- ATD Fourth World

“We have volunteered to be used as change-agents. We have come to listen.”

October 17th, 2007, 10 AM: People from many different walks of life converge at the Human Rights Plaza in Paris, France, arriving by foot, bus and train. At the same time, people around the world are taking to the road, choosing to travel out into communities the most deeply affected by extreme poverty and exclusion. In Nairobi, Kenya, a visit to people living in the city’s slums, by Ragot O. and others, creates an opportunity for discussions focused on health, environmental issues and lack of employment. Northwest of Nairobi, Catherine K. begins her day in Njoro with the Ogiek people, an indigenous group dear to her, whom she has lived and worked with.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, young people weed the bushy paths that lead in and out of the farming villages of Ekwankrom and Jukwa, in Ghana, and clean the surrounding area. Members of the Trinity Care and Needy Foundation have traveled here to visit and interview people at their homes, in the schools, and at the health post as a way to hear what issues these communities are faced with, and how they have tried to take on these challenges.

The Three Meals a Day Initiative has also opened its ears today, to the Kok community of Nigeria. The founder, Emmanuel E., says: “Our mission is not only to raise the level of awareness of the scourge called poverty but also to empower the poor to be self-reliant and live meaningful lives. We have volunteered to be used as change-agents to make the lives of the poor better. We totally reject the condition whereby millions of our people have resigned themselves to poverty and do not believe that any positive change can take place in their lives. Today, by meeting with Kok community, we are adopting the bottom-up strategy in which the poor will feel free to talk to us and tell us how they would want to be empowered to live meaningful lives. This is the first step. We have come to listen.”

Meanwhile, back in Paris, 120 delegates have made their way to the Town Hall, invited by Mayor Bertrand Delanoé and the Director General of ATD Fourth World Movement, Eugen Brand. They have traveled here from 31 villages and cities around the world that host a replica of the Commemorative Stone in Honor of the Victims of Extreme Poverty. Public officials are sitting down with individuals living in extreme poverty and members of associations to explore the theme “Living Commitments, Engraved in Stone,” facilitated by a journalist from Radio France International, Claire Hédon.

Raul Detona, delegate from the Philippines who lived with his family under a bridge for several years, beings to speak: “I didn’t know anything about my rights as a citizen. When my place [under the bridge] got demolished, I didn’t have any knowledge about the law regarding demolition. All I knew was that it was our fault that we lived there.” Today he organizes forums and participates in meetings. “I encourage others to stand up and fight for their rights to have housing and to live decently.”

From Manila, Mayor Fred Lim sends a message to the delegates gathered at the Paris Town Hall, concluding: “We need everyone’s concerted effort not only in education on poverty but to stand by the poorest.” Simultaneously, replicas of the Commemorative Stone are being inaugurated in Poland (Kielce), Bolivia (Coroico), France (Libourne and Reims), and Canada (Moncton).

Creativity and artistic expression as a means towards change

12 PM: Only a few kilometers away, the Human Rights Plaza is teeming with activity. An embroidery workshop run by Malagasy delegates attracts visitors, while children and adults alike flock towards the various painting workshops and drama performances. Young adults who participated in the European Solidarity Caravans welcome visitors with music, photos and testimonials from their trek around Europe to meet other people working against extreme poverty.

Meanwhile, in Cameroon, Kids4Peace participates in an exhibition of works done by orphans in Yaounde. Over 7000 kilometers away, the children of Purnodaya in Sri Lanka use their paintbrushes to express themselves on the theme “Let us overcome poverty through unity.” Their paintings are inspired by the lives of families living under a highway overhead bridge and children living in the streets. Drama and songs performed by the children conclude the day’s events. In Munich, Germany, a photo exhibit bears witness to people living in precarious conditions who are involved in a solidarity project to support other people in distress. In Tema, Ghana, students from several Junior Secondary Schools gather together and perform dances and poetry recitals of their own. In Palestine, a film made by Nouraldine S. and others portrays children living in difficult conditions. Their objective: to speak with children and professors about the meaning behind the World Day.

Meanwhile in Portugal, live music - Brazilian, Arabic and Russian - fills a Porto metro station. Habitants descend into the station to paint huge canvases symbolizing unity between peoples and the right to live free of extreme poverty. The next step of this action spearheaded by the Espaço T. association: send pieces of these canvases to officials from various countries, and representatives of the United Nations and the European Union. While pieces of these canvases carry a message outward, pieces of cloth come together in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, USA, to form the “Quilt of Our Lives”. Displayed at the Clinchco Senior Center, this quilt tells the stories of the life and struggle of people from the region.

