This blog's purpose is to connect in an every widening and deepening manner with others across the globe in support of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
DigiActive.org has a new video on 10 Tactics you can use in getting support for your favorite cause say the Millennium Development Goals for example. (OK not so new, its been sitting in my drafts for ages but anyway)
Tactical Technology Collective is the premiere international training organization for rights activists interested in using information and digital technology to create positive change. They have recently released a film that beautifully presents 10 key tactics in info-activism. The tactics are:
The film has a dedicated site, http://www.informationactivism.org, where you can check out a local screening (or host your own), and help Tactical Tech promote the film. It’s just what activists need: clear, timely, and concise information that can be easily put into action.
The dedicated site also has individual videos for each of the 10 methods. What is becoming more obvious to me is that one individual, especially one not engaged full time in this arena needs to collaborate with others.
On Thursday February 11, 2010, Amnesty International is calling for support for those participating in the mass protests standing up to the authorities and the abuses of Basij militia and Revolutionary Guards by disputing the outcome of the last year's June Election. As of this posting, it is February 11th in Iran.
Current local time in Mashhad, Iran
In creating this post, the arena of collaboration that I have chosen is again, Bloggers Unite, who are working with Amnesty International to get the word out on February 11, 2010 which isVictory of the Revolution Day in Iran. Equivalent to the Fourth of July in the United States, it is a day commemorating liberty, independence and freedom.
Admitting to being a slacktivist is my way of recognizing that this blog on its own is only a minor contribution and does not compare with the commitment being made by others. After all, I am writing this from usually sunny southern California where although the economy is bad and jobs are now tenuous, I am safe writing this post rather than fearing torture or death. That for me though is an argument against keeping quiet. Small voice blogs such as this one can help spread the word and push awareness beyond the edge of mainstream news sources. By using multiple means of communication through writing, podcasts, and video we can provide greater clarity regarding the impact of these issues. This YouTube video from the Amnesty International (Belgium Flemish) chapter shows former detainee Ali Kheradnejad talking about his experience.
As Amnesty International asserted
Since blogs and websites like Twitter and YouTube were virtually the only way the Iranian people could expose the horrific treatment being inflicted on them in the days following the contested Presidential election, we full expect Iranians to turn to the Internet once again to carry their messages. That is why we are asking everyone to show their solidarity online on February 11th whether its on your blog, website, or social networking profile.
It is also an assertion that having more slacktivists on the web will not lead to those committed to causes leaving to Farmville on Facebook, as some argue, rather it will help accumulate into potential tipping points of change. This is especially true as these efforts are done in collaboration as with Amnesty International's effort to support protester's in Iran. The sort of effort can be faulted for being "activism for a lazy generation”, but as ict.developmentgateway.org, The Boston Globe -News of Iran, edited in Newton and Clay Shirky: Social Media vs. the Dictator demonstrate social media tools such as Twitter can be effective tools in creating social awareness.
News #CNNfail: Twitter Blasts CNN Over Iran Election
Twitter users blasted CNN this weekend for a lack of coverage of the Tehran protests, with Iranian citizens claiming ballot fraud and taking to the streets.
Twitter has proven a powerful tool for spreading news of developing events in the country, but it has also taken on the role of media watchdog: thousands of Twitter users adopted the hashtag #CNNfail to highlight a lack of Iran coverage from the news organization.
The website is called Tehran Bureau, but it is not housed in the Iranian capital. It’s edited from Niknejad’s parents’ living room in Newton
The English-language site has generated a lot of attention over the past few weeks as tensions escalated over allegations of electoral fraud by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government. When demonstrators were shot and communication with the West was curtailed in a government clampdown, Tehran Bureau’s stream of news alerts and Twitter feeds became a valued source of information cited by The New York Times and other Western news organizations.
Clay Shirky, in this TED Talk looks at how the end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics, Iranian protestors streaming news to the world, showing how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news by bypassing censors (if all too briefly).
Although it is not the primary focus of this blog, it has in the past supported Amnesty International efforts on behalf of dissident Hana Abdi, a women's rights advocate in Iran and posted on Kristof and WuDunn's general theme in their book HALF THE SKY". To wit, the brave women of Iran who took to the streets to protest the results of the recent election.
