The final figure of people Standing Up is a massive total of 43,716,440 participants in at least 6,540 events around the globe spanning 127 countries. They broke the world record - set last year at 23.5 million - for the largest number of people to “Stand Up Against Poverty” in 24 hours.

A number of 38.8 million was announced in an online press Thursday with Mary Robinson, President Realizing Rights, the ethical global initiative, Salil Shetty, Global Director of the UN Millennium Campaign and Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). After final counting the number was adjusted to 43.7.

"I think the greatest thing about Stand Up is that it shows that people from the poorest countries in the world are taken very seriously,” said Salil Shetty.

“It’s been very humbling to see what Stand Up and Speak Out against Poverty has done in the past two days and see such leadership and energy, said Kumi Naidoo. “We hope that soon it will not be possible that governments ignore these demands of people.”

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, spoke about the link between human rights and extreme poverty. “Those who live in absolute poverty have no human rights. They are deprived of social rights like food, water, shelter, health and education.” She said that in the next years, she hopes to build on this movement, and to link Stand Up with the declaration of human rights.

Minar Pimple, UNMC Deputy Director for Asia, explained why people in the region participated in such huge numbers. “I think is Stand Up is a very simple message.(…)You can express your opinion very clearly and demand that the government does its part,” he said.

“Poor people are no longer willing to sit down,” said Deputy Director for Afica, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, commenting on the huge numbers in Africa. Ana Agostino, Co-chair of GCAP in Latin America commented on the success of Stand Up in this region.

The “Stand Up and Speak Out” record attempt took place over 16th and 17th October and was jointly organised by the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) and the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) with a wide range of other partners. The challenge saw millions of people physically and intentionally standing up against poverty, inequality and in support of the Millennium Development Goals. They spoke out to demand a more urgent political response to the growing crisis of global poverty.

For 24 hours from 9pm GMT on the 16th of October people around the world from all walks of life came together in their schools, streets, market places, in front of government buildings and local councils, in workplaces and houses of worship, at sports and cultural events and at public landmarks to demonstrate their frustration that we still live in a world where 50,000 people die daily from preventable causes. The mass mobilisation provided a platform for global civil society seeking more active involvement in the current aid architecture debate, debt cancellation processes, trade negotiations and public accountability monitoring. The largest numbers of people who took part in this mobilisation came from developing countries.