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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - July 2nd 2007 - Edition #2

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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007

July 2nd 2007 - Edition #2

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The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a global alliance of trade unions,women, youth, community groups, faith groups 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

Stand Up and Speak out for the 1.1 billion people who live on less than $1 dollar a day

Stand Up and Speak Out for the Millennium Development Goals

Stand Up and Speak out to make world leaders listen

Stand Up and be counted

Speak Out and be heard

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Dear friends,

The week has focused on the activities around 7/7/7, the mid-point of MDG achievement target. The Mobilization Task Force (MTF) and its sub-groups have devised an integrated plan of action to help country coalitions mobilize people, especially in southern countries where MDG achievements are still far from the target. Exciting and varied plans have come in from 67 cities in 38 countries and consolidated on a page to be published on the website www.whiteband.org for everyone to share. In the meantime, the MTF is in contact with country coalitions and regional groups to facilitate actions around public mobilization. The Media Team has issuing a global release about the actions and including suggested messaging on climate change for national coalitions to include in their support material. Any coverage will be put up on the media pages of the website.

With Live Earth concerts scheduled to take place in 7 cities on the same date, including Johannesburg, GCAP has been invited to feed into the messaging to include the link with poverty. Longer term, as climate change is a new key focus of GCAP’s policy demands, a Climate Change Working Group will develop policy demands which will be circulated for inputs. More people are needed to for this group so please contact Ben Margolis at Oxfam if you are interested.

Also this week, GCAP will present a concept paper to DFID for its Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF). The project will be helpful in expanding and regularizing GCAP’s activities in future.

GCAP’s recently re-launched website www.whiteband.org is evolving well. The IFT support team hopes to make this website an interaction and dialogue space as well as a vital source of information for its constituents and general public. We need to popularize this website so that out key messages could go across all the key actors of global and local civil society. Please visit the website and send your comments and suggestions to improve the format and contents. We also request you to paste your views, comments, discussion points, critical analyses and suggestions on the site.

The IFT support team requests all national coalitions, regional groups and task groups to mobilize people in the millennium development goals and activate public strategically to put pressure on world leaders to meet and exceed the goals. We also need to raise public awareness of the link between climate change and poverty. We wish you success in your efforts to fight against poverty and inequality.

Warm Regards

GCAP Campaign Manager, Irfan.mufti@civicus.org

MOBILISATION TASK FORCE

Thank you to the coalitions in over 40 countries who have provided their plans for 7/7/7. Mobilisations will be diverse and colourful and include concerts, roadtrips, half time messages at sporting events, television shows, mid-point reports and many, many, more. For the full list go to www.whiteband.org

We would like to encourage all national coalitions to build on this momentum and carry it forward to October 17. Use this time to make announcements about October 17 and encourage your supporters to start planning their events.

To help you prepare, the mobilization team has prepared the following update for October 17.

The timing of Stand Up and Speak Out 2007 will be 9pm GMT October 16 to 9pm GMT October 17 – this has changed from what was in the original mobilization guide.

The www.standagainstpoverty.org website has been updated for 2007 and will continually be updated in the lead up to October 17. There is a “sign up” section there where people will be able to receive newsletters updating them over the next few months.

The “Stand Up” logo from last year will be modified to include the “Speak Out” element. We are working to produce this as quickly as possible and will advise on the progress of both this and the rest of the toolkit. We will be giving regular updates.

We have formed a sub-group of the mobilization team to work specifically on Stand Up and Speak out which will convene for the first time next week. Currently, the mobilization team has the following sub-groups with the corresponding contact points:

Stand Up and Speak Out

24 hours of mobilization around the world. See www.standagainstpoverty.org or contact Sarah Gregory – sarah.gregory@civicus.org

GCAP Ambassadors

A project to work with a number of high-profile and grassroots ambassadors to become advocates for change with GCAP. Contact Ben Margolis - BMargolis@oxfam.org.uk

Poverty Requiem

An initiative for choirs and singers led by Oxfam Novib. Choirs in dozens of countries will perform this specially written song on October 17^th. See www.povertyrequiem.org or contact Ihreen De Vries- irheen.de.vries@oxfamnovib.nl

Banners Against Poverty

An initiative started by school students in Australia. The Australian coalition and others will be producing banners which will come together on October 17^th to create a highly visual image of the fight against poverty and inequality. See www.bannersagainstpoverty.org or contact Tom Widdup – tomw@oxfam.org.au

Visits to decision-makers

A project for delegations in dozens of countries to visit their head of state or other key decision-maker on October 17^th. This will be used to create political pressure and awareness at national and global level. Contact Marie-Ange Kalenga – gcap.africa@gmail.com

Here is some general information about Stand Up and Speak Out that can be used by national coalitions. It is a guide only and can be adapted by each national coalition as they choose.

