THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - July 14th 2007 - Edition #3

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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007

14th July 2007 - Edition #3

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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,

Welcome to the 3rd edition of the GCAP e-letter.   What a busy week for our coalitions around the world!  We have now passed the third of four major mobilization dates in our annual calendar and I am delighted to report that the mid-point of the MDGs went off with some really high impact events.

In the end we managed to count over 50 countries where some sort of mobilization took place to mark 070707.  This was thanks to the tremendous efforts of national coalitions who in some countries had to battle hard to leverage political and public interest in the subject and attract an increasingly sceptical media to the debates, rallies, conferences and exhibitions they ran.  We hope the high level of visibility it got regionally and locally is an indication of things to come for October 17th and we encourage coalitions to keep up this momentum over the coming months.

Since the last newsletter we have submitted our proposal to DFID for funding and will be watching closely to see how this goes through their system.  Also this past week some basic GCAP messaging on climate change and poverty got an airing for the first time since inclusion in the Montevideo declaration. Mainly through media messaging it allowed national coalitions to use the space provided by the Live Earth concerts on July 7th to make sure the link with poverty is not forgotten.  We got lots of interest in Johannesburg where GCAP was present recruiting audience members to the call and Kumi Naidoo took the stage to talk about poverty.

We were extremely upset to learn this week that GCAP founding members in El Salvador have been detained on July 2nd during a peaceful protest in the municipality of Suchito against a government decentralization project.  The police reacted violently by shooting into the crowd and later arrested 14 people.  Added to the detention of our colleagues in Ethiopia, we are very concerned that this repression of civil liberties is affecting the work people do to bring the poor a voice and we urge their immediate release.  Please see below how you can support them.

The e-newsletter is published in four languages on http://www.whiteband.org. As you are the best judge to decide the content and format for this e-letter, we request all readers send their comments and suggestions to me.

Warm Regards

Irfan Mufti,
GCAP Campaign Manager, Irfan.mufti@civicus.org

SUPPORTING GCAP COLLEAGUES DETAINED IN EL SALVADOR

On July 2nd the National arrested 14 members of the Association of Rural communities for the development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), one of the founding organizations of GCAP. Among those captured was Lorena Araujo, president of CRIPDES, a woman who has dedicated her whole life to social and political transformation of El Salvador and another is Haydee Chicas, responsible for CRIPDES communications work. Following a violent police intervention in a peaceful rural protest against a government decentralization project, they were held for 5 days in before sentencing on July 7th under the new anti-terrorism laws to three months imprisonment. A clear violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, gathering, protest and free association it is being challenged in the courts.

Please send notes of support for our colleagues and condemnation of this arrest to:

Presidente de la República de El Salvador, Elías Antonio Saca,
Fax:(503)2243-7857, (503) 2243-9930

Rodrigo Ávila, Director de la Policía Nacional Civil, sugerencias@pnc.gob.sv

Lic. Felix Garrid Safie, Fiscal General de la República de El Salvador,
Fax :(503) 25286096

Copying in
cripdes@telesal.net
cripdes2@gmail.com
lamadoelsalvador@yahoo.com

MOBILISATION ON JULY 7TH

The mid-way point to the Millennium Development Goals was marked with massive worldwide mobilization. Actions took place in 50 countries and more than 70 cities and included forums and public debates, press briefings, road trips, concerts and many creative and colourful campaigning events. Some highlights include:

• Australia: Make Poverty History “face up to poverty” petition of faces projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Opposition leader committed to 0.5% by 2015  if elected

• India: Wada-Na-Todo-Abhiyan met with the PM in relation to the release of the 'Citizen's Report on Governance & Development 2007'.
• Pakistan: Press conference and display of the World's Longest Banner, which is over 4km long with poverty messages from supporters all over the country. Pakistan: Press conference and display of the World's Longest Banner, which is over 4km long with poverty messages from supporters all over the country.
• South Africa: SANGOCO launched its MDG 2007 civil society report and Kumi Naidoo spoke to tens of thousands at the Live Earth concert where hundreds signed a GCAP petition.

• Switzerland: To mark the occasion, the «0,7% – Together against Poverty» Alliance organized a festival with political and musical contributions on the Federal Square in front of the Swiss Parliament building. The keynote speaker has been former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson
• Zambia: 777 activities were officially launched on the independent television station MUVI TV. GCAP campaigners organised a wide variety of actions, including an MDG walk, a symbolic football match, an MDG prayer service, a series of radio and programmes and a documentary on MDG progress in Southern Africa.
  

For more information go to www.whiteband.org - we will be compiling information on the website. Please also ensure your national coalition sends through their report to henri.valot@civicus.org

MOBILISATION ON OCTOBER 17TH

There is now a sub-group within the Mobilisation Taskforce looking into the finer points of planning for this final big date.  There is also the beginning of a policy discussion paper going to the IFT for feedback so we can have some strong political dimension to this year’s mobilization as it falls on the eve of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. A group to plan delegations to visit heads of state on this day is also working on their strategy. The Guinness challenge to Stand up and Speak out is progressing with some new visuals being designed by PR agency Grey in New York and a proposal how we can work with the UNMC to get as many people as possible involved.  The poverty requiem has also mustered some really fantastic responses with over 20 countries now committed to take part on October 17th.  The banners Against Poverty project is also gaining momentum and we are encouraging more coalitions to get involved in this so we make something really impressive to roll out around the world on the 17th.

From a publicity point of view the media team is developing a strategy to launch the October 17th plans in different countries in September and the Ambassadors group is inviting well known and respected world figures to lend their support and help build some interest at a media level.
Contact: Sarah, Ben or Ciara at the GCAP IFT support team for more information.

FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP

Under the coordination of Katsuji Imata, the group has so far discussed and agreed on Pros and Cons of various scenarios discussed in MV meeting, started to engage a few external consultants to help the group in general discussion on various structural questions as well as the issue of finding a host organization vs becoming independent, The proposal from the group is expected by the August IFT meeting with an initial consultation with national coalitions and other constituencies.

THE GCAP IFT SUPPORT TEAM – Staff changes

Please note that Imma Kapinga left the team at the end of June to pursue her studies in the UK. We thank her for her contribution to the team in the difficult transition if the past few months and wish her the best in the future.  Regina Martyn is also due to leave the team at the end of July, she is currently on leave and will come back for the last two weeks of July to provide some hand-over support. 

New additions include Caitlin Blaser who is on secondment to the support team from Civicus and is doing a sterling job filling in with much needed administrative and mobilization support.  Also, Joe Cressy has just arrived as an intern from the Canada and he will be working on mobilization and general administrative support as well.  Ben Margolis from Oxfam is now also officially a member of the Support team and we welcome his contributions and energies in the months ahead.

Irfan Mufti, Campaign Manager irfan.mufti@civicus.org
Katsuji Imata, Organizational Development Coordinator katsuji.imata@civicus.org
Ciara Osullivan, Media and Communication Coordinator ciara.osullivan@civicus.org
Sarah Gregory, Outreach and Mobilization Coordinator sarah.gregory@civicus.org
Joe Cressy, Mobilisation Officer, Joe.Cressy@civicus.org

Henri Valot, Web and New Media Coordinator henri.valot@civicus.org
Caitlin Blaser, Support Team Assistant, Caitlin.blaser@civicus.org
Ben Margolis, Support Team (Oxfam) bmargolis@oxfam.org.uk

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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