1.4 Billion Reasons... Global campaign to end world poverty launches in New Zealand

21 August 2009

New Zealanders will be shown practical ways to alleviate extreme poverty around the world when the New Zealand chapter of the Global Poverty Project launches next week.

It is estimated 1.4 people live in extreme poverty - defined by the World Bank as people living on less than US $1.25 a day. The Global Poverty Project aims to catalyse the movement to end this extreme poverty through a 90-minute presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons... which communicates the issues surrounding poverty and shows audiences how they can take action.

Developed by the team behind the Australian MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY concerts, 1.4 Billion Reasons...will be presented in six cities across New Zealand to raise awareness of how we can contribute to eliminating extreme poverty in our lifetime.

Inspired by An Inconvenient Truth, the initiative advocates the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals, developed in 2000 and adopted by 189 countries with the objective of improving the lives of the world's poorest people by 2015.

The free multi-media presentation aims to powerfully demonstrate the challenges and opportunities around tackling extreme poverty and aims to highlight how New Zealanders can make simple lifestyle changes that will enable more of the world's poorest to break the poverty cycle.

Hugh Evans, founder of the Oaktree foundation, will present 1.4 Billion Reasons... at the Beehive on Monday, August 24th.  Public presentations will follow in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton. 

Evans says that the Global Poverty Project sets out to communicate, in an easy to understand format, that extreme poverty is the responsibility of all individuals and that it can be eradicated.

"We hope to do for global poverty what Gore did for climate change." 

1.4 Billion Reasons...has already been presented to thousands of people across Australia and moves to Canada and the UK later in the year. It's intended that audiences will take the presentation to their own friends, families and communities in preparation for the release of a documentary, narrated by Hugh Jackman, that is currently being filmed.

www.globalpovertyproject.com

Event details 

Wellington

Monday 24^th August

Wellington Beehive - Private Event (not to be publicized)

Auckland

Tuesday 25^th August

Auckland Hopetoun Alpha - Private Event (not to be publicized)

Dunedin

Wednesday 26^th August

Dunedin Town Hall

7pm Free Entry

Christchurch

Thursday 27^th August

The Majestic Theatre

7pm Free Entry

Wellington

Friday 28^th August

Rutherford House, Victoria University

7pm  Free Entry

Auckland

Saturday 29^th August

Beaumont Centre

7pm Free Entry

Tauranga

Sunday 30^th August

Holy Trinity

7pm Free Entry

Hamilton

Monday 31^st August

PWC Lecture Theatre, Waikato University

7pm Free Entry

For more information please contact:

Luisa Schroder, GPP NZ Activation Manager: 021 423845 luisa.schroder@globalpovertyproject.com