bukas palad stands up and speaks out against poverty

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Start:	Oct 17, '07 7:00p
Location:	Quezon Memorial Circle, QC

To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, choirs and anti-poverty campaigners will perform a 'Poverty Requiem' as part of a unique global movement aimed at ending poverty and inequality. The event is among several in STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT, a worldwide call to take action in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.

More then twenty huge choirs will join a global chain of performances as a massive community arts project around the world including Philippines, Suriname, Portugal, Gambia, Nigeria, India, Slovenia, Palestine, USA, and The Netherlands. Bukas Palad will be among several local choirs participating in the event that will take place on October 17, 7pm at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

The Poverty Requiem is a vocal piece, composed in the language of world music. The work is made up of five movements elaborating on the different ways in which poverty impacts on people: suffering, anger, mourning, humour and hope. Composer and conductor Peter Maissan wrote the music for the Poverty Requiem. Oxfam Novib’s general director Sylvia Borren wrote the lyrics.

The eight Millennium Development Goals – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT is an effort to ensure that world leaders actively uphold their promise to realize the Millennium Development Goals. It encourages all to take part in this growing movement of people who refuse to stay silent or seated in the face of poverty. Their appeal is for all to help break the world record so that the world can break the record of broken promises.

To find out how to participate in this movement, log on to: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org