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Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Michèle Montas, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, and Enrique Yeves, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly. Briefing by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Good afternoon all. |
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**UNRWA
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reports that more than 490,000 children stood up against poverty yesterday as UNRWA schools marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The activities organized at UNRWA schools across the agency’s five fields of operation — Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza -– were designed to give children the chance to discuss and protest against their own poverty.
In Gaza, where thousands of students stood up and shouted “No to poverty”, John Ging, UNRWA’s director of operations in Gaza, said, "Our message is clear. We must simply lift the blockade to ensure a respectful life for Gaza's people in order for them to exercise basic human rights."
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For information media • not an official record
Document Sources: Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Subject: Children, Gaza Strip, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Poverty, Refugees and displaced persons, Social issues
Publication Date: 20/10/2008