India to join 'Global Walk' against child poverty today

New Delhi, May 21: Thousands of Indians will be joining their counterparts in the rest of the world today in a 'Global Walk', a United Nations event to raise awareness about child poverty.

The relay 5km walk across the world's 24 time zones will see India flagging off the event at 1715 hrs after it was kicked off in Auckland, New Zealand early today.

In the national capital, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will flag off the walk from the National Stadium near India Gate, according to the UN World Food Programme (UNWFP), which is organising the 'Fight Hunger:Walk the World' programme.

More than 700,000 people in over 100 countries are expected to join the walk saying it is unacceptable that 300 million childen are chronically hungry in the world today.

Some 100,000 childen will be participating in Sub-Saharan Africa, the worst-hit region in the world of child hunger. In Liberia, 70,000 school children will be there for the walk and thousands more will join for the event at the Red Square in Moscow, UNWFP said.

A UNWFP employee will place the 'Walk the World' flag atop the Mount Everest during the event in Nepal while the Brazilian government, whose President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was born in a slum, has adopted the programme as part of the country's anti-poverty campaign.

Launched three years ago, the 'Global Walk' received tremendous response in 2004 and 2005 and raised funds for mid-day meal schemes in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, said UNWFP, which provided school meals for 21.7 million children in 74 countries last year.

The programme hopes to reach 50 million school children by 2008.

In the capital, a painting competition will be held for children at the National Stadium ahead of the walk.

UNI