WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (OneWorld.net) - Well over 100 million people around the world are expected to "stand up" this weekend to call governments to action on poverty, hunger, and gender inequalities -- a set of global issues that most Americans say they would like their government to fund much more than it has.

What's the Story?

Last year, some 116 million people worldwide took part in the weekend-long events to "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!" That set a new Guinness World Record for largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history. Organizers are aiming to break that record this year.

Participants are calling on their governments to take concrete steps to achieve the so-called Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight targets to cut extreme poverty and hunger in half, reduce HIV/AIDS and child and maternal mortality, get children into school, and ensure women's equality in society, all while protecting the environment. World leaders agreed at a summit in 2000 to commit the funding and implement the programs necessary to achieve the goals by 2015.

"With just six years left until the deadline ... 'Stand Up' will be a stark reminder that citizens will not accept excuses for governments breaking promises to the world's poorest and most vulnerable citizens," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in a statement this week.

"This year's mobilization will place particular emphasis on telling world leaders that their track record on women's rights, maternal mortality, and hunger is unacceptable," Shetty added. "Citizens refuse to accept the fact that 70 percent of the people living in poverty are women and children and 500,000 women continue to die annually in the process of giving life, and they are demanding urgent action from their leaders."

Thousands of "Stand Up" events will be held across the world this weekend, from a lamp-lighting ceremony during India's Festival of Lights to a "poverty hearing" in Peru. Attendees at a college football game in Montreal will be asked to stand up against poverty, and New Yorkers will "Stand Up and Dance" tonight at a party organized by the humanitarian group Mercy Corps and the ONE Campaign. Across Europe, radio stations will simultaneously play Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" on Saturday. [» Read more about the Stand Up events below.]

Charting Progress

The latest United Nations progress report shows that, while important advances have been made toward most of the goals, not enough has been done to achieve them by 2015 in all parts of the world.

As of June 2008, for example, South Asia was on track to meet the anti-poverty and universal education goals, but only one of the three women's equality targets and two of the four environmental marks. On the health goals, the region, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal as well as several other less populous nations, was only on track to reverse the spread of tuberculosis; efforts have not been sufficient to meet the child mortality, maternal health, or HIV/AIDS goals, if current trends continue.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, by contrast, poverty and employment rates remain a serious concern, along with school enrollment levels, maternal health and HIV/AIDS. But the hunger, child mortality, and tuberculosis goal are likely to be met, along with three of the four environmental targets and two of the three women's equality goals.

Sub-saharan Africa, however, is not on track to meet a single goal.

The global economic crisis and the impacts of climate change threaten to further stymie progress, warned UN chief Ban Ki-moon in the forward to the UN report, but a renewed commitment from world leaders can still ensure the goals' achievement.

"The right policies and actions, backed by adequate funding and strong political commitment, can yield results," said Ban. "Fewer people today are dying of AIDS, and many countries are implementing proven strategies to combat malaria and measles, two major killers of children. The world is edging closer to universal primary education, and we are well on our way to meeting the target for safe drinking water."

"Our efforts to restore economic growth should be seen as an opportunity to take some of the hard decisions needed to create a more equitable and sustainable future," added Ban. [» Check out the UN progress reports.]

Finding the Money

There is plenty of money available to reach the goals -- the evidence is in the hundreds of billions of dollars found to bail out banks around the world last year, said Adelaide Sosseh of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, an international umbrella group of organizations that is helping to organize this week's "Stand Up" events.

Education experts believe, for example, that just $11 billion more per year could ensure "education for all" by 2015.

The price tag on ending world hunger is estimated at about $30 billion a year.

And Americans have said they would be willing to pay their share, as long as other countries did the same.

An October 2008 poll found that 77 percent of people in the United States would be willing to pay their part of the cost -- estimated at about $56 per person per year -- to cut hunger in half and reduce severe poverty by 2015.

The cost was determined by divvying up among the world's industrialized nations the estimated $39 billion needed to reduce extreme poverty and cut hunger in half. Countries were assumed to pay different amounts depending on the size of their own economies. 

Similar majorities in six of the seven other industrialized countries polled said they would also be willing to pay their share: $49 per person in Great Britain, $45 in France, $43 in Germany, $39 in Italy, $23 in South Korea, and $10 in Turkey.

