Support the 2008 international mobilisation of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty
United by the symbol of a white band, this year’s mobilisation is well underway with tens of millions of people set to take action against poverty as part of GCAP. Building on the growing movement – which reached 43.7 million people taking action on 17 October last year – the main focus is on holding political leaders to account for eradicating poverty and inequality.
From a gender equality focus on International Women’s Day back in March, a further series of key dates will see the global mobilisation calling for trade justice, debt cancellation, aid effectiveness, good governance and action by governments on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the European level, May sees a focus on more and better aid in the EU, and GCAP will play a key role ahead of and around the G8 Summit in Japan.
A peak period of mobilisation will happen across the world with 50 global days of action against poverty and inequality from 1 September to 20 October.
To mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights on 10 December, the alliance is also supporting and campaigning around the issue of freedom from poverty as a human right.
A diverse range of online and off-line public actions are taking place throughout the year on political opportunities and key dates including the Global Action Week of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) (21-27 April), International Youth Day (12 August) and World Day for Decent Work (7 October).
Strengthening political engagement and linking mobilisation more strongly with opportunities for policy change is a key part of this year’s strategy.
As in 2006 and 2007, GCAP is a partner with the United Nations Millennium Campaign on the Stand Up and Take Action mass citizen action happening internationally from 17-19 October. This will mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In the last two annual events close to seventy million people called on governments to meet and exceed the MDG poverty targets.
A new initiative for GCAP in 2008 is participation in the Every Human Has Rights Campaign which is supported by Council of Elders comprised of leading world figures like Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu and Mary Robinson (www.everyhumanhasrights.org). The core global messaging will be around freedom from poverty as a human right. Supporters will be offered a window to tell their personal stories via a bespoke Google Earth layer on Human Rights, sign the pledge online or in person, and get involved in human rights issues from a poverty perspective.
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