We would like to encourage ALL NATIONAL COALITIONS to inform their supporters about October 17 – ask them to put it in their calendars and start planning for the biggest mobilization of the year.

Twenty years ago, on October 17, 1987, people from all backgrounds came together to commemorate the signing of the International Declaration of Human Rights and to affirm that extreme poverty is one of the worst violations of these rights. The day was adopted as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

To mark that day last year, 23.5 million people in 87 countries joined the call to Stand Up Against Poverty in the largest single coordinated mobilisation of people in the history of the Guinness World Records.

This year on October 17^th we will mobilize again, calling on millions of people from all over the world to Stand Up and Speak Out against poverty and inequality.

Join us as we call on governments to fulfill their promises: to achieve and exceed the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, to ensure public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights, to make trade justice a reality, to ensure a major increase in the quantity and quality of aid, to cancel debt and to commit to gender equality.

We are calling on governments to take action NOW.

Between 9pm GMT Tuesday October 16 and 9pm GMT Wednesday October 17, we ask you to literally “Stand Up and Speak Out” against poverty and inequality. Join an existing event or start your own – but be a part of the growing movement of people who say no to extreme poverty.

Find out how to get involved at www.standagainstpoverty.org, www.whiteband.org and www.oct17.org

MEDIA TEAM.

Good news from Ghana where GCAP Africa hosted a forum and secured good local and regional coverage in advance of the AU Summit this week. In Europe, the media picked up on the GCAP / BOND press release to keep poverty on the agenda during the EU Council meeting in Brussels last week. Elsewhere, there has been a global effort between Civicus and GCAP to get media attention for the case of our two Ethiopian colleagues imprisoned for their civil society activism. On Thursday 28th simultaneous petitions were handed in at Ethiopian embassies around the world urging the government to consider their release. And in Spain press conferences were held in Madrid and Valencia to advertise the GCAP Pobreza Cero campaign activities on July 7th- a debate, a mobilization and a concert. The team also added a new member, Elena Shelenkova, GCAP Russia Media and Advocacy Officer at Oxfam in Russia. More members, from Asia in particular, would be very welcome.

COMMUNICATION GROUP

The Communication Group has not met for a while as many of the issues to be decided have been covered already this week by the Mobilisation TF and the Media Team. The group will convene next when there is an overarching communication discussion required.

E-COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE

The website whiteband.org is improving and most of the content will be uploaded in French, Spanish and Arabic in July. We are asking everyone to re-subscribe to the GCAP Global Update at: http://www.whiteband.org/forms/newsletter/ploneformmailerNewsletter/

We are also asking all national coalitions and campaigns to send updated information in English, French or Spanish to Henri: Henri.Valot@civicus.org

FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP

The task group's deliberation on appropriate structural formation of GCAP after 2008 continues. We are on a lookout for possible new host organisations that are located in the Global South; in a country where the political environment would be conducive for anchoring a global secretariat of this nature; active in GCAP and of good standing in the development sector. If you have ideas or would like to see the full criteria, and for further details of the Group's work please contact: katsuji.imata@civicus.org

G8 WORKING GROUP

The G8 working group resumed it’s weekly Wednesday call this week with a review of the activities in Germany and updates on policy developments from member countries and outlines of what we can expect in Japan next year. It was agreed that a more comprehensive review should take place prior to the G8 face-to-face meeting. The Group will focus on 4 aspects of G8 activity:

1) Campaigning/Mobilisation

2) Political/Lobbying

3) Overall G8 Work

4) Common Lobbying Positions - aiming to get a base line on these points for future reference.

For more information contact kel@g8project.org