UAE students Stand Up to help eradicate global poverty

Dubai: Thousands of students across the UAE took part in events yesterday to "Stand Up" and be heard on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

With early estimates of 1.6 million participants worldwide, the campaign clearly surpassed the figure needed to set a Guinness World Record for the highest number of people to "Stand Up" against poverty.

Students from 17 schools throughout the UAE were among all those worldwide taking part in the landmark campaign, a collective effort initiated by the Make Poverty History and the United Nations Millennium campaigns.

In September 2000, nearly 200 world leaders agreed to work towards a set of targets to be achieved by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including halving extreme hunger and poverty, stopping the spread of HIV and providing primary education.

Participants in yesterday's events say they were "standing up" to remind them of this promise.

Jaser Faruk, year 13 student and head organiser of the event at Dubai British School, said at his school's event, "We want to show the world that we here in the UAE are against the injustice that is poverty."

Faruk is a Make Poverty History volunteer, who has been working to spread awareness about the campaign and its aims.

"I believe poverty could be ended if everyone was willing to contribute. More than 30,000 people die daily as a result of poverty.

"That should be a motivation for us to end poverty and to remind world leaders of their commitments."

Anish Kattukaran, spokesperson and national coordinator for Make Poverty History-Emirates said it was sad that so few countries look set to keeping to these promises.

"Annually we spend about $1 trillion on weapons and wars so more money is being spent on killing people than keeping them alive. The US alone spends $450 billion on arms, when a tiny increase in aid, to $50 billion, would eradicate poverty. So the resources exist and can be delivered.

"In 2006 we are behind on the MDGs. Each country committed to donating 0.7 per cent of their GNP to global aid but almost none have achieved this target yet," he added.

I believe as tax is collected in most countries of the world a system should be set up to collect 2.5 per cent for "poverty tax" if you may from each bank account around the world, once yearly and that should just about sort the problem.
Omar
Dubai,UAE