A smaller majority -- 54 percent -- of Russians were also in favor of paying their country's share of the costs, about $11 per person per year. [» Check out all the poll results.]

A similar poll in 2005 found that 70 percent of people in the United States were in favor of paying their country's share of up to $80 billion per year to achieve all eight of the Millennium Development Goals.

But according to the nonprofit Center for Global Development, which ranks wealthy countries' commitment to foreign assistance each year, the United States only gives about 28 cents per person per year in aid -- 20 cents per person in government-funded initiatives, and another 8 cents per person in charitable giving to aid organizations working in developing countries. 

When considering aid, trade, investment, migration, technology, and a host of other policies impacting people in developing countries, the United States scored 17th out of 22 industrialized nations in its overall "commitment to development," according to researchers at the Center. [» Check out the Commitment to Development Index.]

Putting the Money to Good Use

Americas have long been skeptical about the effectiveness of aid provided to developing countries whose political and economic systems are often not the most transparent.

Humanitarian workers and analysts say, however, that while those fears are understandable, aid money has done a lot of good worldwide and is increasingly effective.

"These funds need not find themselves in the hands of local warlords or corrupt governments," says Tom Peterson of Heifer International, which provides farm animals to families in developing countries to help build incomes. "[Aid funds] work their way through assistance organizations. Much of the good work going on today is focused on building capacity and scaling up a development network that is both effective and transparent."

Oxfam International's Paul O'Brien agrees. Speaking to OneWorld readers in an online dialogue earlier this year, O'Brien wrote: "Aid is working, but just not as well as it should. In these economically trying times, we can't afford to waste money, but neither can we afford to give up on the global poor or pretend that their problems won't affect us if we ignore them."

O'Brien and Sheila Herrling of the Center for Global Development said that new efforts to "modernize" the way foreign assistance is channeled are starting to ensure more bang for every buck. Both are members of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network of analysts and aid groups calling on the U.S. government to take concrete steps to improve the way it provides international assistance funds, learning from the successes and mistakes of the past.

In recognition of tomorrow's UN-sponsored International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the student campaigning group Americans for Informed Democracy is calling on its activists to tell Congress to do just that.

"With a new president and a new Congress, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform U.S. foreign assistance," the group's Sarah Frazer wrote to supporters today. "Tell Congress the U.S. needs a fresh approach to global development -- one that streamlines our aid, eliminates long-standing inefficiencies, and increases the impact of our dollars, even in a time of economic hardship." [» Learn more about the call-in campaign.]

But despite its shortcomings, foreign assistance dollars have already brought about many remarkable achievements, noted Herrling in the OneWorld dialogue earlier this year.

"Over the past decades, our assistance has: created the capacity for millions of people to feed their families through the green revolution; nearly eradicated river blindness and polio; helped Mozambique, El Salvador, and other countries rebound from civil war; stimulated economic growth in countries around the world; saved millions of lives each year through routine vaccinations and access to basic health care; and put hundreds of thousands of HIV patients on life-saving anti-retroviral treatments. These are not small accomplishments," she said.

But the 100 million people "Standing Up" this weekend are hoping to convince their governments to accomplish even more -- and move faster -- in the years to come.

» Discuss this article on OneWorld.net

» OneWorld.net's Perspectives Magazine: Foreign Assistance - What Happens with All That Money? 

» OneWorld TV: One Brit 'Stands Up and Speaks Out'

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Millions Mobilize Worldwide and on Web Demanding That World Leaders Eradicate Poverty

From: Millennium Campaign

October 12, 2009

After a year in which progress on eradicating global poverty has
actually reversed, millions of people will come together across
continents, cultures and time zones next week to tell their governments
in no uncertain terms what they want them to do: End Poverty Now!

Citizens
will gather at events across the globe on October 16-18, 2009 as part
of “Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!” to demand that world
leaders achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of
promises to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes by 2015. In a
sign of the massive global demand for the achievement of the MDGs, last
year more than 116 million people participated in “Stand Up,”
shattering the Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization of
human beings in recorded history.

