The waning years of the 20th century were a time of great global fragmentation and division. Since then, people all over the world have steadily come to feel less secure and less safe. However, there was a prevailing belief among Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and people in general, that the world could unite again in solidarity in a battle truly worth fighting – the war against poverty.

In 2003, a meeting hosted by the Community Development Foundation, headed by Graca Machel in Maputo, Mozambique, brought together activists from Africa, Asia and Latin America to discuss what – if anything – could be done to mobilize the general public into pressuring their governments to follow through with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which had been laid out in the year 2000. This began a process that then merged with others to form the GCAP network.

By 2004, antipoverty coalitions were already formed and gearing up in anticipation of the next year. In May, the UK’s Make Poverty History campaign held a meeting in Redding, England with a few other European coalitions where it was decided to greatly expand the campaign. In September of that same year, international networks, trade unions, religious groups, other civil society sectors as well as major donors such as NOVIB, International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) – (OXFAM, Action Aid, Christian Aid, Micah Challenge) – and the UN Millennium Campaign gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa. At this meeting, hosted by CIVICUS, GCAP was born.