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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - August 6th 2007 - Edition #6
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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007
6th August 2007 - Edition #6
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The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a global 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,
Good news from El Salvador this week where our imprisoned GCAP colleagues Marta Lorena Araujo and Rosa Maria Centeno were finally granted conditional release. Under arrest since July 2nd they were released but remain charged under the country’s terrorism act for a public protest about rural land rights. They extended their appreciation to colleagues from around the world for their support in these past weeks. GCAP condemns the criminalization of social movements and will be watching developments in this case.
Also this week, GCAP colleagues Daniel and Netsanet in Ethiopia are in the last 9 prisoners on trial and the verdict has been postponed until 8 October. The good news is that Daniel and Netsanet, and their lawyer Mengistu presented a solid and persuasive defensive. After looking through some of the Ethiopian blogs, it looks like Daniel and Netsanet are being celebrated by some as the ‘true heroes’ of the trial. While the rest of the defendants signed the confessions to secure their release, our friends have refused, staying true to their story and their principles. Click here for more information
It was great to hear that GCAP Bangladesh, The
People’s Forum, has kick-started it’s build up to October 17th with a really
well-attended workshop on poverty and inequality in Dhaka. Over 200 delegates from women’s group, NGOs,
media and other civil society groups, joined representatives of government
agencies responsible for poverty alleviation to reiterate the core demands of
GCAP and remind them that civil society will be mobilising in less than three
months time.
There will be some people changes in GCAP in the
coming weeks. Marie-Ange Kalenga,
the highly active Media and Communications coordinator of GCAP Africa will be
moving on from Dakar in August and sorely missed on the Mobilisation Taskforce
and Media Teams where she has made a valuable contribution.
We were also excited this week to get some information
through from Latin America with the plans for GCAP mobilisations this year and
a re-launch of the call in Brazil.
There will be a strong focus on women’s issues and rights in the region
in 2007 and we look forward to posting stories and pictures on the whiteband website.
REQUEST
FOR HELP: In order to support media relations around our
mobilisation dates, we would like to compile a list of examples of how civil
society mobilisation has made a difference in the anti poverty debate. We
need concrete examples of countries and cities where GCAP activism has led to
policy change or at least more open dialogue on poverty eradication
measures. Please send these examples to Ciara.
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
Contact: Sarah at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
The Mobilisation toolkit is currently being finalized
and we hope to have it out in all five languages in the next two weeks.
Banners against Poverty Update
The Banners against Poverty project invites people
from all over the world to make banners that creatively express their demands
for the world to take action to end extreme poverty. The Banners project is one of many global actions being planned
for October 17th. So far numerous
countries have taken-up the challenge!
Australia and Pakistan have already created over 5 kilometres of banners
and groups in India, Cameroon, and the United States are getting organized. A
new GCAP Banners sub-group has formed and is looking for National Coalitions to
join this global initiative.
Contact: Joe at the GCAP IFT Support Team for more information and to get involved.
Post G8 – GCAP Germany doesn't remain quiet
We were delighted to hear that our friends in the German Campaign Deine Stimme gegen Armut have not been lazy since the G8 summit and earlier this month published a full-page ad in the news magazine “DER SPIEGEL” in which they criticised the summit outcome:
"Dear Ms Merkel, for you the G8 summit in
Heiligendamm was a success. For people
living in poverty it was a tragedy. Now
it is clear: You and the other heads of state missed your historic
opportunity…, "your" G8 summit was a 100 Mio Euro costly frustration:
1.4m citizens, 80,000 people at the concert and countless artists and
spokespersons from all over the world have raised their voices against poverty
- You and your 7 colleagues ignored that.
But our voices won't fade - they will grow in number and volume. That's
what we promise to you. Still every
three seconds a child dies because of extreme poverty."
Click here to review pictures of the concert
COMMUNICATIONS Update
Media
The media team has been working on the draft of the
first press communication about October 17th. This note for global and regional
media will mark the date and raise awareness of the huge day of global
mobilisation and will give time for editors to plan coverage of the different national
events. The team is also discussing a strategy to host simultaneous press
conferences to launch all the October 17th actions in late September and to
focus on the most media-friendly plans in focus cities. The team has expanded
in recent weeks with new members from Africa and Latin America volunteering
their participation which will hopefully guarantee good worldwide
representation and ultimately good coverage of all the planned activities and
issues.
Contact: Ciara at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
E-communications
What’s new on whiteband.org?
GCAP Africa - Media and Communications Officer Vacancy
Deadline for application to the post of GCAP Africa - Media and
Communications Officer, based in Dakar, Senegal has been extended to August 10th.
Please contact Christophe Zoungrana for more
information.
Researching GCAP's e-advocacy in 2007
Through a formal partnership between GCAP and the University of Wolverhampton, Brian Cugelman will undertake a comprehensive study of GCAP's 2007 e-campaign. This research partnership presents an opportunity to better understand our online user's needs, improve our e-campaigning and contribute to research about non-profit outreach. View the impressive graphs of the GCAP’s online network and start contributing by contacting Brian Cugelman
On
the Road to 2015: Putting the MDGs in Perspective
Our friend Ana
Agostino, from the International Council for Adult Education, the FTF and
the IFT, shared with us her presentation at the last SID conference. Ana
addresses the Post development, as a critical view of development, opens an
approach for a reformulation of MDGs and ends on GCAP’s work and FTF
contribution.
Ending
Poverty, But Only on Paper
Our comrade Bunker
Roy, Founding Director of the Barefoot College, argues in the
American.com that the Millennium Development Goals
actually increase rural dependence on knowledge and skills from urban areas—at
the expense of community empowerment.
Contact: Henri at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.
FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP Update
With the mandate of the GCAP Global meeting in Montevideo in May, the task
group will soon circulate a questionnaire regarding the future structure of
GCAP post 2007. The questionnaire is now being translated to the primary
languages of GCAP. As national coalitions and GCAP constituencies, you are
asked to return the questionnaire by August 25. The task group will then
have a face-to-face meeting at the end of the month. After the formal
proposal by the task group to the IFT and the IFT meeting in September, we expect
to send a voting ballot to make a final decision by the end of September.
Contact: Katsuji at the GCAP IFT
Support Team for more information
CHILDREN AND YOUTH TASK FORCE Update
International Youth Day – Call for Updates
August 12th is International Youth Day and
a chance for youth to draw attention to local and global youth issues. The GCAP Children and Youth Task Force have
identified Education, Employment and Health as key policy issues that affect
children and young people.
On August 12th the Children and Youth Task
Force are encouraging national coalitions and youth groups to raise their
voices and bring attention to the issues affecting children and youth. Please send updates from events in your
community to Joe Cressy of the Support Team.
Contact: Joe
at the GCAP IFT Support Team for more information or to report an event
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The GCAP IFT Support Team
Irfan Mufti, Campaign Manager
Katsuji Imata, Organizational Development Coordinator
Ciara Osullivan, Media and Communication Coordinator
Sarah Gregory, Outreach and Mobilization Coordinator
Henri Valot, Web and New Media Coordinator
Joe Cressy, Mobilisation Officer
Caitlin Blaser, Support Team Assistant
Ben Margolis,
GCAP (Oxfam)
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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