My wife and I made a financial contribution to UNICEF because they stated that 100% of the money would go to directly to relief efforts. Recently Caryl M. Stern President & CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF sent me some photos taken last Saturday at the Foyer L'escale Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is heartening to see that some good is being done.
What you see here is what's happening all over Haiti. Because of your rapid, decisive response to our appeals, thousands of children are alive today.
Look into their faces. Full of life and hope for a better tomorrow:
They are alive today because UNICEF was there: distributing clean water, providing shelter, protecting children from abuse and exploitation.
This week alone, UNICEF:
Launched a campaign to immunize 500,000 children against measles, diphtheria, and tetanus;
Provided clean drinking water to over a half a million people daily;
Installed latrines, bringing the total of new sanitation facilities to 750; and
Delivered personal kits to 50,000 children without parental care.
We are now preparing to face the serious risks and challenges that lie before us in the weeks ahead. And with 40% of the Haitian population under the age of 14, this is a children's emergency. These children need to be found, fed, and kept safe from abuse and exploitation.
But just for today, I wanted to show you the very real impact you're having on the children of Haiti.
From all of us at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, thank you.
Now Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director at ONE has sent a thank you and gave us:
Breaking news: The United States Treasury Department has just announced U.S. government support for complete debt cancellation for Haiti and will work with our international partners to ensure that new assistance comes in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans.
She credits the than more than 200,000 ONE members who supported this effort calling on the U.S. to take this message to G7 finance ministers' summit this weekend.
Your voices and support for Haiti are the reason we're celebrating a victory on debt relief today. This important news from the U.S. government, combined with the grassroots presence Michèle will lend to the Iqaluit meeting, makes me optimistic that we'll be hearing more good news on debt relief for Haiti soon, as its people look to rebuild and live out their motto L'union fait la force (Unity is strength.)
In fact, ONE will be there when U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his counterparts in the G7—the very people who sit on the governing boards of the international lending institutions that hold Haiti's $1 billion debt—meet in the far-north Canadian town of Iqaluit this weekend for a G7 finance ministers' summit. Among Iqaluit's 7,000 residents is ONE member Michèle Bertol, and she has graciously agreed to deliver our petition to the host of the summit, Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty.
I am not going to claim any great role is this effort but I will argue the even small efforts by millions working in common purpose across the globe can make a difference. I do believe that the technology of social media whether blogs with small voices like mine or globe spanning tools like twitter have made a significant impact. The point is that we do have the ability to make a difference. We just need to start doing it before the disaster happens.
Social media fills communication gap in Haiti: BBC
Despite the near collapse in landline and cellular communications in Haiti after the earthquake, social media has enabled people to communicate with one another and organize information. Organizations such as Telecoms Sans Frontieres have been able to provide Internet access for relaying maps, communication and disaster information through services such as Twitter and Ushahidi.
In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, all initial attention -- naturally -- focused on immediate relief. Search parties to dig people out of the rubble, and relief workers to set up access to medical treatment, food, water and shelter. But the real process of recovery, which comes next, has far greater implications for a nation's future health and development. That's why it's great to see technology groups that were some of the earliest and most creative responders to Haiti's initial crisis are now shifting gears to focus on recovery, as well.
Sphere: Related Content
In past posts, I have been self-depreciating (which doesn't mean that it is not true) about being a slacktivist. Even this small effort has sometimes become more difficult with other issues rising in my life. Truth is that we can always find people in our lives who are doing something more and can use that to help keep ourselves on the journey. So I wanted to connect with some of the good work that I have run across while on this pathway.
I have been wanting to do a blog post on what some of my Orkut and Facebook friends were getting involved in. It has been something on the backburner for a while. This pathway has introduced me to some rather interesting people. I did one with this blog on SAHASH INDIA NGO Society sometime ago.
