Students of the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) were Friday called upon to embrace the global fight against poverty and inequality.

This was during a function held at the school by the United Nations Association of Rwanda (UNA-Rwanda) in partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The President of UNA- Rwanda, Jacky Kamanzi Masabo, said that the day was organized in order to support the fight against poverty and as a way of supporting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The International anti-Poverty Day is a date when people gather and examine how far they have come in the fight against poverty and how best to proceed. It falls on October 17 every year.

According to the UNHCR Communications Officer, Joanna Pallonois, the event is supposed to highlight social protection which is at the core of the organisation’s mission.

"As you know, we work with refugees and this entails providing social services like education and health. By participating, we are highlighting the importance of social protection of vulnerable people,” she said.

Speaking at the event, Jean Paul Rwabuyonza, the Policy and Economic Management Advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda, said that the country is one of the on track to achieving the MDGs, saying, "Rwanda knows where it wants to go.” He also called upon the youth to get involved in efforts to fight poverty and achieve the MDGs.

"Each one of us individually has a role to play if MDGs are to be achieved,” he said.

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