Martin Place was the focus of the flashmob at 1:10pm February 16 with at least 400 participants frozen simultaneously for 3 minutes with signs, costumes and messages written on their hands.
The freeze, coordinated by Caritas Australia in collaboration with organisations for the Make Poverty History Coalition, saw thousands of ordinary Australian's join the global pledge to eradicate extreme poverty and call for Australia to realise its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals.
St Vincent's Hospital and St Vincent's Private Hospital in Darlinghurst are just two of the organisations joining the pledge with staff freezing on the footpaths of Victoria St today – no operations were affected!
"Caring for the needs of people who are poor and marginalised is something that resonates very loudly within our mission and values at St Vincents Hospital and St Vincents Private Hospital. Consequently we are very proud to support Caritas in the STOP for POVERTY campaign" said Lisa McDonald, St Vincent's Mission Integration Manager.
School students also joined the pledge today, freezing in Martin Place and classrooms across Sydney, showing their determination to be part of Australia's long term solution to tackle global poverty.
Caritas CEO Jack de Groot said, "Achieving change for communities living in abject poverty is a mammoth task, one which requires urgent action from all of us. It's inspiring to see so many people taking part today to show their resolve to stop global poverty.
In the year 2000 the Australian Government, along with 189 other countries, committed to halving poverty around the world by 2015 and achieving eight Millennium Development Goals to address the dehumanising conditions facing billions worldwide.
"With the clock ticking down to 2015, still more than 2 billion people are profoundly affected by poverty worldwide and progress to achieve universal primary education and access to health services in impoverished communities is lagging," Mr de Groot said.
"Caritas is committed to tackling poverty and today's action demonstrates that the Australian public is firmly behind our efforts to end the suffering of the poorest in our world."