There is no "bailout" for the world’s poorest. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being found to bail out wealthy bankers and financial institutions, but the emergency summit on the MDGs held at the UN in September was only able to generate $16 billion in commitments to ending poverty, says the latest GCAP campaign.

With this year’s "Stand Up and Take Action" campaign, GCAP, a global alliance of trade unions, community groups, faith groups, women and youth organizations is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Sixteen years after the UN General Assembly designated October 17 as the International Day for Eradication of Poverty, the global imbalances that cause it remain daunting challenges, and international institutions continue to renege on their promises to eradicate the problem.

What has increased in strength and numbers is civil society and citizen action in the fight to eradicate poverty. GCAP was launched in 2005 at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, and rapidly became the world's largest anti-poverty movement, with organisations representing about 150 million people in over 110 countries.

In 2006 23 million people stood up, in 2007 it was 43.7 million. This year, the main focus of Stand Up is Take Action: activities, initiatives around the globe, political or personal, from tree-planting to government lobbying, from donating blood to marching in the streets.