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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007 - June 21st 2007 - Edition #1
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THE GCAP E-LETTER 2007
21st June 2007 - Edition #1
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The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a global alliance of trade unions, community groups, faith groups and 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
Dear friends,
Welcome to the 1st issue of GCAP e-letter! This is a joint-effort from the new
GCAP IFT Support team which took charge from April 2007. The purpose of the
e-letter is to keep you informed about GCAP achievements as well as, processes
within the global, regional and national level coalitions, proceedings of tasks
groups and teams, the IFT and other key structures being performed at different
levels. The letter will attempt to involve you in these discussions; seek your
views, analyses, suggestions and valuable inputs in all policies, plans,
decisions, actions, events and interactions. We will try to make it a regular,
interactive and reflective tool to facilitate greater cohesion, involvement,
ownership and informed choices at all levels of planning, decision-making and
actions in GCAP.
The Montevideo meeting in May 2007 set the direction
for GCAP to grow as a global force against poverty and inequality until 2015.
It resolved to continue its efforts to defeat the underlying and structural
causes that impoverish and exclude large sections of the population.
With this renewed vision and commitment, GCAP is in
the process of further strengthening its internal structures, deepening
analysis, discourse, discussions along with clear policy guide. 2007 has
challenges for GCAP in continuing to expand constituencies, increase
mobilization numbers, clarify policy asks, give GCAP internal structure more
strength and conceptual focus. The e-letter will become an instrument to engage
all of you in these debates, reflect on actions and challenges, and provide
feedback through your regular contribution. We will try to maintain a weekly
flow and will expect your regular comments, suggestions, feedback and guidance.
In recent weeks, the GCAP IFT support team along
with G8 Working Group, supported by German and other G8 country coalitions
organized some successful media events, and, participated in local rallies
around the G8 summit in Rostock Germany.
I congratulate the hard work of the Deine
Stimme gegen Armut campaign in Germany in the lead up to the meeting,
especially in gathering one million signatures to their petition. Also the on-the-ground efforts of Ciara O’
Sullivan, Kel Currah, and friends from
Scotland and Japan for putting up a strong presence on behalf of GCAP
constituencies. African coalitions also deserve appreciation for putting out
their G8 reaction statement and later organizing impressive public events,
media shows and forums on June 16 to mark “International Day of the African
Child’.
The e-newsletter will soon be published in four
languages and posted at 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
GCAP Campaign Manager, Irfan.mufti@civicus.org
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HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS ISSUE
1. G8
SUMMIT ROSTOCK GERMANY REPORT
2. JUNE
16: CHILDREN ARE AFRICA’S GREATEST RESOURCE IN COMBATING POVERTY
3. AU
SUMMIT: GCAP AFRICA TO PUSH THE AFRICAN UNION GOVERNMENT TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
4. PROGRESS AND UPDATE FROM TASKS GROUPS [MOBILISATION TASK FORCE, MEDIA TEAM. COMMUNICATION TASK GROUP, FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP].
5. THE
2007 GCAP IFT SUPPORT TEAM
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1. G8
SUMMIT ROSTOCK GERMANY REPORT
After an intensive year of preparation within the G8 working group, the summit in Germany culminated with a disappointed statement on the level of commitment shown by the leaders. The sterling efforts from group members in drafting positions, statements and organizing actions in their countries did, however, show great coordination internally and common purpose when it came to responding in Germany. Now the group turns its attention to Japan, where the next G8 happens in July 08 and the agenda looks even less likely to include poverty as a core issue. A face-to-face meeting to discuss this will take place in Tokyo in September and the weekly Wednesday teleconference calls will continue between members. For more information contact kel_currah@wvi.org
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2. JUNE
16: CHILDREN ARE AFRICA’S GREATEST RESOURCE IN COMBATING POVERTY, SAYS GCAP -
EVENTS MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD - JUNE 16TH
DAKAR, 14 June 2007
Members of the Global Call to Action against Poverty
(GCAP) in dozens of African countries have celebrated the International Day of
the African Child this Saturday, 16 June. GCAP is calling on African
governments to honor their commitments to eliminate poverty and improve health,
education, equality and the protection of all children, in recognition that
children are Africa's greatest resource. For more: http://www.whiteband.org
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GCAP coalitions from across Africa will join other
African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in calling for the African Heads of
States to put development challenges and people's welfare at the centre of
their discussions as they prepare to meet in Accra, Ghana, in July to debate
the feasibility of an African Union (AU) government. African civil society
should ensure that such a new government must focus on overcoming poverty, the respect for human rights, education and
conflict eradication.
