He has put together a page with instructions for any school -- whatever its affiliation -- that would like to join in. Go to http://www.ahaa.org.uk. Enter the website; then click on "Click here to find out more about." Then follow the links that deal with "Stand Up." 

Amongst the millions of people Standing Against Poverty are individuals with compelling stories to tell.

This includes activist and journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu, who has dedicated his life to exposing and fighting bad governance in Tanzania.  As the result of his hard-hitting reporting, his citizenship in Tanzania was temporarily revoked. During Stand Up and Take Action this year, Ulimwengu will spearhead demands for the government to fulfill the MDGs by ensuring that poor people have access to clean water, improving access to healthcare (particularly for women and children), putting in place pro-poor development policies and improving service delivery in all key sectors.

Also Standing Against Poverty is James Njoroge Gitau, who lives in the Kariobangi slums in Kenya, surviving on less than one dollar a day.  Gitau has mobilized more than 100 schools and churches to Stand Against Poverty and is organizing a medical camp to care for sick people in his community. Gitau is calling on his government to put in place pro-poor policies, stop corruption and allocate resources for programs for the poor.

In Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, India, Yogesh Jain will once again Stand Against Poverty. Last year, Mr. Jain mobilized more than 200,000 people to Stand Up in protest of the district's lack of healthcare, clean drinking water and resources for education. As a result of the massive mobilization, government officials conducted surprise inspections which resulted in the allocation of funding for infrastructure repairs and the allotment of government land for school construction.

 

• Micah Sunday 2008 will be on 19 October. Micah Challenge UK, which is a coalition of UK churches and agencies, is asking Christians to join with millions of people around the world in
               --  praying for world leaders to fulfill their promises on the MDGs
               --  "standing up and taking action" to show support for the MDGs
  You can register to be sent information and materials about Micah Sunday at http://www.micahchallenge.org.uk/micahsunday/ The materials will include a resource sheet with prayers, stories, and sermon suggestions, as well as postcards calling on the UK government to strengthen its commitments on climate change, and suggestions for churches wishing to take part in the "Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty" campaign (see below) 

  Micah Challenge UK is part of the international network of Micah Challenges, which is in about 40 countries around the world. If you're participating in Micah UK, why not also try to incorporate some of what other Christians are doing? Look at what's happening "Down Under,"  Try a Bible study on mission that serves justice and righteousness from Micah in the Philippines, or be inspired by the way that some local churches are becoming involved in development issues in Zambia . . . .

• At the Lambeth Conference, a call emerged for "a day of prayer and fasting" around the 25th of September, when the UN is holding a high-level session on the Millennium Development Goals. The Diocese of London is responding to this call by holding a service on the 14th of September at St. Paul's and then encouraging churches in ten days of prayer, culminating in a day of fasting and prayer on the 24th of September. The initiative is called Think:Fast; resources will be available at a special Think:Fast website from the 8th of September. All are welcome to join in. You can access the Bishop of London's Think: Fast statement and prayer by clicking on the appropriate title in the box at the upper left of this page.
• 
  Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, a US group that encourages Christians to be involved with the Millennium Development Goals as a way of living out the Gospel, is also offering a panoply of resources for the 25th of September. One aspect of their initiatives which might be of particular interest is the "World MDG Blogging Day". Are you a blogger? Join in! 

• GCAP is better known as "The White Band Campaign," for which MakePovertyHistory was the UK platform in 2005. It's still going strong, and is at the heart of planning for "Stand Up and Take Action" globally.

  "Stand Up and Take Action" (which is supported by GCAP, the UN Millennium Campaign and Micah Challenge International) involves getting people around the world quite literally to "stand up" in a mass symbolic action  to show their support for the Millennium Development Goals. The idea is to get large numbers of people involved, to make the point that development needs still to be at the top of political agendas. Last year 43.7 million people around the world participated.

  The UK "Stand Up" campaign is being coordinated by BOND (British Overseas NGOs in Development) which has produced general, church and school toolkits for the event, all available on their website. 

• Looking for information on the high level meeting about the MDGs on September 25th? You can find it at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/

• Developing countries often complain that the "partnership" MDG is too vague, and that developed countries aren't being held to account regarding key commitments on debt, aid and trade. A new UN report is designed to help focus attention on these areas. Its press release notes: "Important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the areas of aid, trade, debt relief, and access to new technologies and to affordable essential medicines. In the countdown to 2015, urgent responses are needed to bridge the existing implementation gaps to make good on the promises made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. A recently released report by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force identifies these gaps in detail and provides recommendations to all major stakeholders on how to address these gaps." You can read the report at http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/

• To help you understand and communicate some of the realities behind the Millennium Development Goals, the World Bank has a new online atlas of the MDGs. It allows you to see graphically how countries are doing on the targets, and to create maps where countries' size relates to their achievement (or lack thereof) of specific goals.

• The Lambeth "Walk of Witness"

  Hailed by the Prime Minister as "one of the greatest public demonstrations of faith that this country has ever seen," the Lambeth Walk of Witness was a moving testimony to the Churches' (and other faiths') support of the MDGs. Read coverage from the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph and the Times, listen to the Archbishop's speech or Hellen Wangusa's "Thought for the Day" on the topic, or the blogs of the Bishop of Grimsby and the Bishop of Croydon.

  The Anglican Communion statement on the MDGs, which was handed in to Gordon Brown at the Walk of Witness, will be brought to the High-Level Event on the MDGs to be held this September at the UN.

• Micah Sunday and "Stand Up and Take Action"

  Micah Sunday this year is the 19th of October. Join Christians of many denominations in countries around the world as they call for governments to keep their promises on the MDGs.  Materials for the Sunday are available from the Micah Challenge UK and Micah Challenge international websites. This year, Micah will also be working alongside the UN Millennium Development Campaign's "Stand Up and Take Action" event. Last year 43.7 million people worldwide participated in the Stand Up event.

From the UN and the World Bank

• How can the MDGs best be met in Africa? Read the recommendations of the UN's MDG Africa Steering Group here. 
• The World Bank has recently produced the Global monitoring report 2008: MDGs and the environment: agenda for inclusive and sustainable development.