FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GCAP calls on the IFIs to work for the poor, not against!

As the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) near, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is preparing a weekend of high profile actions in Washington DC from October 20th to 22nd.

The IFI focus starts with a series of GCAP delegations to Heads of State and Ministers in over 25 countries on October 17^th - marking International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  They will demand greater transparency, accountability and democratic governance in the way the IFIs are run.  Millions of people around the world will Stand Up and Speak Out in other ways on the same day to call for an end to poverty and inequality.

GCAP presence at the IFIs Annual Meetings will be significant, with meetings, press conferences, photo stunts and a Poverty Requiem performance, among other activities.  Representatives of this unique civil society alliance will articulate specific demands that reflect the voices of millions of people around the world calling for justice.

For over six decades, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have used their influence to exert control and restructure societies in the global South, serving the economic and political agenda of the few wealthy nations that control these institutions. The effect on poor people’s lives, the environment, economies as well as political structures in the South has often been devastating, generating a massive protest from civil society alliances, such as GCAP, against these institutions.

GCAP’s three Co-chairs - Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General CIVICUS, South Africa, Ana Agostino, ICAE, Uruguay and Sylvia Borren, Executive Director Oxfam Novib, Netherlands will be in Washington as spokespersons:

"In recent years the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have declared themselves to be champions of poverty reduction and good governance,’ says South African, Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global call to Action against Poverty. ‘However, they persist in ignoring the priorities and demands of developing countries in everything from the appointment of new chiefs to the conditions attached to agreements. Countries in the South need to have a say at least in decisions that will have long-lasting consequences for them. Today, we are saying that they cannot ignore millions of voices around the world calling for reform."

For more information on GCAP's demands and details of the Washington events at the IFI meetings go to: www.whiteband.org

Media contacts:  Ciara O’Sullivan, Tel: + 34 679 594 809 ciara.osullivan@civicus.org and Marie Ange Kalenga mkalenga@mac.com

Notes to Editors: The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a civil society alliance of social movements, International NGOs, trade unions, community groups, women’s organizations, faith and youth groups, local associations and campaigners working together across more than 100 national coalitions/platforms. GCAP is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions that address the issues of; public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights; trade justice; more and better aid; debt cancellation and gender equality and women’s rights.

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