Stand Up Take Action - the view from inside GCAP
While Stand Up is doubtless only a success because of the hundreds of thousands of organizers and millions of participants every year, there is a dedicated team of coordinators working hard to bring all of the global actions together for this massive declaration against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals. The team of coordinators at GCAP have been running full steam with little sleep in the final hours of preparation leading up to this years Stand Up event. Here are some excerpts from the GCAP blog to give you an inside view:
The last days before Stand Up and Take Action against poverty and inequality
Ben Margolis, GCAP Mobilisation
Coordinator working on the
last days before Stand Up.
This is one of those times when you feel incredibly lucky to be in the right job at the right time. My inbox is bulging with remarkable and inspirational updates from GCAP coalitions and partners as they prepare to Stand Up and Take Action from October 17-19. It currently looks as if more than 1% of the world’s population, 67 million people will take part which would make it surely one of, if not the, biggest mobilisation of people on one issue at one time in history.
The range of events is stunning. Rap concerts in the Philippines, marches in South Africa, a concert in Zimbabwe, school children in Palestine, church goers in the UK, film screenings in Australia, shopping malls in Indonesia... the list goes on and on.
I sit at my desk inspired by all of these planned actions, all of the space being created by some of the world’s most impoverished people for their voices to be heard, and their actions to count. It is a privilege to be a small part of this.
The remarkable thing is that, unless you are one of the people planning to Stand Up, you have probably never heard of Stand Up and Take Action. Whilst the world news is full of photos of Sarah Palin in a swimsuit, and OJ Simpson’s murder trial, one of the biggest mobilisations of people in history risks slipping beneath this wonky radar... (read more)
The international face of the anti-poverty movement
Launch of "in my name" in Spain
“The problem with the new India is that the gap between the rich and poor is getting wider,” said the young Indian student in Madrid on Sunday as he signed the GCAP Spain’s In My Name banner at the beginning of A Week Against Poverty.
This is the truly international face of the anti-poverty movement. I see it now when I travel around the world. Whether you are a celeb like Bono signing your name on glass wall in front of the UN in September of this year, or a young Spaniard writing a message asking for money to be directed away from propping up banks and towards poverty alleviation, I am really starting to see a generation of people that wants to end poverty... (read more)
83.5 million people, 1438 events, 98 countries, just a few hours...
Event registration on the Stand Up and Take Action website has increased exponentially throughout the week, and the estimated number of activists Standing Up and Taking Action this year is well over our target of 1% of the world population!
Stand Up and Take Action - Logo - EnglishIn just over 16 hours the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty will start over in New Zealand.
The first registered Stand Up and Take Action event will be taking place in a city called Nelson, where students of Nayland College will present information about poverty and inequality at their morning assembly... (read more)
