(STRASBOURG, November 15th) More than 1 million Europeans mobilized on October 17th —the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — under the Stand Up and Take Action initiative, to ask their Governments to keep their commitments on increasing aid quantity and quality, debt relief, and trade opportunities that will help poor countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With this strong message, the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) is participating in the European Development Days (EDD) in Strasbourg from November 15-17.

“The European Development Days take place when action is essential to limit the effects of the economic crisis on investment and growth in developing countries, and to secure commitments from donor countries to honour their promises on aid,” said Marina Ponti, Deputy Director, Europe of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

For the world’s 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day, having less purchasing power is literally a question of survival – the difference between whether their children get a meal each day or not, and whether it will be possible for them to attend school. “The amount of money that has been mobilized to face the global financial crisis has shown us that the real issue we face in combating poverty is not the availability of resources, but of political will,” said Ponti.

Participants from EU Member States –including officials from governments and local authorities – gathering at the European Development Days will be invited to use their power, influence and voices to mobilize the political will needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight concrete goals aimed at eradicating global poverty and improving health and education by 2015 that 189 world leaders pledged to achieve.

In order to collect messages against poverty and for the achievement of the MDGs from visitors, policy experts, international aid workers and the media, the UN Millennium Campaign is installing a European Commission co-branded “European Voices against Poverty” recording booth. This awareness-raising tool debuted at the 2006 UN World Summit and since then has travelled to major global events to record “Voices against Poverty” and build public support for the MDGs.

This year’s edition of the EDD will focus particularly on the critical role of local authorities in the fight against poverty and their contribution to the achievement of the MDGs. Accordingly, mayors and other local authority representatives present at the event will discuss with the delegates ways to better coordinate their strategies and actions and engage more decisively in the efforts to fulfil the MDGs.