National Information Officer during the "UN4U" presentation at TED  Karadeniz Eregli High School

On 21 October 2009, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Ankara National Information Officer visited Eregli, Zonguldak, a coastal town along the Black Sea to meet students at TED Karadeniz Eregli High School.
 
As part of educational outreach and "UN4U" activities, UNIC National Information Officer briefed students on the UN activities and priorities. After the presentation, the Information Officer answered questions posed by students and encouraged them to actively support UN activities such as the Seal the Deal campaign.

Students in Poland show their support for the "Stand Up" campaign in Poland

To highlight the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, from 16-18 October 2009, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Warsaw partnered with the Art of Living foundation to promote the "Stand Up Against Poverty" campaign. The promotion of the campaign took place in 13 cities throughout the country, with over 70 schools participated.

Events included concerts, debates, lectures, informational campaigns, sport matches, theatre performances, tree plantings, video presentations and the donating of blood. In total, over 17,000 people took part in the events.

One of the main events took place on 17 October, in which UNIC Warsaw in cooperation with the UN Millennium campaign sent letters to radio stations throughout Europe to play the famous Bob Marley song, “Get Up, Stand Up” to enhance support for the "Stand Up Against Poverty" campaign. The song was played by three radio stations, after which the stations informed listeners of the campaign.

Over 900 people gathered at Al-Sabaeen Square Park, for a celebration organized by the Yemeni Coalition for Combating Poverty through the cooperation and support of UN Agencies in Yemen. The event included speeches by high officials and songs performed by local bands. The celebrations started by a "Stand Up" ceremony for two minutes saying “No to Poverty”.

During the celebration, speeches were delivered by the UN Resident Coordinator, the Head of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Network as well as UN representatives. In her speech Ms. Pratibha Mehta, the UN Resident Coordinator, said: "the World has six years left until 2015 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, indicating though the goals are especially difficult to achieve in Yemen, - however, it is possible, if people have the will.

Ms. Mehta added that the human development index issued by the UNDP ranked Yemen 140th of 177 countries, indicating that Yemen needs a strong move towards reforming its economy, creating  job opportunities, developing water fields, and improving education and health in the rural and urban areas.

Head of CSO's network, Ms. Ramzia Al-Iryani made it clear that combating poverty is one of the Millennium Development Goals that the countries across the world are working on to achieve it by the year 2015. Ms. Al-Iryani added that combating poverty would be useless if there were not successful strategies for development, good ruling and combating corruption, especially in Yemen.

During the event T-shirts and hats printed with the "Stand Up and Take Action" slogan were distributed to the participants. Also, information materials containing Secretary General's message on the World Food Day were distributed to the audience.

Students at JEB Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia in the "Stand Up"event

Several staff members from the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Washington participated in a dozen UN week activities this year. Starting with the "Stand Up Against Poverty" campaign on 16-18 October, UNIC Washington collaborated on 4 events.

UNIC Director, Will Davis spoke to a group of high school students who are studying international affairs, poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) at Jeb Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia. He spoke to them about US/UN issues as well as the MDGs, and the "Stand Up" campaign. Mr. Davis led them in the "Stand Up" pledge where 75 students participated.

Next, UNIC Deputy Director, David Smith spoke to students at Washington International School in Washington, DC. The school consists of students from all over the world, many of whose parents are in the diplomatic community. There were about 500 students, parents, teachers and other volunteers present at the assembly.

For the other event, UNIC Public Outreach Assistant, Audrey Wood participated in an event that was co-hosted by UNIC, organized by UNA Council of Organizations, the Global Education Motivators and the UNA Chapter of Greater Philadelphia. Hosted at the World Bank, the event was a videoconference featuring participants from the University of Pennsylvania, World Bank, St. Joseph’s High School in Hammonton, New Jersey, and Byrne Creek High School in British Columbia. Attending in Washington was UNA, UNIC, and others from NGOs and civil society with about 100 people who came together for the combined effort. 

Finally, Director Will Davis spoke at an event titled "Unity Walk 2009" on 18 October, the last day of the "Stand Up" challenge. The theme of the event was to bring together faith leaders from all faiths in Washington to speak on themes of unity, compassion, ending poverty, and achieving the MDGs. The event was organized in part with the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, Americans for Informed Democracy, national embassies, and a number of local religious leaders in which there were about 300 people participated in the event.