“With just six years left
until the deadline by which heads of state have pledged to eradicate
extreme poverty and its root causes, ‘Stand Up’ will be a stark
reminder that citizens will not accept excuses for governments breaking
promises to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens,” said
Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. “This
year’s mobilization will place particular emphasis on telling world
leaders that their track record on women’s rights, maternal mortality
and hunger is unacceptable. Citizens refuse to accept the fact that 70
percent of the people living in poverty are women and children and
500,000 women continue to die annually in the process of giving life,
and they are demanding urgent action from their leaders.”

“Millions of people are standing up against poverty, while politicians
are sitting on their hands,” said Adelaide Sosseh, Co-Chair of the
Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
based in The Gambia. “The combined effects of the economic, climate and
food crises are affecting people of all ages and stations in life, in
all countries – especially women — but those already living in poverty
are the hardest hit. Given the amounts found to bail out banks in just
a year, we know the resources are not lacking. It´s this lack of
political will to tackle poverty that remains the biggest motivation
behind Stand Up participation.”

Harnessing Technology To Connect The World and Mobilize Online

This
year, for the first time, organizers will take advantage of the awesome
power and reach of digital technology to make mobilization and
engagement possible online. The UN Millennium Campaign has partnered
with Skype and Ustream, the leading live online video platform that
enables anyone to broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size. The
unique partnership will bridge technologies in order to connect the
world in conversation about the most important issues facing our
generation.

On October 12-15, in the lead-up to the mobilization, former Irish
President Mary Robinson and African entertainers Femi Kuti and
Angelique Kidjo will be amongst a group of high profile decision makers
and cultural celebrities participating in a 30 minute conversation with
ordinary citizens around the world to discuss poverty and its root
causes. For the first time ever, the Skype calls will be broadcast live
on Facebook, thanks to technology provided by Ustream. Viewers will be
encouraged to start their own conversations about poverty and its root
causes on these powerful social networking platforms. For more details
and to watch and participate in the conversations live visit
www.facebook.com/mcampaign.

Media
wishing to view or embed the live conversations can visit
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/stand-up-against-poverty and media
wishing to download and broadcast the clips after the conversations
have occurred should use http://ustream.tv/UNcampaign. Both links will
be active on October 13.

Citizens can also visit
www.standagainstpoverty.org beginning on October 16 to Stand Up
virtually and be counted towards what organizers hope will be a new
Guinness World Record.

Actions Around the World

Amongst the thousands of “Stand Up” events being planned across every inhabited continent are:

In
Nairobi, Kenya, an anti- hunger concert dubbed Free the Hungry Billion,
Stand Up and Take Action, will bring together development-conscious
musicians from across the African continent, including Oliver Mutukudzi
(Zimbabwe), Susan Owiyo (Kenya), Professor Jay (Tanzania), Didier Awadi
(Senegal), Ntsiki Mazwai (South Africa), Carlou D (Senegal), Nameless
(Kenya) and Wahu (Kenya). Food donations will be collected from
attendees.

Also in Kenya, thousands of people are expected to
attend the Western Kenya Utamaduni Festival to celebrate the region’s
culture through music, drama and bull-fighting performances and
advocate for pro-poor development, focused on food security. The event
will be hosted by a Member of Parliament who is Chairman of the Public
Accounts Committee.

In Nigeria, thousands of people are
expected to attend various concerts over the three-day mobilization by
performers including Sarah Mitaru and Femi Kuti, who will honor the
life and work of renowned African musician/AIDS
activist Fela Kuti. The performers will explore the MDGs and the issues
of social injustice, exclusion and poverty through song and dance. They
will also sign a petition demanding accountability and transparency in
their governments in order to achieve the MDGs.

In Zimbabwe,
residents from Harare’s high density suburbs are expected to
participate in a sports gala organized by Transparency International,
where 20 teams will compete in soccer, volleyball and netball games.
The activity will provide the residents of the suburbs with a platform
to hold their leaders accountable for their promises to end poverty.

In
the Philippines, the Millennium Campaign will launch an “I Vote for the
MDGs” campaign during “Stand Up” by surveying citizens about the issues
they want their leaders to prioritize, in preparation for the May 2010
national and local elections. Results of the survey will be presented
to the country’s presidential candidates during a forum on October 20.

In
India, citizens will gather at India Gate on October 16 to light a lamp
to symbolize the dispersal of the darkness of poverty and illiteracy,
against the backdrop of the festival of lights that begins on October
17th across the country. At the event, organized by the National
Confederation of Dalit Organizations, intellectuals, Members of
Parliament, civil society and youth groups will demand implementation
of the Urban Employment Guarantee Act to provide livelihood
opportunities to millions of people living in poverty in urban slums
across the country.

