Poverty top of the agenda at UTS summit

BY CAROLINE KULLENDORFF Students from across the country as well as Fiji and Papua New Guinea will come together in Sydney as a unified voice to tackle poverty as part of the lead-up to Anti Poverty Week.
The inaugural Intervarsity Summit on Australia’s Role in Ending Extreme Poverty (ISAREEP) will use a fresh approach to deal with what most see as a daunting mission: eradicating extreme hunger and poverty.
‘I think that we can often talk ourselves out of action because we just get entangled in the web of things that need to be changed in the world,’ says President of ISAREEP, Clary Castrission.
Castrission says there are many student groups devoted to the issue of poverty, but they are all operating in isolation. The initiative, born from the non-government organisation 40kHome Foundation, will bring these young people together as one big, positive force.
The summit will be held on October 10-11 at the University of Technology Sydney, but Discussions for the summit are already under way on an online forum, ready for the real thing when delegates will team up with special advisors to test out ways of dealing with poverty.
Keynote speakers include Chief Executive of World Vision Australia Tim Costello, Founding Director of Opportunity International David Bussau, and Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia.
Castrission says topics that engage general public interest have been chosen ‘so that we don’t just preach to the converted but that we bring in people who are very against overseas development, who have very different ideas.’                                                                The summit will conclude with an open discussion and signing of The Sydney Declaration, which will outline Australia’s three-year plan on global poverty eradication. The Hon Bob Carr, who will facilitate the debate, says participating students will be able to advocate more effectively Australian-based policies to relieve extreme poverty. ‘I couldn’t think of a more fundamentally important pursuit for young people especially,’ Dr Carr says.
The 40kHome Foundation will host its third charity ball, The Big Night Out, in conjunction with the summit. Chris Taylor, cast member of the ABC’s award winning Chaser team, will MC the night. He says poverty is an issue he is particularly moved by. ‘I always feel guilty I don’t do more so something like this is my way of expunging that guilt,’ Taylor says.
‘It requires very little effort and not much time on my part to contribute to the cause so if I can do this little bit and it helps in some way then I’m more than happy to do it.’
And although he will be reminding people of why they are there, Taylor says he will also be looking to keep the mood of the night light-hearted. ‘They’re coming off the back of a two day conference so it’s time to kick up the heels and have a good time.’
Members of the public are welcome to attend the keynote addresses. The cost is $10 and registration must be made to info@isareep.org.