UK Stand Up and Take Action 2009: The Great Persuasion
Over 100, 000 people across the UK took part in lobbies, demonstrations, petitions, public meetings and special faith services from 16-18 October to deliver a message to politicians that action must be taken on Global Poverty and Climate Change.
These activities were the UK's part of the global Stand Up and Take Action initiative coordinated by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and the UN Millennium Campaign which saw 173 million people participate across the world.
As part of the mobilisation, constituents contacted more than 200 sitting MPs and prospective candidates with a copy of the Vote Global International Development Manifesto - a package of recommendations endorsed by more than 100 development charities.
The mobilisation delivered a clear message to politicians that they must keep their aid promises, and not let the good work aid does be lessened by the effects of climate change and the financial crisis.
The iniative won the support of the Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu who sent a message of suuport, saying:
"The
time has come for each of us to speak truth unto power, and that truth
is that we will no longer be content to wait for justice for the
poorest of the poor whilst the world's biggest economies shore up their
rich. It is high time we started talking about material welfare instead
of material wealth"
Even though, World Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October) has now passed, organisations can continue to support activists to contact politicians to persuade them of the need to take action on global poverty and climate change, using the toolkit, church toolkit, worship resources, Vote Global Manifesto and Questions and Answer sheet.
Some of the UK highlights are below:
In Swindon around 100 campaigners publicly lobbied MP Anne Snelgrove, and gave her an enlarged version of the Climate Change part of the manifesto, which she committed to give to Gordon Brown personally
In David Cameron's constituency of Witney, campaigners gathered petition signatures supporting the Vote Global Manifesto
In Oxford, campaigners, including parliamentary candidates, rang bells to represent the Climate Emergency
In London, campaigners left answerphone messages with their candidates and posted them copies of the Vote Global manifesto
In Northern Ireland, campaigners met with MPs including SDLP leader Mark Durkan to discuss the contents of the Vote Global manifesto
The Diocese of Kensington area conference spelled out a message to world leaders
In Manchester, campaigners attended a special conference on climate change
After a public meeting in Edinburgh that Alasdair Darling couldn't make it to, petitions and manifestos were handed over at his Surgery
In Brighton, parliamentary candidates Nancy Platts (Labour) and Ben Duncan (Green) joined a street stall in the city