Also in India, from October 16-18
campaigners from Wada Na Todo Abhiyan will launch the second phase of
the “9 is Mine” campaign across more than 100 Parliamentary
constituencies, demanding functional health centers and schools in
every village, town and city of the country. Across bus stands,
schools, hospitals, railway stations, bazaars, parks and places of
worship, the public will be asked to assess the functionality of their
health centers and schools.

In Bangladesh, tens of thousands
of people are expected to attend a massive rally at Bangabandhu
National Stadium in Dhaka on October 17, inaugurated by Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina. The rally will encourage the government to make fighting
poverty a major goal of Vision 2021, the long-term plan being developed
in advance of the country’s 2021 Golden Jubilee. The event will be
telecast on 10 screens in other public places throughout Dhaka.

In
Nepal, the President will read a Stand Up Pledge with members of the
Constituent assembly at an event organized by the National Planning
Commission and UN in Nepal at the President’s Official residence,
broadcast live on national television. This will be followed by a
concert hosted by the Millennium Campaign and Art of Living, where
thousands of people are expected to gather in a large open-air theatre
in the heart of Kathmandu on October 16 to Stand Up for peace and the
reduction of poverty in Nepal. The concert will feature folk songs,
religious songs set to the tune of rock music and performances by some
of Nepal’s top singers.

A report will be launched on MDG
progress at a poverty hearing in Peru on October 17, bringing together
rural citizens to call on their government to combat maternal and child
mortality and assure healthcare for women. An “alternative budget” with
a concrete plan for how the government can achieve the MDGs will be
presented to Parliament.

Across Europe, on October 17 from 7:00-9:00 PM(GMT
+ 1 hour), radio stations will simultaneously play Bob Marley’s song
“Get Up, Stand Up.” The song will also be played often throughout the
three-day mobilization in Europe, reminding audiences of the
mobilization happening across the globe.

On October 16-17, the cities of Barcelona, Munich, Paris and Milan will be awarded with the “MDG
Committed City Seal” for their role in promoting the Millennium
Development Goals in their cities. Through a partnership between United
Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the Millennium Campaign, UCLG
members across the world will show their commitments to the MDGs by
displaying large white banners on City Halls and other government
buildings.

In New York City, citizens will Stand Up and Dance on October 16 at a Friday evening party organized by Mercy Corps and the ONE Campaign to pressure the United States Congress to pass the Roadmap to End Global Hunger plan.

At
McGill University in Canada, the entire football stadium will be asked
to Stand Up against poverty at the university’s homecoming game on
October 17.

Visit www.standagainstpoverty.org/map for a full list of events.

Among the millions of people who will again Stand Up to affect change from their governments are:

Monica
Amollo, a Kenyan woman who after being told she won a Parliamentary
election, saw her seat handed to a male opponent. To try to affect
policy change, she organized the first-ever public anti-poverty rally
in Kenya’s Nyanza province, where women spoke about being sexually
harassed on Lake Victoria while trying to access fish — their main
means of livelihood. The women petitioned their local authorities, and
police immediately began cracking down on harassment. Today, women in
the area are able to work with a greater sense of security.

Chendramma,
a 48 year-old poor tribal woman from India’s lowest caste, who
spearheaded public rallies during “Stand Up” in 2008 and organized a
human chain to demand fair, equal and productive employment
opportunities. Taking inspiration from the massive mobilization,
anti-poverty campaigners filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High
Court of Andhra Pradesh, demanding wages in line with the country’s
Minimum Wages Act. The effort culminated in great success when on July
3, 2009, the State Government revised wages under the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act as per the demands of the citizens.

