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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - August 20th 2007 - Edition #7
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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007
20th August 2007 - Edition #7
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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 GCAP friends,
We were all shocked to hear the effect of a powerful earthquake which hit Peru’s Western seaboard last week. It had a devastating affect on people there, leaving hundreds dead and devastating already desperately poor communities. Our colleagues in Peru tell us they need external help in the form of donations of materials, medicines and tents to support the injured and homeless. They suggest you contact your local Peruvian Consulate or Embassy, The Catholic Bishops Social Action Commission (CEAS) and GCAP member and the NGO Caritas who are organizing deliveries to the affected areas.
The important issue of women and poverty is close to all our hearts - of the 1,3 billion people living in extreme poverty 70% are women and women also represent two thirds of the illiterate people in the world. Which is why were so delighted with two bits of news this week. The first, that Ana Agostino from the International Council for Adult Education in Uruguay and Sylvia Borren from Oxfam Novib in The Netherlands have been voted co-chairs of the GCAP International Facilitation Team. They now share the role with Kumi Naidoo who has been steering the team for some time now.
More good news came from GCAP’s Latin American and Caribbean alliance who have made the issue of women and poverty the focus of their 2007 campaign. GCAP Brasil last week successfully launched their campaign “Women and the Challenges of Emancipation” in the capital Brasilia. The opening ceremony comprised a book launch and performance by the women-only drumming group, Batalá, as well as a projection of striking photos onto the walls of the iconic new National Library. This venue will host several more political and cultural events until the end of the month. For October 17th, the focus for mobilization will shift to the North Eastern city of Fortaleza where Brazil experiences some of its highest poverty indices and women’s rights abuses.
Like Peru, were were
saddened to hear of the devastating cumulative effect of terrible floods in Bangladesh
over the past 2 months which have left an estimated 10 million people homeless.
Water-borne diseases are having a crippling effect on the poor, particularly
women and children. The spiraling price of essential services and increasing
unemployment rates, have compounded the problem. Our Bangladeshi coalition has been working extremely hard to
respond to this and we send our messages of solidarity and support in this
difficult time.
The e-newsletter is posted in five
languages at GCAP reports. As you are the best judge to decide the
content and format for this e-letter, please do mail me contributions, comments
and suggestions.
Warm Regards,
Irfan Mufti, GCAP Campaign Manager
MOBILISATION Update
The Mobilisation toolkit was signed off and distributed widely last week, along with a Stand Up and Speak Out brochure, logos and a feedback form for national coalitions. Please get in contact with your regional secretariat if you have not received these and send the feedback form to Sarah Gregory this week. We have some translations through already and the remaining ones will be circulated and posted on whiteband.org We have also finalised the translations of the slogan and will have the logo available in 5 languages shortly.
Another project the team is working on is a video clip of famous people in history who stood up and spoke out against injustice and helped spark and build social movements around the world. The video project will start happening over the coming weeks and will, we hope, motivate participation as well as add some creative colour to events. We are aiming to have it ready for distribution and on the website by mid-September.
We are pleased to learn that the Banners Against Poverty project has generated interest from several more countries and we know have 11 countries registered to build banners. We are keen to have more countries involved so that we can do a global banner, so do check out the re-vamped site for inspiration bannersagainstpoverty.com
Contact: Sarah or Joe at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
COMMUNICATIONS Update
Media
The ad campaign material being designed globally by the agency GREY to support the Guinness Record Stand UP and Speak Out activity on October 17th is under development. It is hoped the final design will be adapted locally via their network of agencies with input from UNMC and GCAP local personnel. The ads will then be used for newspaper, magazine and broadcast in the weeks prior to October 17th. The details of the press strategy may be linked to the campaign more strongly now so we are revisiting the dates of the launches as well. More information will follow in the next e-letter.
We are calling for GCAP members to start writing articles about issues related to poverty and inequality so we can pitch them for publication as opinion pieces in several important publications. The subject can be anything related to your demands for October 17th and include national examples/ political messages. Ideally they should be under 800 words in length although we can edit it ourselves if you send us the rough content.
Materials
For anyone interested in using photos to illustrate the global challenge, a powerful new photo diary of poverty in the Philippines was recently aired locally on GMANews. TV. The Joe Galvez photo essay entitled, "Living in a Canned World: Poverty and progress in the Philippines." is available for download here provided Joe is credited if reproduced.
Contact: Ciara at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
E- COMMUNICATIONS
What’s new on whiteband.org?
Our listservs will be temporarily down this week for essential maintenance. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Some uploads are also delayed due to site maintenance work so if you haven’t seen your stories updated in recent days do not worry as content will be refreshed very soon.
Contact: Henri at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP Update
A reminder to all national coalitions and constituency groups: please fill out the return the questionnaire by August 25. It is posted in five languages at GCAP reports. With the result of this questionnaire as one set of input, a face-to-face meeting is scheduled to take place in Oxford August 29th and 30th. After this meeting, the group will present a proposal to the IFT regarding the GCAP structure post-2007.
Contact: Katsuji at the GCAP IFT
Support Team for more information
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The GCAP IFT Support Team
Irfan Mufti, Campaign Manager
Katsuji Imata, Organizational Development Coordinator
Ciara Osullivan, Media and Communication Coordinator (E-letter editor)
Sarah Gregory, Outreach and Mobilization Coordinator
Henri Valot, Web and New Media Coordinator
Joe Cressy, Mobilisation Officer
Caitlin Blaser, Support Team Assistant
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GCAP IFT support team
C/O CIVICUS
PO Box 933, Southdale 2135
Johannesburg – South-Africa
Email: info@whiteband.org
Tel: + 27 11 833 59 59 Fax: + 27 11 833 97 79