BANGKOK, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - The UN and Thai government went walking in support of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, with the deputy interior minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, and the representative of the UN Children's Fund Thailand country office, Tomoo Hozumi, joining more than 2,000 people in Ayutthaya Province to raise poverty awareness.

About 10,000 Ayutthaya citizens from every social sector joined the opening ceremony at the city hall after the walk. The two representatives made pledges to fight poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"We tried to adopt his Majesty the King's initiative on sustainable development and emphasised three main issues: encouraging people to save, providing jobs for them, and making them help one another in solving poverty," Touchrich Tanaluck, chief community development officer of Ayutthaya, told IRIN. "We believe this policy will help us achieve our goal in the '180 Day Roadmap for Poverty Reduction' campaign."

The campaign was launched on 15 August 2008 by former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government to raise the annual income of almost 180,000 Thais who live below the national poverty line through decentralisation. Each province has its own policy and campaign to achieve its goal.

Nampeung Tulayathit, the head of the women's association of Bangpra-in district in Ayutthaya, told IRIN she saw the event as a good start for the Thai government. "I believe they could reach their goal in the 180 Day Campaign because this is the one of the rare occasions when I saw many departments, ministries, and all other sections of our society come together and be serious about the issue."

The event also included exhibitions on how to solve poverty and poverty reduction "clinics" – information centres set up by the Ministry of Interior with many Thai ministries and departments to encourage domestic and individual savings, health promotion, and empowerment of the poor. Many follow-up events will take place between 17 and 19 October.

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