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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - 16 October 2007 - Edition #13
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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007
16 October 2007 - Edition #13
With just one day to go until the global mobilizations begin!
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The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a growing alliance of
trade unions, community groups, faith groups, women and youth
organisations, NGOs and other campaigners working together across more
than 100 national platforms. GCAP is calling for action from the
world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality.
The white band is our symbol and expression of solidarity against poverty.
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Dear
campaigners,
With just one day to go until the global mobilizations begin, we at the support
team would like to wish you all the best with your events and success with
taking the demands of your campaign to your political leaders. We are confident
there will be strongly political mobilizations in over 100 countries and that
the voices of millions around the world will be heard.
Some final reminders:
Stand Up: it is preferable that you pre-register your event on the
standagainstpoverty.org site, then go back immediately after the event and
insert the number of participants. This will minimize work required on the day
and traffic to the website. Again, all events must take place between 9pm GMT
Tuesday and 9pm GMT Wednesday to be counted, and numbers must be received
before 6am GMT on Thursday. If you have any questions regarding the process
please do not hesitate to get in contact with the global support team or your
regional secretariat.
Messaging: Media messaging documents are available here.
Remember, the Stand Up is not about breaking the record for the sake of it, it
is about creating the biggest movement of people the world has ever seen and
taking these demands to political leaders. We have also created a document that
says “So
you will stand up, and then?” which encourages people to get involved in
the campaign longer term.
Videos, Photos and stories: a document outlining how to send us your
photos, video and stories was circulated last week.
Please email your photos, videos and stories immediately after your events to
the GCAP Web and New Media Coordinator, Henri Valot , at henri.valot@civicus.org
and they will promptly be uploaded onto the whiteband.org website.
Alternatively, we can provide you with access to your whiteband.org national
page and photo gallery. Please contact Henri Valot, at henri.valot@civicus.org
to obtain username, password and instructions.
If you have high resolution photos or videos that are too large to email,
please upload them immediately after your event onto the central GCAP SFTP
(Secure File Transfer Protocol) site: http://henri.hosting.amaze.nl/
• For file uploading, we advise you to download first
Filezilla, at: http://www.filezilla2008.com/
• After uploading Filezilla, open it, select sftp using SSH2
(type of server), Port 22, and insert the following: address:
miracleblade.amaze.nl - username: henri - password: wrt25t
• You then just have to move the folder containing the videos
and photos you want to upload from your C drive to the distant site:
/home/henri/
• To check if the content was safely uploaded on the sftp,
just go to: http://henri.hosting.amaze.nl/
If you have any questions contact Henri Valot, henri.valot@civicus.org
Media releases and clippings: please forward any media releases to
Ciara/Henri at the support team, and don’t forget to take clippings of your
coverage after the event and forward copies of these also.
Below are some highlights of the mobilisation. Once again good luck with your
campaigning!
In India, a women’s tribunal against poverty will be held in New Delhi,
bringing together women from across the most marginalized communities of India,
including Dalits, Adivasis, Muslim minorities, nomadic tribes, single mothers,
and women with disabilities, to collectively express their experiences of
poverty. India’s first woman President, Pratibha Patil, has agreed to meet a
delegation of these women to hear their demands first hand. Women’s
Tribunals will also be held in Latin America, Africa, and Europe.
In New York, Ban ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations is
invited to lead a stand up event on the lawn in front of the UN. He will
be joined by civil society representatives and grassroots activists as well as
UN staff.
In London, GCAP Chair Kumi Naidoo will join UN Deputy Secretary General,
Dr. Asha Rose Migiro and activists as they wrap a giant white band around City
Hall overlooking the city’s iconic Tower Bridge.
In Palestine, one million schools children throughout the Occupied West
Bank and Gaza speak out raising banners, releasing white balloons and shouting
slogans to say no to poverty. The children’s activities have been
organized jointly with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and national GCAP
coalition, and are taking place in public, private, and UNWRA schools in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. Campaigners have also secured free healthcare
for people in the West Bank for the whole week and lined up a series of high
level meetings with Ministers.
In Mexico, over 40,000 children are planning to Stand Up in their
classrooms, wearing white bands, making banners and other works of art, and
activists are wrapping a gaint white band around city monuments in the
capital..
In Afghanistan campaigners have set up a massive youth Kite Flying event
on the hills above Kasbil as well as rallies in three cities to demand greater
public accountability and transparency in how foreign aid is spent and for job
creation.
In the Netherlands, 200 life sized avatars representing countries around
the world taking part in actions today will be placed in front of The Hague and
the Poverty Requiem will be performed in several locations around the country.
Somalia is one of 25 countries where delegations of civil society
representatives will present policy demands to the Head of the Transitional
Federal Government pushing for changes in world trade in favour of their
agro-pastoral economy.
Pakistani campaigners have arranged an unprecedented Stand Up and Speak
Out event to unfurl a 10km–long banner in Bahawalpur. This is one of 25
countries across the world using giant banners to form a white band, the symbol
of the global anti-poverty movement.
Micah Challenge, the global Christian campaign, aims to engage support
for impoverished and marginalized communities and will also be taking
part. In the US, Canada and Europe Episcopal and Lutheran churches have
made the MDGs their top social justice priority and have appointed an
MDG-focused organizer in every diocese.
“This is our chance as young people to make sure our voices are heard by our
politicians. We want them to prioritise job creation projects so we can
be part of the new generation that builds a better country than our parents
had. My father died when I was just two so my mother had to bring us up
alone. She was always working so hard for the small things but she taught
me an important lesson - if people dare to believe they can change something,
they will achieve it, if not today then tomorrow.” said Biozid Jessorey, a
Social worker in Dhaka, Bangladesh
All over the world, individuals will be taking a minute out of their daily routine,
and in their homes, offices, shopping centers, gyms, grocery stores, bus
stations, and coffee shops, they will stand up for a minute as an individual
action against poverty and inequality. Join them today, and Stand Up!