In the run up to the AU's meeting GCAP campaigners will take part in various
pre-Summit events including a continental conference on 22-23 June for civil
society representatives to discuss socio economic challenges Africa is facing
and share views on the future of the African Union.
In addition, GCAP Africa will host a public forum on 25 June to reflect on the
impact of the proposed union government on trade relations between African
countries and how this will affect poverty eradication. The Forum will issue a
statement which will be presented to AU's Heads of States.
For details on GCAP Africa engagement at AU July Summit, please contact
Christophe Zoungrana, GCAP Africa Coordinator, christophe@ancefa.org, Tel: +221 824
04 81
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4. PROGRESS AND UPDATE FROM TASKS GROUPS [MOBILIZATION, MEDIA TEAM. COMMUNICATION TASK GROUP, E-COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE, FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP]
MOBILISATION TASK FORCE
Congratulations to all involved in the mobilization around the G8! We also had
a number of mobilizations in Africa for June 16, Day of the African child,
results of which will be available shortly on www.whiteband.org.
Currently we are consolidating plans from national coalitions for 7/7/7. So
far, we have information from around 30 countries. If your coalition has not
already sent through your plans, please do so as soon as possible! This
information will be uploaded onto the website.
We will launch a "100 Day Countdown" to October 17 on July 9 - stay
tuned for more information shortly.
Please send us information about your plans, ideas
and activities related to our 2007 mobilization to Sarah: sarah.gregory@civicus.org
MEDIA TEAM
A fledgling media team inaugurated its activities in
May with members volunteering their precious time from coalitions in Africa,
India, Pakistan, Europe, and the US starting the ball rolling. The team
talks by phone every
couple of weeks and keeps in touch via e-mail to make sure GCAP's relations
with the media are coherent and fruitful. There is a wealth of great
activity going on at a local level supporting actions like the G8 summit,
International day of the African Child, MDG midway point, EU Council meetings
and other key regional political moments. Since then, we have had more
volunteers bring their regional and linguistic expertise to the GCAP
table. We hope the strategies for securing good coverage this year will
benefit greatly from their input. More members always welcome.
Write to Ciara: ciara.osullivan@civicus.org
COMMUNICATION TASK GROUP
The newly set-up communication task group has started its activities and offering communication solutions to constituents. The group is currently trying to formulate an integrated communications strategy. The group has devised methods for clear and unified messaging across media activity, e-communications and public relations. Further discussions are taking place within the group members to bring coherence to GCAP efforts at all levels and enable effective and efficient planning for activities throughout 2007. For further details please contact: ciara.osullivan@civicus.org
E-COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE
The whiteband.org has been
relaunched recently. Updated content in the four languages is being uploaded. We
invite you to visit it at www.whiteband.org
and to provide us feed-back. Please also subscribe again to the newsletter, at http://www.whiteband.org/forms/newsletter/ploneformmailerNewsletter/
to receive soon the GCAP public newsletter. We are also undertaking a review of
the current arrangements and management of the site and a short report should
be available early July. For further details please
contact: henri.valot@civicus.org
FUTURE STRUCTURE TASK GROUP
The task group is currently deliberating on
appropriate structural formation of GCAP that will take effect from January
2008. In groups consultations held so far it is performing an assessment
of pros/cons of different structural options put forward in Montevideo, and is
also seeking professional guidance in organizational governance. The group is
expected to submit its recommendations to the IFT by the end July 2007 and then
the IFT will make a proposal to go to the global assembly. For further details
please contact: katsuji.imata@civicus.org
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5. THE
GCAP IFT SUPPORT TEAM
As of June 20th, following are the members of GCAP IFT Support team with their e-mail addresses. In case you need further information, help or assistance relevant to the roles in the team please contact on their e-mail addresses:
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
Henri Valot, Web and New Media Coordinator henri.valot@civicus.org
Regina Martyn, Mobilization Officer regina.martyn@civicus.org
Imma Kapinga, Campaign Administrator imma.kapinga@civicus.org
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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
