GCAP Blog

in this special Accra 2008 edition of the Terra Viva publication.

Adelaide Sosseh, GCAP Co-Chair and activist encouraged people worldwide to join in:

“There is a period of unique opportunity in the 50 days ahead when people can show they won’t accept the suffering of human poverty any longer. There are ways for every man, woman and child in the world to take action, however small and local, so that leaders fulfill the Millennium Development Goals, adhere to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and stretch their efforts to narrow the staggering inequality that exists in our world today.”

Millions of people all over the world can join with their personal actions, by participating in poverty hearings, marching up in rallies, playing at anti-poverty football matches, volunteering or donating support, or by taking action online.

Why not take your first action now by pledging your support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

The mobilisation will reach its peak with the annual Stand Up and Take Action against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals, which this year will take place between October 17-19. Last year 43.7 million took part, and this year we want to make it the biggest ever.

Make sure to find out about Stand Up, organize your event and register with the website so your action can be counted!

Read the full press release here: GCAP launches 50 days of action in Accra

Grassroots representatives from various districts submitted their petitions to the jury bench seeking justice and fair wages:

Workers from the tea garden demanded fair wages instead of the 30 Taka per day they receive, which is less then the price of 1 kg rice. They also demanded access to health service in the tea gardens, including safe drinking water and hygienic latrine.

Kohinoor, an urban slum dweller, demanded that her rights to basic essential services be met so that her children do not have to suffer the deprivation and pangs of hunger which she suffered.

Mozammel, a landless day labourer who remained unemployed for six months, demanded respite from money lenders and to find a regular source of income.

Laxmi, a student of class nine coming from a family of city cleaners, demanded rights to education and a life of dignity.

The judgment of the tribunal concluded with the verdict that articles of the Bangladesh constitution that ensure the basic human rights of the citizen to food, shelter, education, health and nutrition must be complied to ensure the constitutional rights of the citizen and thereby end poverty and establish equality and justice.

This tribunal was part of a series of poverty hearings and tribunals taking place across the world ahead of the UN High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals which will take place in New York on September 25th.

Find out more about GCAP Bangladesh

The GCAP blog will give you the latest information and updates before, during and after the event.

For now, find links to articles and news on poverty and aid effectiveness, and if your organisation is mobilising with GCAP, visit the Aid Effectiveness 2008 folder for more information, resources and links.

Information, calendars and suggested activities can be found in the Mobilisation Guide, which is available in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish (pdf versions).

Get information and suggestions on GCAP activities around the Aid Effectiveness Summit in Accra, the UN High Level Event on MDGs, this year's Stand Up and Take Action, the International Day for Eradication of Poverty and more...

All resources are online and can be found at GCAP Mobilisation 2008

Contact Ben Margolis on benmargolis[at]whiteband[dot]org for more information.

In this first poverty hearing, held in the city of Bloemfontein, hundreds of residents came to speak of how poverty affects them. The stories they told were ones of dire poverty, of being unable to access social grants, of a lack of social delivery, abuse of elderly people in communities, unemployment, a sense of a loss of dignity, and that poverty affects and frays the very fabric of society.

The views, testimonies and advocacy messages that come out of this and the following South Africa poverty hearings with be taken to local, provincial and national government for action. 

These hearings are part of a wider global action to bring up the issues of poverty and inequality to light. The outcomes of these hearings will feed into various international processes, especially the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness which will be hosted in Accra, Ghana in early September, and the UN Extraordinary Summit on the MDGs taking place later in the month in New York, USA, where GCAP will be bringing together voices from the South and the North in a global poverty hearing.

Watch this space for more info on the poverty hearings and other mobilization around the Aid Effectiveness summit and the UN MDGs summit.

Find out more about the South Africa poverty hearings

Mail & Guardian: Talking poverty

Internews is inviting mainstream and citizen journalists from around the world to participate in its Human Rights Media competition by submitting world and current affairs reports that have been published after the 15th of September 2007 and which could be used to illustrate one or several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a context that is relevant to the issues facing our world today.

Articles will have to explicitly refer to those human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.

Read the declaration and illustrate it with your work!

Find out more

• Its A Bit Rich To Grumble While The Poor Starve (from The Herald )
• Doha: India accuses US of sacrificing world's poor at trade talks | World news | The Guardian
• Rodada Doha: Entenda o impacto do fracasso das negociações - O Globo Online
• BBC NEWS | Business | Dismay at collapse of trade talks
• euronews | WTO talks collapse, scuppering plans to lift millions out of poverty

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The bishops were met by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who addressed them with a speech urging them to go back to their governments with a list of three demands for action on aid, education and health towards achieving the MDGs.

Archbishop Rowan Williams called on the United Nations to set a timetable on meeting the goals and commit to carbon emissions cuts to ease climate change.

Read the full article:

Image: Episcopal Life Online / Chris Clement

"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty"

Nelson Mandela