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Over 800 Students at Ruamrudee International School Make a Stand Up Against Poverty in Bangkok on 17 October |
Royal Thai Government and United Nations 'Stand Up' to Fight Poverty
Bangkok 17 October – Thai government officials, staff of the United Nations in Thailand and members of the public created a human chain in the heart of Bangkok today, joining millions of people around the world who are standing up to demand an end to poverty.
Over 1,000 people joined the chain along Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue, near Government House and the main UN building. With this event, Thailand joins over a hundred countries around the world where people are standing up today to speak out against poverty and inequality and demand that governments keep to their promises to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Last year 23.5 million people participated in Stand Up events over a 24-hour period, and this year is expected to beat even that world record.
“We are standing together to show our commitment to ending extreme poverty,” said Khunying Thipawadee Meksawan, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office. “Such events remind us of our basic responsibilities to help the poor, and the responsibilities of countries around the world including Thailand to work towards the Millennium Development Goals.”
“Today we reaffirm the partnership of the Royal Thai Government and the United Nations in Thailand to fight poverty and help the poor,” said UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Gwi-Yeop Son. “Thailand has made great strides in reducing poverty in recent years. This great success needs to be replicated in reducing disparities between rural and urban communities. We are renewing our commitment today to making sure that the poor are not left behind.”
The number of people living in poverty in Thailand dropped from 38 percent in 1990 to 9.5 percent in 2006. That 9.5 percent represents 6.1 million people who live on incomes of Baht 1,386 a month or less.
Around the world over 1.2 billion people live in absolute poverty – less than US$1 a day. It is estimated that around the world 55,000 people die each day due to poverty-related causes.
In Thailand, the United Nations focuses its work on helping those most at risk of suffering from poverty, including children, women and remote rural communities. One of the cornerstones of the partnership between the UN and the Royal Thai Government is making sure these groups have access to education, health care and other basic social services.
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For more information, please contact:
Nick Keyes:
nicholas.keyes@undp.org; UNDP Thailand; 02 288 1814; (Mobile) 085 115
7236
Punnipa Ruangtorsak: punnipa.ruangtorsak@undp.org; UNDP Thailand;
02 288 2130; (Mobile) 081 398 6064