Africans on the campaign trail

AFRICANS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL!
PLANS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES BUILDING UP TO JUNE 16- JULY 1

OVERVIEW
In Africa, the Global Call for Action against Poverty (GCAP) meeting in Nairobi at the end of March 2005 developed a calendar of events for the regions to include:

May 28 The Africa Day
June 16 The Day of the African Child
To be added to:
July 1(2) The 1st White Band Day
September The 2nd White Band Day
December The 3rd White Band Day

In preparation for the sub-regional coordinators and partners in GCAP embarked the following:
i) Mobilising the National and sub-regional Coalitions in each of their regions
ii) Developing a list of activities for each of the events
iii) Developing media strategies to catalyze awareness building as well for lobbying and publicity
iv) Developing specific asks/demands or messages for each of the key areas or goals
v) Fund raising.

June 16 First African White Band Day
On June 16, GCAP coalitions across Africa are organising joint actions to mark the day of the African Child. GCAP coalitions have chosen this date to have an African White Band Day and to make a regional plea for leaders to take immediate action to end extreme poverty that leads to a child dying every 3 seconds.

The African version of the original celebrity “click-ad” will also be launched on June 16, with a Press Conference being held in Nairobi, involving most of the 15 celebrities in the “click-ad”

In South Africa, children and adults will come to Soweto to demand action by African leaders on orphans and vulnerable children. Loise Bwambale (from Uganda), member of the Pan- African Parliament, will lead proceedings.

In Kenya, a huge rally, with approximately 5000 children, will be held in Thika. The event will take place in Kiandutu slum, which has the highest percentage of orphaned children. The Vice-President will be in attending, but the chief guest will be a child.

In Senegal, a huge demonstration involving 500 children is planned. A huge lobby meeting with the president of Senegal and children is planned during the event. Celebrities such as Youssou Ndour, Baaba Maal, Coumba Gawlo, Viviane Ndour, Mada Ba, Oumar Pene, Abdou Djite have all been invited too.

In Tanzania, the Day of the African Child will be marked with mobilizations and a press conference.

SPECIFIC PLANS BY COALITIONS

The National Coalition or Task Force of Zimbabwe chose to focus on the Day of The African Child in commemoration and recognition of the importance of the African Child.

Girl Child Network of Zimbabwe is a member GCAP International Taskforce on the Day of the African Child organizing committee that comprise of: ANPCCAN, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Gender and Community Development, Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare and Children (ZNCWC), Chipawo, UNICEF, NANGO, Child Protection Society (CPS), Streets Ahead, National Association of Societies of the Handicapped and Zimbabwe coalition on debt and development and MWENGO will this year actively participate in organizing the Day of the African Child in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Below are proposed activities of the Zimbabwe working group that will serve to sensitize people about the day prior to its commemoration.

Media Coverage
Adverts to be placed in the weekly and daily newspapers.
• On Monday 23 May there will be a press release on the Day of the African Child focusing on the poverty theme.
• On 29 May there will be another press release focusing on Governance
• On Wednesday 8 June another press release on HIV and AIDS
• On Sunday 12 June there will be the last final release on Debt and Aid
• Conferences on the day with the rest of Africa on the day are already in progress and will be ongoing up until the day. These are done by a local radio station.
• Organised press conferences with donors and embassies on poverty and quality Aid. Street kids will be the interviewers.

Securing of white bands
• Orphans will be identified before the day including children living and working on the streets and white bands will be secured for them to wear on the day so as to carry the message home. The white bands are to be secured by the 9th of June AND these will carry the following four messages:

Our messages in Zimbabwe include
1) Break the code, it’s choking us (Debt cancellation)
2) Empty stomach, empty brain (Food and education)
3) Who ate what I am paying for
4) Why do I have to suffer for decisions made by others (governance, parents culture and religion)

• The white bands will be distributed to several schools around the country before the day.
• There will be the lobbying of all MPs to wear the bands on the day beginning of June 2005.
• White bands will be tied around national monuments, parliaments, law courts, UN agencies on the 15th of June.

A high placed person will speak on the day
• A highly placed person will speak on the day

Youth Concerts
• Songs, poems and drama from children and a local theatre group are already underway in Machipisa and Chitungwiza tackling issues to do with the importance of children to the development of the nation.
• On the day events will take place in Harare with marches organized from Mbare Musika and involve all street kids
• Children will present petitions to all donors and embassies on quality aid and debt cancellation ‘debt and poverty bring insanity, even my father rapes me’, What remains is to brainstorm on the above issues and agree on the most effective way of marking the day in close partnership with the rest of Africa.

