In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly recognised October 17th as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, in recognition of the commemorations around this Day that had been taking place since 1987 under the name of World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty.

In 2005, UN General Assembly Resolution 60/209 asked the Secretary General in paragraph 55 "to undertake a review of the observance of the Day in order to identify lessons learned and ways to promote the mobilisation of all stakeholders in the fight against poverty." The outcome of this review is presented in UN Secretary General report A/61/308 to be found at:- http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/poverty.htm

As part of this review, an international Seminar was held in Montreal in May 2006. The Seminar participants issued a global petition entitled: "Call to Action: Ending Extreme Poverty, a Road to Peace" to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17th, 2007.

This Call to Action can be downloaded at www.oct17.org/site/-Call-to-action-.html It can also be signed on line at www.oct17.org/site/Count-me-in.html

Previous News release items

• 02/04/2007: DISABILITY: Record numbers sign up to new treaty
• 02/04/2007: MALAWI: Bid to tackle maternal and infant deaths
• 02/04/2007: ISRAEL-OPT: 'Fighting Israel an Islamic duty', school children told
• 02/04/2007: LESOTHO: Cash injection for AIDS orphans
• 02/04/2007: La Convention sur les droits des personnes handicapées reçoit 80 signatures à New York

Organisation Contact Details:

International Movement
5 Chemin Galiffe
1201 Geneva
Tel: 00 41 22 344 4777
Email: atd.quartmonde-geneve@span.ch

Last updated 03/04/2007 08:27:22

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