In calendar year 2005, the Global Call to action Against Poverty (GCAP) began the most
s uccessful rallying of groups and individuals the world has ever seen. The
concept was simple but making it a reality required the work of hundreds of thousands
around the globe. Between January 1st and December 31st 2005, 32,000 actions took place on every
inhabited continent. In addition, 95 coalitions and 1,500 supporting
organisations joined the call. What follows next are the major events of 2005.
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Three weeks prior to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, and just two weeks before the Live8 concerts, GCAP “turned up the volume” with the Day of the African Child. In fact this event was Africa’s first White Band Day, when all the peoples of Africa were asked to wear a simple white band to show their solidarity with the campaign.
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White Band Day I was probably the most famous of GCAP’s white band days. The involvement of celebrities such as Bono, Bob Geldof and Richard Branson, July 2nd, 2005 was a glittering extravaganza.
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Since 1998, Kumi
Naidoo has been the Secretary
General and Chief Executive Officer of CIVICUS. With a small staff of 35,
but a membership of more than 500 organizations and individuals from 97
countries, CIVICUS is dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil
society throughout the world.
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This time, the GCAP theme was “wake up to poverty,” reminding leaders not to ignore the abject poverty that plagues most of the world’s population. The reason the World Assembly was chosen as an optimum campaign point was because the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were about to be reviewed.
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