Let us all be part of the process to see that the African Child is not caught up in the cycle of poverty. We can make poverty history.

SOUTH AFRICA

Preparations for the June 16 and July 2 White Band Days
It was agreed that two speakers from all the eight South African provincial legislatures be mobilized to convey GCAP messages on June 16.

SANGOCO and EJNF agreed to shelve the idea of having two separate events in Soweto and instead work on merging their initial programmes. Tentatively, the first white band day programme in Soweto on June 16 will constitute 8 hours of activities that will include meetings at Chiawelo and or Orlando West, Museum Tour, Workshops/debates, Lunch, Cultural events, Music and possibly a movie.

SANGOCO will bring Daniel Molokele on board to liaise with EJNF on the harmonization of activities for the day and help in facilitating the preparations. He will follow up on the issue of guest speakers for the day.

Melanie will aim to make possible an international conference in Soweto involving Mandela just before the start of the day’s programme.

GCAP National Launch is also programmed to coincide with the Regional commemoration of the Day of the African Child. These plans are being led by the Environmental Justice Network Forum, a member of a National Coalition.

The original plan was to hold three sub-regional events on June 16: one in Accra Ghana for West Africa, one in Nairobi and a third in Ethiopia. Given the Ethiopian political situation, the event was moved to South Africa and the coalition there was asked to combine it with their National Celebration.

Prior to June 16, there will be African snap ads and announcements of the launch in the media on either Monday or Tuesday 14th; there will be a media release for June 16 events and a media breakfast.

There will also be pamphlets produced for June 16 also announcing July 1 plans. These pamphlets will have messages on Aid, Trade and Debt and the back page shall have a paragraph on Gender concerns/positions.

June 16 will see the mobilised groups in South Africa in SOWETO first at the graveyard where they will hold a memorial. The group will then move to another venue where different public activities shall be held.

There will also be three soccer matches: two semifinals and one final at which the GCAP will be widely publicized.

On July 1, in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, a group of shacks will be wrapped in a white band, to symbolize perpetuating poverty in Africa.

The GCAP coalition is planning a concert on July 2 to coincide with the planned live 8 concerts.

Second White Band Day- July 2
Given Bob Geldof scheduled five concerts in Europe and U.S, there was a strong feeling that Africa needs to take an active role in promoting its own activities during the second White Band day. The concert to mark this day will be held in Thembisa. Suggestions included that the day starts with a link up with the global media networks such as the CNN and BBC. Then there will be performances b various African artists. Melanie will look into the possibility of incorporating both established and upcoming artists.

As a start, the concert organizers require 400000 ZAR to take care of basic arrangements and facilities such as sound instruments. Two people (Daniel Molokele and Hazel) will be added to the SANGOCO team to help with preparations. Meanwhile, SANGOCO requested for office space and facilities at CIVICUS to accommodate the two organizers and possible volunteers.

EASTERN AFRICA SUB-REGION ACTIVITY PROGRAMME FOR JUNE-JULY
Overview
The voice from the people of East Africa points out that for the MDG campaign to make meaning, then it requires that Africans who demand and work to secure progress should be involved and have a voice in this campaign. There should be a campaign in Kenya, for example with its results fed into the UK campaigns and directly to the G8 and Millennium Summit meetings.

Already the idea is building momentum in Africa, The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) a component born out of “Make poverty history” coalition has seen the Bishops led by Bishop Ireri of Kenya, hold peaceful demonstrations and show of solidarity in the week of action, has seen Action Aid and its partners meet in South Africa in September, 2004 to deliberate on GCAP mobilization, collectively plan for the global days of white band mobilization (16th June, 1st July, 10th September and 10th December) and is the origin of “Get on Board” epic journey transporting messages of people from the south to the north.

