Dear friends and colleagues,

At least 116 million people. Across 131 countries. Women, children, activists, trade unionists, migrant workers, faith-based groups across religions, students, displaced people, cricketers, farmers, presidents and parliamentarians alike. United voices in a historic, record-breaking global mobilisation. Seeking redress for the deep injustices that not only keep over a billion people below subsistence but add to their numbers daily. The mobilisations do more than reiterate demands. They highlight the human impact of failed policies and unkept promises. They show us the faces and amplify the voices of those who pay the ultimate price for inaction. They also demonstrate better than any report or theory the systemic global causes of poverty, exclusion and exploitation and the need for global responses.  

At CIVICUS, we’re privileged to have a behind the scenes glimpse of just what it takes to accomplish this gargantuan task. And to appreciate the months of relentless commitment that underpin the campaign. We are humbled by the response and congratulate all those anonymous people far from the television cameras who made it happen.  

Will it make a difference? To the extent that it is owned by the poor and marginalised, to the degree that each local mobilisation connects with the real problems of local communities, to the point where the sheer numbers make it impossible to ignore – it will, and does. Awareness of one’s rights, the knowledge one is not alone in one’s struggle, and persistent belief in the justice of one’s cause, makes change not just possible, but inevitable. They are, in fact, the catalysts that transform the lack of political will that has been the only barrier to action, into political interest that compels it.

For more information on the outcome of the Stand Up and Take Action initiative, click here.

With gratitude, faith and solidarity,

Ingrid Srinath,

To send your comments, suggestions or contributions of articles to e-CIVICUS, e-mail editor@civicus.org.

For previous articles from the Secretary General, see details below: 

. Civil Society Must Stand Up. Together and Now!

. Civil society at the heart of global democracy hypocrisy

. Financial meltdown or tipping point? 

. A study in contrast: Reporting from the UN High Level Event on the MDGs

. Civil Society Challenges: 60 years on

. Human rights education at the UN DPI NGO conference in paris

. Citizens must be at the centre of effective aid

. Disabling by Design? - The Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation

. China: Double double talk

. View from civil society: Key political challenges for social justice in Africa

. What now, Mr. Lamy?

. "If CIVICUS didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it"

. Beyond G-8: At the table? On the table? Whose table?

. Beyond G-8: Civil society challenges

. Recalling the Day of the African child

. CIVICUS 2008 World Assembly, a unique opportunity to effect real change

. CIVICUS new Secretary General appointed. 

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