Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  January 6, 2010
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September 20, 2009 Taking responsibility for ending poverty – Minar Pimple and Tomita Toko
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For Mr Pimple, unfair economic strategies and trade arrangements, designed by developed countries, have consistently undermined the national budgets of poorer nations and make it difficult for these governments to meet the basic needs of their citizens.
A key focus of the first quarter of the 67th voyage was poverty eradication. Onboard to discuss this global challenge were Mr Minar Pimple, Asia Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign and Ms Tomita Toko of the NGO Hunger Free World's Development and Advocacy Division. Through a series of lectures and workshops, Mr Pimple and Ms Tomita spoke about our responsibility to end poverty wherever it occurs throughout the world.

Their activities on board formed part of the onboard “Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) Campaigners Training Programme,” taking place between Yokohama and Port Said. Minar Pimple and Tomita Toko are the navigators of this programme, which includes onboard seminars and lectures, a study tour in Kenya, and a final presentation on the ship. Participants have the chance to learn about poverty, public and policy advocacy, organizing grassroot movements and how to become a changemaker, and those completing the programme will be awarded with a joint certificate from the UN Millenium Campaign and Peace Boat.
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Reflecting on her time onboard Peace Boat, Ms Tomita said she was satisfied with the degree of empathy and interest she had seen develop in the participants in just a few weeks.

During his time on board, Mr Pimple shared detailed stories from his work with those living in poverty, and helped participants better identify with such people. He said that an important step in mobilizing grass-roots support for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was removing the emotional distance that exists between the haves and the have-nots.

The MDGs were launched at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 and comprise eight targets for improving quality of life for the world’s poor. The goals primarily address health care, education, nutrition and gender equality.

Ms Tomita, who has worked with communities in Africa and South East Asia, said it was crucial that citizens around the world come to see poverty as “our problem, not their problem”. She said the key to poverty eradication was creating sustainable programmes, but that financial support from developed countries was needed to facilitate such projects.
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One of the activities Ms Tomita shared during her workshops was the ENDING HUNGER GAME. Here participants work in groups to prioritize national budgets with varied baskets of resources, commitments and challenges. Participants were able to gain useful insight into the considerations involved in distributing wealth equally around the world.
Both Guest Educators reminded participants of the power of the electorate and urged them to hold their governments accountable to their commitments to the MDGs. Developed countries, including Japan, had pledged to contribute less than one percent of their Gross National Income to achieving the goals.

Ms Tomita also encouraged Peace Boat participants to take part in the STAND UP Campaign in October. The campaign is organized by the UN Millenium Campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), of which Peace Boat is a member. It showcases the resolve to end poverty through a global photography exercise over a three day period. On board, participants completing the MDGs Training Programme will take the lead in organising Stand Up Take Action events between from 16-18 October, as their first step of taking action themselves.