Neither the idea nor its outcome belongs to anybody other than the poor. After the recent Tsunami disaster, the whole world spontaneously took part in uniquely united action. The crisis was larger than any component of ownership in the response. Poverty is no less a crisis, it deserves no less a response. It needs no attribution. It should just “happen”

Coordinating agency (AWEPON)
As the coordinating institution, the following has been planned for this period:
• Policy analysis-Taxation advocacy work with CEEWA Uganda, EPAS- Ministry of Trade and the Trade thematic group
• Water campaign- dissemination of policy briefs, public dialogue
• HIV/AIDS campaign- two meetings to be held in Tanzania and Swaziland
• ESCR approach on MDGs- training and awareness workshop (Regional)
• Media campaign- newspaper supplements
• Support to national coalitions
• Networking with sub-regional processes- visit to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya (develop a sub-regional youth campaign coalition)
• E-Campaign and websites
• Participation in networking events (national and international)
• Meetings with media to enhance message dissemination.

ETHIOPIA
The Ethiopian campaign has been greatly affected by the government decision to delay the launch of GCAP by the Ethiopian coalition. Nonetheless, the coalition has been proactive and has sought other ways of responding to the challenges posed by government. They have continued mobilizing around issues rather than around the upcoming June 16 and very likely July 1 as well. The Coalition has however continued with enhancing the knowledge base of the coalition in the terms of articulating the campaign agenda. That not withstanding, the following activities have been planned:
• Media campaign
• Development of messages
• Seeking accountability with government ministries
• In the last week, there has been civil unrest and demonstrations. Twenty-four people are reported dead. The status of the campaign therefore continues to be uncertain.

KENYA
The Kenyan campaign has the following general objectives:
• To generate debate on poverty alleviation and open up opportunities for new initiatives that will assist gain more action on the ground to alleviate poverty
• To provide the material statement on the needs and the actions required to feed into the UK campaign, the G8 and Millennium Summit.
• To show that individuals, companies etc. are able to mobilize and raise money for focused action to alleviate poverty.

Activities include
The Media Campaign
To this end, all the media houses in Kenya have agreed to commit and combine, with unprecedented unity, to ask and help answer the question: “What will really work”
For the week of June 19, the media will give a voice to all Kenyans on this question, to the people who make the policy, to those who are governed by it, to those who oppose it, to technical specialists, donors, project leaders, captains of industries, investors, factory workers, small-holder farmers, the man-in the street, the mother of a hungry child.

What will really work? What actions will have the most direct, rapid, and lasting effect on the greatest number of people? In addition, what is needed not just to enable those actions, but also to drive them with real purpose and result?

To focus opinion and debate, each day of the campaign has a subject theme, led by panelists at a live day forum/press conference, by special reports, and by comment and talk- back on television, radio and in the print media.

The fullest possible cross- section of opinion will be sought and aired, with only two self- imposed rules to signal a change of heart and a change of method: no personalities and no jargon. Real solutions can and must be above politics (Kenyans take note), and can and must be expressed in plain language (theorists take note).

All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC): THE INTERFAITH GROUP IN KENYA
A second planning meeting for July was convened by the AACC to include all the major Faith-based organisations in Kenya, plus other civil society organisations. The plan is a roll of prayers starting with 23rd in all the mosques, 24th in all the Seventh Day Adventist Churches, 25th for the rest of the Christian denominations. At all the other services, the same message will be ‘preached.’ This message is collectively being developed by the Worship sub- committee of the Inter- faith committee.

A press conference shall be held before July 1 to both announce and publicize the activities for July 1. This day start with an Inter- faith service at Uhuru Park that starts at 10:00am. A circle of people all inter-laced by a white band shall be the shape of this Inter- faith service.

The key issues were 1st- to create a close- to- the- people’s understanding of the symbolic use of the White Band before wrapping it around a building.

The second key issue was “There is more to July 1.” As a result, a sub-committee shall be putting together a conceptual framework of “July and Beyond” out of which all forms of activities, responses and plans will roll- out.

UGANDA
• Media campaign-public dialogue
• District outreach activities
• Launch of GCAP in Soroti district
Concerts are being planned for July 1 and July 2, respectively to coincide with the white Band Day actions.

TANZANIA
• Reaching out to embassies
• Policy briefs to selected sectors
• Thematic groups- developing specific messages for G8 and Tanzania government.
A reception with donors and the government will follow on from G8 embassy lobbying.
The CSOs GCAP/MDGs campaign coalition in Tanzania is now at 50 and growing daily. TANGO is continuing to serve as the secretariat.