"TIG is an inspiration to other organizations - it leads by example with its dynamism and commitment to constantly exploring and implementing innovative ways of doing business, proving that it is possible for an organization to be successful and truly socially responsible, and by showcasing the passionate dedication and brilliance of young people who are, often thanklessly, making this world a better place for all of us."
We provide economic assistance to the women living at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The intent of this assistance is to help the community escape extreme poverty. Current assistance projects include:
So there are people all over trying to make the world a bit better. My interest in focusing on these efforts is that they are the efforts of individuals, perhaps through organizations, but it is their individual effort that makes the story. The efforts are a bit more than your run-of-the-mill slacktivist even by well-meaning people who keep blogs and wiki's. Helps to keep perspective when dealing with this crazy world. I recently revisited a TED Talk that made this point about the importance of the individual's efforts as opposed to the networks.
The focus of Development Gateway Foundation's dgCommunities (previous post) is providing web-based tools to make aid and development efforts more effective by increasing access to critical information, building local capacity and bringing partners together for positive change. Somewhat like computer geeks looking for some do-gooders to help. They are in the field, having just opened as opened a new office in Dakar, Senegal, but work more it seems on upgrading aid management systems or improving user interface.
The ICCO Alliance and its many partners or sponsors, including EUFORIC, seem to focus their efforts more towards on the ground efforts in aid relief than dgCommunities. They are also though seeking to extent their reach and effectiveness by using Web 2.0. tools, so do-gooders looking for help from the computer geeks. From the Web 2.0 perspective this would be the Integration of Collaborative Information Systems in Web 2.0 (pdf), but from the field operatives perspective looking to communicate and collaborate with other aid organizations it is ComPart.
Their system is impressive and should be a model for other collaborative progressive efforts on the Internet. While dgCommunities is out of Washington D.C., I have thought for a while that the Europeans were better at using the Internet for social action at the grassroots level than we are in the States. While we may have more people on Facebook signing up for the latest cause, Europe including Great Britain seem better at using Web 2.0 for socially beneficial impact.
In 2007, ICCO started a project (with support from Euforic) working with Knowledge and Learning Networks. The project aims to contribute to ICCO Alliance capacity building, learning networks, and knowledge.
The basis for the ComPart system is ComPart Flowers. This 30 minute presentation found on blip.tv provides a more extensive look at what makes up the ComPart Flowers system:
Some of the tools used are blogs, social tagging and wikis. One outcome of these efforts is the web2share wiki.
This wiki introduces some 'building blocks' - tools and applications - for open information, knowledge sharing and communication in development. It builds on the efforts of ICCO, Euforic and their partners. It supports further investments in these tools and approaches.
The ICCO Alliance/ComPart folks are not having any trouble finding the computer geek types to help them including the founder of PBWiki, David Weekly.
David Weekly in the ComPart Learning Blog Post: Wiki, wiki, wiki, meet David Weekly.., explains his interest to listen to experiences of wiki users from Nepal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chile and Costa Rica during his participation in the ComPart support workshop in the Netherlands. He also explains how PBwiki continues to try to make wikis easier to use and how valuable it has been to meet some major daily users of the PBwiki platform.
How to promote a learning culture in an organization with huge workloads and pressure for the young staff? Start from scratch, from their needs and wishes, and help them crystallize their own ideas.
Most of what is featured here came from the ComPart toolbar, which I downloaded but can't now find a live link. I should disclose that I am not part of any of these organizations. I am just impressed and believe that even looking from the outside in that there is a great deal to learn.
This blog became aware of dgCommunities last year and started to link back then. What was not fully appreciate back then was the tremendous amount of information that was available. The dgCommunities website is still part of the Collaboration Tools for the Millennium Development Goals found at the right hand column. The latest addition is giving dgCommunities its own section featuring links to specific areas of interest - Information and Communication Technologies, Capacity Development and Knowledge Economy.
The folks at dgCommunities obviously recognize the issue of information overload because near the top of each e-mail is the question "Too much e-mail?" The information content of this blog is exponentially going beyond the capabilities of one individual to absorb so I will be picking what is of interest and trying new strategies for organization.
