the Panties for Peace Campaign that Rights & Democracy and the student Network have lunched in 2008. This campaigns aims to support the women of Burma who have been the victims of sexual violence. Help strip the military regime’s power!
- Sign the Nairobi Declaration on Women’s and Girls’ Right to a Remedy and Reparation drafted by women and female survivors of sexual violence in conflict situation from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Central America, and South America.
- Become an active member of your university’s Network delegation and promote human rights on your campus. To get in touch with students who are part of your delegation, contact Nelly Desrosiers, Network liaison officer, at ndesrosiers@dd-rd.ca.
The Millennium Development Goals through a human rights lens:
- Implementing the Millennium Development Goals: Our Human Rights Obligation, special edition of Rights & Democracy newsletter –Libertas, volume 15, no.1.
- For information about how the MDGs are included in Canada's international development policy, see:http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/AllDocIds/C63D74F1F1CE864885256FE300549DE6?OpenDocument
- Indigenous Peoples and the Millennium Development Goals, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