WLAC/ Sustainability Watch project participated in a meeting in Canada and a few others in a “African Women with MDGs” meeting convened by AWOMI in Nairobi recently. Back home, Sustainability Watch Campaign and TENMET were busy planning for events/ activities that take place this month (June 2005) and beyond. Soon we will be in a position to share and circulate widely the information/reports once they become available.

Coordination and financial update
A democratic process of electing a Steering Committee for the campaign is underway and in its final stages. The SC is scheduled to hold its first meeting on 20th June 2005.
Among the duties, roles and responsibilities of the SC include:
• Approving and become the final authority regarding campaign proposal, implementation of activities, use of coalition funds and may from time to time delegate authority to working groups when necessary;
• Offer policy direction to the campaign, become the campaign’s spokesperson(s) and help create linkage between the campaign and interested stakeholders/ alliances.
• Support the campaign secretariat in fund raising and other operational support that may be required from time to time; and
• Animate, motivate and seek the active participation/ support of existing and potential coalition members.
Funding has not yet been obtained even the long awaited funds from the UN Millennium campaign. The local financial support for coordinators salary and related admin costs dried up- end of May 2005. NOVIB have informed the coalition that they are aware of the current processes going on in terms of putting in place a structure for the coalition. Hopefully, with the proposed steering committee in place, the question of adequately funding the campaign shall become the least of their worries.

Campaign’s guiding policy
Following on with our theme of “Acha Mizengwe” discussions took place to identify a unifying vision of the campaign. A unifying theme around: Every Tanzanian has the right to better social services was tentatively adopted. A draft of the policy guideline has been widely circulated for further inputs and adaptations.

Within it a proposal ha also been put forward to narrow the focus to three thematic areas from the previous/ agreed five as follows:
• Education- linked to goal number 2 and 3 of the MDGs
• Health- goals number 4 through 7 of the Millennium Declaration
• Governance and Accountability- goal number 1 and 8
We are still receiving comments, kindly please share yours to collectively share and own the contents of the policy guidelines.

Campaign activities
An MDG awareness workshop for district/regional NGO networks was held in Iringa on 28th May 2005. The workshop is part of a project to build the capacity of civil society organisations at sub-national level to effectively engage with PRS/MDG process. The project, co- funded by UNDP and SNV, is jointly being implemented by TANGO and ALAT with close cooperation by partner agencies. Main recommendations and issues emanating from the Iringa workshop will be shared as soon as possible.

Get involved! Once again we expect the ideas and proposals to hold events/ activities to be undertaken or supported by the coalition to come from you- the members. If you are organizing an event/activity or planning to, please let us know. Together we achieve more!
Some of the planned events are:
• Throughout 2005-media advocacy
• June- July- Advocacy meetings with government and international embassies prior to AU/G8 meetings
• June- September- Input to government report to the UN Millennium Summit
• July 2005-Women’s dialogue/ testimonials with presidential nominees and Members of Parliament.
• September 6-9- Gender festival that will be organized by TGNP that could help us by offering the continuity towards our launch date
• September 10, 2005- Campaign launch (tentative date)
• Film festival (date to be announced)
• Petition signing (date to be announced)
• Public forum with government officials (date to be announced)

Working Groups
Urgently looking for members? Do you want to be part of making things happen? We have three working groups in formation: media, popular mobilization and advocacy.

Apart from the media team that has taken some physical shape, the popular mobilization- working group is also in place. Deus Kibamba of TGNP has agreed to lead the group and you might have read a message fro him through this mailing list a few hours ago. The popular mobilization group will hold its first meeting on Thursday 9th June 2005 at TGNP, Mabibo Dar es Salaam.

Zaa Twalangete of TANGO, James Sangoro and Jamillah Mwanjisi of PACT Tanzania have joined the media- working group to provide the much- needed advertising expertise.
There is still plenty of space/ opportunity to join any of the above groups so if you are interested please let me know.

The third group on advocacy is yet to be formed. Ms. Pamela Young of OXFAM GB has volunteered and is temporarily scouting for possible members to form the working group. The advocacy group will be needed to lobby the government and international donors.

We will be working with leaders of the various sectoral areas to further define how to take this work forward without duplication of efforts. If your organisation is involved in one of the areas, let us know!

Coalition membership commitment form/ questionnaire was designed for organisations to sign up on.

