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This October 17th - 19th sees the world's largest ever popular campaign action - Stand Up and Take Action.
Organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, this is the key anti-poverty action of 2008.
We want to make sure Leeds stands with the rest of the world against poverty and inequality - could you mobilise your community to Stand Up and Take Action?
Between Friday 17th and Sunday 19th October, citizens the world over will take part in a world record attempt for the most people taking a stand against poverty.
The current world record stands at 43 million, achieved in 2007. If we can beat this record, we can show decision makers that more and more people care about world poverty, and we will pressure them to deliver.
Mobilisations like these have historically helped put poverty at the top of the global agenda. Consider, for example, to the massive mobilisations in 2005 as part of the Make Poverty History campaign. Such actions have enabled some progress to be made: for example, in 2005 the G8 pledged $50 billion more aid, debt cancellation for up to 42 countries and access to affordable treatment by 2010 for people with HIV/AIDS.
But the increased aid and debt cancellation promised by the G8 have yet to be delivered in full. Rich countries are denying trade justice to poor countries, and the carbon emissions of the rich are hitting the poorest hardest. In short, western governments must go much further if we are to eradicate poverty and inequality.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: To make this action effective, we need as many people in Leeds to stand up as possible. Could you mobilise your community to stand up on the 17th, 18th or 19th October?
It's not nearly as difficult as it sounds! With such a simple action, it is possible for any group to take part. Your action could simply be 5 minutes long as part of another event or meeting, or perhaps you would like to hold an event specifically for the action.
Whatever the approach that you take, we recommend that you take the following 4 steps;
Decide what kind of event you would like to hold, or which meeting you would like to address. As long as it is on Friday 17th, Saturday 18th or Sunday 19th October it can count towards the world record attempt.
The event you hold can take almost any format you like. You could keep it nice and simple, and just have a 5 minute break in a meeting where you explain the action, then lead all present through it. If you have more time you could show a short film about global poverty, have a speaker give a talk, or if you are mobilising a faith group you could lead all present in a prayer.
Each event, however, will almost certainly contain the following elements;
Once the event is over, log on to www.standagainstpoverty.org to confirm the number of people that took part in the action. Finally, let us know how your event went! Any pictures and stories would be gratefully recieved and you never know - you could find yourself in our next newsletter.
Here at TIDAL we will do everything we can to support your action. If you'd like to discuss ideas for how you could mobilise your community, or inquire about resources like speakers, videos and action cards, then get in touch at or 0791 203 4920.
To get you started, here are some excellent resource packs prepared by Tim Gee at BOND;
More resources are available at the following websites;