The mobilization is organized globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign and Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

LOS ANGELES – Three years ago, Pete Yorn contacted Scarlett Johansson about recording a duets album. He wanted to create something with a '60s vibe like Serge Gainsbourg's recordings with Brigitte Bardot.
Yorn didn't know if Johansson could sing, but thought she would be a good fit.
"I figured, you know, most actors are multitalented. They've got to be able to do a lot of things and they probably have some ability to sing," the 35-year-old singer-songwriter said.
Last year, Johansson released "Anywhere I Lay My Head," a gauzy assortment of covers of Tom Waits songs. Many argued that her singing voice was hidden behind a curtain of effects so impenetrable, it was impossible to tell if she could sing.
Some fans and critics weren't sold on the idea that she was serious about pursuing a musical path.
Now that "Break Up," her collaboration with Yorn, has been released, does she hope it will add some positive notes to her music career?
Johansson says she's still not looking for anyone's approval.
"I don't hope for anything. Of course whenever you put something out you hope that people are into it," the 24-year-old actress said. "But I don't really validate myself through critical praise."
AP: Pete, why did you reach out to Scarlett?
Yorn: For some reason the image I had in my head and the context of the project, Scarlett just seemed right for it. In fact, when I asked her if she would do it I didn't even know she could sing. ... I knew that she was very talented and it was like an afterthought. I was like, "Oh, I'm sure she can sing."
AP: What surprised you the most, musically speaking, about working with her?
Yorn: I was really surprised with how fast she learned the songs. She didn't hear any material beforehand. She came to the studio and I had to teach her the songs very quickly. We didn't have much time because she was very busy at the time.
AP: Scarlett, your first album, "Anywhere I Lay My Head," received mixed reviews. Was that discouraging?
Johansson: No, I mean I'm really proud of ... "Anywhere I Lay My Head." It's a sound that I'm really into. I think for me the most important thing was that I was happy with the end result. ... The entertainment industry in general is that you have to have a thick skin in general to survive it and it's something that I have developed for ... since I was 8 years old. Just projection and praise and all those things. I think it's important to not let that stuff get to your head so you can keep a clear picture of what it is that you want to do.
AP: Scarlett, a lot of people thought it was perhaps going to be a one-time thing when you released your CD last year. Here you are back again. Do you think this will prove to the critics that you're serious about your music career?
Johansson: I don't hope for anything. Of course whenever you put something out you hope that people are into it. But I don't really validate myself through critical praise. You know it's wonderful to have that but you know you expect when you put something out that people are going to like it, some people aren't going to like it.
___
On the Net:

http://www.peteyorn.com/

An award that generates as much interest as the Nobel Peace Prize is bound to be surrounded by myths. Geir Lundestad, secretary of the secretive committee that awards the prize, outlines for The Associated Press some of the most common misunderstandings:
• Myth: The awards committee announces a shortlist of candidates.
The committee does not release the names of any candidates and keeps records sealed for 50 years.
• Myth: A campaign for a particular candidate can sway the awards committee.
A campaign could have the exact opposite effect on the fiercely independent committee, which does not want to appear influenced by public pressure.
• Myth: Candidates can be nominated until the last minute.
The nomination deadline is eight months before the announcement, with a strictly enforced deadline of Feb. 1.
• Myth: Anyone can nominate a person or group for the Peace Prize.
No, although Nobel statutes on who can nominate were slightly broadened in 2003. They now include former laureates; current and former members of the committee and their staff; members of national governments and legislatures; university professors of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy; leaders of peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of international courts of law.
• Myth: The prize can be revoked if a laureate does not live up to the standards of the peace prize.
There are no provisions for revoking the prize.
• Myth: The prize can be awarded posthumously.
The prize was award posthumously only once — in 1961, to former U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold, after he was killed in a plane crash in Africa. The rules were amended in 1974 to prohibit posthumous prizes.
• Myth: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human rights and democracy only after they have proven successful.
More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments.
___
On the Net:
http://www.nobelpeaceprize.org

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Emmy and Tony-winning Actor David Hyde Pierce is returning to his upstate New York hometown to play a rebuilt organ in the church he attended while growing up.
Pierce and his three siblings donated the funds to rebuild the 1920 Skinner organ at the Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, 25 miles north of Albany.
Pierce will perform during a service dedicating the instrument on Sunday. He was an assistant to the church organist as a teen.
The rebuilt organ will be named the George and Laura Pierce Gallery Organ in memory of Pierce's parents.
Pierce was a four-time Emmy winner during his 11-year role as Dr. Niles Crane on TV's "Frasier," and he won a Tony in 2007 for his role as a musical-theater-loving detective in the Broadway musical, "Curtains."
___
Information from: The Saratogian, http://www.saratogian.com