MOZAMBIQUE
The GCAP campaign in Mozambique is on track. Last Wednesday- 1st of June, we launched the campaign through a public forum about the issue of poverty and MDGs progress in Africa and Mozambique in particular. About 100 people from different organisations, students, academics attended the event led by Graça Machel. The event had the participation of senior members of the Mozambican government; UNDP and prominent Mozambican activists. We’re planning to bring president Chissano to the campaign.

After the meeting, we had a well participated press conference and the GCAP launch was first page news in some of the biggest Mozambican newspapers such as “Noticias” and in the national television and radio stations.

Media are open to spread the message around GCAP. All we need is to explore this opportunities, there’re also the possibilities to explore the communities radios around the world.

JUNE 16 Plans
For June 16, we’re planning mass mobilization activities such as a march as well as public discussion around the very issue: African orphan- our collective responsibility.
Of course there is a need to improve national coordination and bring more organization for the movement and we hope to do it before the second White Band day, assuming that the first White Band day was the 1st of June.

SIERRA LEONE
“Give Sierra Leone opportunities to develop.”
In Sierra Leone, a campaign has been launched under the title “Give Sierra Leone opportunities to develop.”

A national meeting that was held on the 11th of March 2005 which led to the formation of a new platform in Sierra Leone. 19 civil Society organisations/groups have indicated their willingness to be involved in the GCAP in Sierra Leone. Regional committees have been formed with some CSOs opting to coordinate the campaign in regions in which they feel they have very strong presence/following (Northern region- CARITAS, Makeni, SLTU, NFHR, NAFSL; Southern region- NMJD, SLTU, NAFSL, NFHR, CSAP-SL; Eastern region- MRD, CCSHRA-SL, CSAP-SL, NFHR; Western area-SLLC, TUCSL, CCYA, CCSHRA. NFHR).

It was resolved that a national GCAP coordinating/organising committee will be set up after the regional meetings (in 2-3 weeks time, before the end of March) and representatives in this national committee will be drawn from the regional committees and the national committee will comprise; Youths/ Youth groups, National Union of Sierra Leone Students (NUSS), SLLC, NMJD, NFHR, NAFSL, SLTU, CSAP-SL, MRD, CCSHRA-SL, CARITAS, and Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE).

In addition to the three main issues of the GCAP (Aid, Debt Cancellation and Trade Justice), local issues have also bee identified to be incorporated into the campaign- corruption, illiteracy, unemployment and laws relating to employment, mining policies, trade policies in Sierra Leone, environmental sanitation, access to information, quality of service, use of loans and debts. The group agreed to launch GCAP formally in Sierra Leone in April.

The famous cotton tree, planted by freed slaves when the nation was founded, will be draped in a white band. The coalition so far is made up of the following groups:
• Mohamed Sillah, Action Aid International Sierra Leone, [email protected], [email protected]
• Festus E. Minah, President-Sierra Leone Teachers Union, [email protected], [email protected]
• Ansu Rashid Kallon, Secretary General- Sierra Leone Labor Congress, [email protected]

Gender Campaign
Recent initiatives relating to the women’s rights and gender equality aspects of the global GCAP mobilization and the poverty eradication agenda. Please see the attached document for a full update in French, Spanish and Englisc.

Contact:
• Alison Symington at AWID, [email protected]

MALI
Concert to launch the GCAP campaign on June 16 2005
This concert will have the following objectives:
• Launch the GCAP campaign and explain its objectives
• Announce the People’s Forum 2005 that will take place in Fana in Mali in July 2oo5 as a counter summit of the G8
This concert will give the campaign a national coverage thanks to the media (radio, newspaper and TV)
This launching concert will have three steps:
• A press conference on the campaign themes
• Before the concert, the CAD Mali will present the objectives of the GCAP campaign and announce the People’s Forum
• The concert will be given by 8 Malian musicians. In between the different performances, the CAD will launch messages on the campaign. White bands will be distributed to the participants as a support for the campaign.
The 62 members organizations will be actively implicated for the organization of the concert and all Malian social movements will be invited to the concert. Posters will permit to communicate more globally to the Malian population. The concert will be free, which will enable attraction of a large number of participants.

ZAMBIA
• Huge marches to G8 embassies will take place on July 1.
• Concerts are planned for July 1 and July2, respectively to coincide with the White Band day actions.

GHANA
• On July 1, a beach party with farmers groups is planned to highlight the plight of rice farmers, caused by unfair trade rules.

SENEGAL
• The slavery archway will be wrapped in a white band.