CIVICUS

FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

It starts with you: become a volunteer GCAP organiser and Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty and Inequality

Release Date: 12 September 2007

By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General

Dear e-CIVICUS Subscriber,

The chance to be part of something historic appeals to many. To contribute to a unique moment or change the course of history can be enormously satisfying, but often our work and personal commitments make it difficult for us to find the time. We want to offer our skills and time but there are so many competing demands, or we simply don't know where to start so we just abandon it to the “experts’ and offer our moral support instead.

But if there is one thing I have seen all over the world is that there is a great need for concerned and committed people to share their enthusiasm for a more socially just world with others, to volunteer and organise. One of those unique opportunities to do this is coming up on October 17. With just a little over a month to go to Stand Up and Speak Out on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, millions around the world are gearing up for 24 hours of mobilisation against poverty. They want to show their leaders they will no longer stay seated and silent in the face of the current poverty statistics. What is still needed to make sure this day has some real impact is a sea of committed and energetic volunteers to organise more events in their communities, workplaces and just about anywhere that people gather so their voices can be counted. There are no ‘experts’ needed, just creative, concerned people who want to be part of something historic.

In 1988, my younger brother Kovin was detained for close to a year without trial for opposing the apartheid regime. He had a lot of time to reflect on life, the struggle for justice and so on. After being released he said: “I have come to realise that the struggle for justice is advanced not by the heroic sacrifices of a few leaders but by the modest sacrifices of ordinary people”.

GCAP, the Global call to Action against Poverty (www.whiteband.org), is spearheading efforts to get as wide a range of people as possible engaged in the Stand Up and Speak Out mobilisation this year. Some are making giant banners and unfurling them around their cities, others are putting on a sporting event or rehearsing a performance of the poverty requiem (www.povertyrequiem.org). People will register the numbers of people who take part in their events and add those to a new Guinness World Record attempt to surpass last year’s record of 23.5 million. GCAP knows there are many more ordinary workers, faith groups, students and professionals of all backgrounds who still want to take part in the Stand Up and Speak Out effort but need someone to volunteer their organisational skills to make it happen. Here’s how:

There are lots of creative ways to organise a “Stand Up event”. You can join an existing event by looking up what is going on in your country on www.whiteband.org or starting something yourself.

For the more creative and active, there is an endless list of ideas from tying white bands (the global anti-poverty symbol of GCAP) on your bicycles and organising hundreds of cyclists to ride through your city or town together to organising a “walk against poverty” finishing outside a politically strategic building. Running a half marathon wearing GCAP or Stand Up T-shirts or rollerblading through the city carrying banners and white flags are other options.

Students could organise a debate in their schools or universities and invite a local politician and a representative from anti-poverty civil society organisations to attend. Others could put on a concert, play or performance that deals with the issues of poverty or show a film, documentary or clip that focuses on poverty.

Workers can ask their colleagues to join them in a stand up moment in their shops, offices or outside, show a video clip or give out information about the campaign and invite others to join.

SOME VISUAL IDEAS FOR BIG EVENTS INCLUDE:

· Photography exhibitions

· Processions with giant puppets

· Acrobats, human pyramids, dancers

· Rallies in slums with drama, songs and dances

· Film festivals and projection of images onto giant public screens

· Using iconic buildings to wrap in white bands

· Asking artists to make murals and chalk drawings, inviting the community and students to participate in creating a giant mural

· Using a colour theme – white or the colour of your choice – ask people to dress in that colour and make human formations of letters or white bands

· Making giant letters and displaying them in front of iconic buildings

· Using mime artists and drama

· Candlelight events

Don't forget to use the internet

Post information on the day of action on the homepage of your group/ club/ company or organisation as a source of mobilisation information and updates. Send out consistent emails that contain specific action recipients can take. Utilise popular social networking sites for the promotion of actions. The popularity of sites differs for every country so consult those in the know. Some examples include creating an event on Facebook.com or creating a group on takingitglobal.org. Be creative and engage people where they are online. If you have a camera and access to the internet, record Stand Up and Speak Out clips and put them on Youtube.

And in case it still isn't clear, the following link will provide you with a simple animation designed to motivate you to take that first step - www.civicus.org/new/media/GCAP-animations.doc.

On October 18 the results of the Guinness record attempt will be announced. The more people who lend their name and their time to this campaign the stronger will be our call on the politicians to take immediate steps to end poverty. We belong to a generation capable of deciding whether poverty continues at the current horrific pace or changes course.

You can volunteer to be part of this change….if you think you don't have time, please make it. Do not accept that your voice, your efforts and your contribution do not matter. The more people who take a stand against poverty and inequality, the more chance we have of getting those with power to act with urgency and commitment to end the scandalous situation of 50 000 men, women and children perishing each and every day from poverty related preventable causes.

Your voice matters and your contribution can make a difference. Please share this with people on your email list and let us send a clear signal that decent people around the world refuse to accept that the passive genocide or silent tsunami that takes place everyday is unpreventable.

Go to www.standagainstpoverty.org to register.

Warmest regards

Kumi Naidoo

Below you will find all previous columns published.

• Enforced disappearance threaten us all

• We must plug the leaks: Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness

• October 17: Stand up with millions united as one

• Should the voting age be reduced to sixteen? International Youth Day: a time for reflection

• CIVICUS partners continue to languish in jail

• If civil society organisations cannot change how governments can?

• Climate Change: How much longer can we ignore this catastrophe and how will climate change affect the work of civil society?

• Civil society engaging with inter-governmental organisations: is the feeling mutual?

• 07/07/07: Reflection on the mid-point of the Minimalist/Millennium Development Goals