> Context
On November 15th, while governments of rich countries hold a special summit in Washington to address the financial crisis, civil society networks and forces all over the planet could unite for a Global Day, expressing their desire for Change and their concerns that solutions can’t be found by the rich alone and just by saving banks or partially reforming the financial system.
While this project was started before Barak Obama’s election, it seems important to amplify it and have civil society voices be heard in their diversity over the months to come, in order to encourage deeper reflection and real change; and to help set a better agenda for the international community.
The vitality of Global Civil Society is often questioned by the media or the Powers that Be. Five years after March 17th, 2003 and the Global Day of Protest against the War in Iraq, November 15th could provide some visibility to Civil Society forces and be perceived as the day when they protested, but also stood up for something.
This is an occasion for Civil Society Forces in their diversity, which have been working around most of these pressing issues over the last decades, to stir public debate by questioning the criteria for Growth, demanding the respect of Rights and Gender Justice, warning against Climate Change, etc, etc… and pushing for a Paradigm shift.
The main goal of course is to provide hope for people, hope that what they feel and think is being represented somewhere in the Public Sphere and that things might change. People around the planet are quite aware – if they are not themselves already directly affected by plain poverty, the food crisis or climate change - that the current financial crisis entails an economic and social crisis as well. People are shocked by the disproportion of remedies… The dots need to be connected.
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Context
"On November 15th, while governments of rich countries hold a special summit in Washington to address the financial crisis, civil society networks and forces all over the planet could unite for a Global Day, expressing their desire for Change and their concerns that solutions can’t be found by the rich alone and just by saving banks or partially reforming the financial system..."Read more
Communication Strategies
"On November 15th and beyond, joint action could be agreed upon. Actions could be easy to implement, even at a personal level, as for example, One Joint Slogan, One Symbol, One Drawing, Oner minute of silence at noon across the planet..."Read more
Facilitating a discussion on joint action among networks
"In order to achieve this, Bridge Initiative has started facilitating discussions among members of different groups : GCAP (Global Call for Action against Poverty), World Social Forum, Civicus, Crid, Coordination of National Platforms, UGCLA (Local Authorities), ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) and now offers to initiate a collective brainstorm on..."Read more
Deadlines
"In order to achieve the beginning of something by NOVEMBER 15th, we propose to circulate this document today and to get feedback by all interested parties by Friday November 7th; and see if we can agree on A joint slogan, a joint statement, a drawing ..."Read more
O-Change Founding Principles
"The Olympiads for Change uses the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the starting point and original framework for the competition. Across the Planet, teams form to compete in five disciplines - a «Pentathlon» - through which they illustrate, give life, adapt, (revise ?) the Articles into a document of global citizenship..."Read more