Bhutan

Book launch: Voices of Children on Poverty

On 16 October, the World Food Day (WFD) and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) were celebrated at Tendu Middle Secondary School in Samtse Dzongkhag. The theme of the IDEP was "Children and Families Speak Out Against Poverty", which resulted in a competition where school children in classes 1 to 6 all over Bhutan were asked to submit their opinions on poverty together with a simple benefitting sketch. Entries were received from 43 schools, which were compiled into a book titled Voices of Children on Poverty.

"My country - my responsibility. Educate and participate: Farm your way out of poverty"; "Share with others and end poverty"; "Stop the poverty by choosing good leaders" were among the winning statements.

The book was launched on the UN Day on 24 October 2009 by H.E Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Claire Van der Vaeren, Resident Coordinator, UN System in Bhutan. A panel of judges reviewed all the artworks and statements and selected the following best twenty entries who will be awarded prizes. The prizes will be distributed at the respective schools. The winners are listed below:

As a part of the IDEP, over 13,000 school children, parents, teachers, government officials and UN staff members participated in the worldwide Stand Up and Take Action to end poverty, and to the achieve the Millennium Development Goals campaign. Together with the rest of the world we managed to break the Guinness World Record with more than 173 million people standing up to end poverty, being recorded as the largest mobilization in history.

The schools participating in the Stand Up event were the following: Tendu MSS, Samtse HSS, Gomtu MSS, Gumauney MSS, Peljorling MSS, Dorokha MSS, Samtse LSS (Samtse), Gelephu LSS and Jigmeling LSS (Sarpang), Mongar LSS (Mongar) and Ura MSS (Bumthang).

On behalf of the Ministry of Education and the UN System in Bhutan we would indeed like to thank all the children who have contributed to the book for their wise and colorful statements, the Dzongkhag Education Officers, and Principals and teachers all over the country for coordinating this effort in spite of very short notice. We would also like to convey our gratitude to everybody who took part in the Stand Up and Take Action campaign. Together we can make a difference!