Economic, social and cultural rights: opening the debate

2 PM: The auditorium near the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties is packed. The debate “Living on Earth, a Right or a Privilege?” has attracted homeless people, families living in public housing, elected officials, and concerned citizens. Meanwhile, in Israel, different panels address housing, the labor market, relationships between social services and their clients, and the way the financial media covers life in poverty. In Benin, students gear up for their own debate, at the center run by The Friends of Don Bosco, on the theme “Getting an education: a barrier to extreme poverty.”

In Abidjan, a symposium organized by the Ivory Coast League for Human Rights (LIDHO) is in full swing, addressing the question: “What rights for poor people in Ivory Coast?” Their deliberate choice to emphasize economic, social and cultural rights is not isolated. Action for Social Rights, in collaboration with the United Nations in Sierra Leone, hosts a live radio panel discussion exploring these same rights. One senior political affairs officer of the UN says: “Peace could not only be defined as the end of war but the end of injustices between people to create a suitable living atmosphere (…) If we want to eradicate poverty, then we need to consolidate peace.”

« Let us demonstrate the political will required to end the scourge of poverty once and for all."

4 PM: In New York, Delegates are preparing to meet the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to present the signatures of the Call to Action and a memorandum with top priority requests. In Mexico, Oliver A. has begun his day by handing out copies of the Call to Action leaflet. People in Uganda, Lebanon, Argentina, Turkey, Pakistan, Algeria, Thailand, Brazil, Ireland, the Netherlands and many other countries have already gone to great lengths to photocopy or retype the appeal for distribution, get it signed by dozens, hundreds or thousands of people and send the signatures back to the international center, in some cases by costly express mail so that they would arrive in time. Delegates in New York have these many efforts in mind as they inform the Secretary-General of the final count: over 167,000 people, associations and unions from 152 countries signed the Call to Action. Even more impressive is the diversity of faces and lives behind the signatures, the depth of their conviction, and scope of their involvement in efforts to overcome extreme poverty.

Delegates at the United Nations in New York are not the only ones determined to remind international institutions and national and local governments of their responsibility, alongside civil society, in ending extreme poverty. In Malaysia, the World Youth Foundation launches its campaign week for reform of international institutions, with the eradication of poverty as a main preoccupation. In Liberia, Youth For Community Academic and Development Services, active in the Stand Up Campaign, meets with the country offices of the IMF and World Bank, and addresses communications to the President and Houses of Parliament, encouraging political will for attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

In Malawi, members of Youth Net & Counseling send mobile phone messages to Members of Parliament, cabinet ministers, opinion leaders, and the general public “demanding action against the current standard of living for over 42% of Malawians.” In France, Belgium, and other countries, delegations meet with high-level public officials to present the Call to Action signatures, accompanied by political requests.

In Ethiopia and India, children take to the streets in marches and silent rallies, proudly displaying placards reading phrases like “We Can End Poverty,” and explaining the meaning behind them to all those they met. Meanwhile, in countless other communities, youth and adults take an active part in the Stand Up campaign.

The Secretary-General’s official message for October 17th gives importance to these many actions: "…We have to view people living in poverty as agents of change. (…) It requires citizens to actively participate in policy-making, and Governments to become more accountable to their citizens in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Goals. (…) Today, we join hands with the poor in a collective effort – one which brings in civil society, the private sector, and individuals around the world. (…) On this 20th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, let us stand up. Let us demonstrate the political will required to end the scourge of poverty once and for all."

To conclude, one last snapshot from October 17th, 2007, this time from Ivory Coast, where Gilles B. explains: “We’re taking turns wearing the [multi-colored] ribbon. Each of us uses it for at least two days and then passes it to someone else, as a way to really get the message across.” From elsewhere in the country, Mamadou D. writes: “I have the idea to get young Rotaract club members (…) and also youth from my country to wear the ribbon, much like the red ribbon that is worn during activities dedicated to AIDS.(…) Because all efforts are welcome in the struggle against extreme poverty.”

Already one idea for October 17th, 2008!

Illustrations by Hélène Perdereau