I did a post at my other blog on using YouTube as a social media tool. One of the most recent examples is Youtube's own coverage of the Davos Economic Forum. Though nothing all that positive came out of the forum as a whole there were a number of videos on a subject close to this blog - The Girl Effect.
Ann Veneman talks about the Girl Effect at Davos
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala talks about the Girl Effect at Davos
Professor Muhammad Yunus responds to the Girl Effect
Some recent explorations through the dgCommunities sites revealed some interesting insights into the topics that this blog has been pondering lately. One line of thought has been the immensity of the challenge facing the effort to implement the Millennium Development Goals. More so now that the world is facing a financial crisis. Raising the question as what are NGO's or change-agent organizations doing in light of this?
Some of the biggest development and humanitarian NGOs are laying off staff or revising programmes for 2009 as their income streams flatten because of the global financial crisis. Fundraising experts of three of the world's top NGOs - Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK and World Vision USA - said programme growth will slow in 2009 as a result of the squeeze.
There are other actions that can be taken that don't depend as much upon a large flow of financing to fund massive projects. Providing knowledge for empowerment or broad based solidarity is a form of action for which the Internet is especially suited. This blog is being defined, along with countless others, as a "small voice" blog. A description well suited for sites with minimal resources but a wealth of good metta. This blog and my other have been exploring the tools available on the web to reach others through social media, but there is also a wisdom in the use of those tools. Kasem Ali wrote about this January 8, 2009. I have summarized to a substantial degree below as a set of quick notes to be learned and applied, and his original article should be read.
Nonprofits are getting a grip on the fact that their stakeholder have the tools to reach as many people as they do and that there are powerful opportunities to be pursued as a result. Broadly speaking, this is seen as the challenge of social media. Too many organizations are treating their vocal stakeholders as either journalists with whom they must be careful, or as followers to whom they must market. Drawing from my experience in treating journalists as human beings, this article describes five principles of social media strategy that chart a better way.
(1) Don't Take It Personally: Assume that most of the time, most people will have little interest in what you have to say.
(2) Tell the Truth: Don't lie. Don't sanitize. Don't obfuscate. Sound like a real person.
(3) Make Their Job Easy: Study what people write and share. Figure out what else they need when they're considering your stuff and give it to them.
(4) Be a Useful Source: Look at what they write, discover their current sources and what is useful about them. Determine what kind of information makes them look good, and give them that.
(5) Prioritize Your Efforts: Invest more in those for whom your strategies are working and for whom your resources are useful, even if they have smaller audiences.
This level of established trust can become a basis for the sustainable development of grassroots empowerment. The Millennium Development Goals will not work as long as the model for overcoming poverty is donor in control and recipient in compliance. A level of grassroots empowerment must be established. The grassroots empowerment must also be nurtured into viable social and economic systems, but it has to be grown internally by the community itself. The Mercy Corps is one organization taking on this type of work.
Mercy Corps focuses on working in countries in transition, where communities are struggling to recover from political or economic collapse, conflict or natural disaster. Experience has identified community-led and market-driven programs as the critical factor in helping communities sustainably rebuild and recover. Key to this approach is enabling communities to mobilize successfully for action.
This report reviews the research and contributes meaningful data to the longer term impact of community mobilization program.
SUSTAINABILITY FIELD STUDY Understanding What Promotes Lasting Change at the Community Level December 2007 Preface
The results of this study confirm the design hypothesis: that a carefully managed process of community mobilization can both increase the sustainability of community development investments and contribute to shifting outlooks and behaviors of communities to be more open and self-sufficient in decision-making and problem-solving. When programs work collaboratively with well-intentioned but under-resourced local government representatives, prospects for sustainability become greater. To increase sustainability, development programs must seek out committed government representatives and invest in their capacity alongside informal community leaders, building an understanding of transparent, accountable and participative processes for engaging communities in their own development. Additionally, programs should reach out to youth to help expand their opportunities for income generation and foster tolerance and community commitment.
SUSTAINABILITY FIELD STUDY Understanding What Promotes Lasting Change at the Community Level December 2007 IX. CONCLUSION
This blog takes two approaches. One, learning more about the UN Millennium Development Goals and related programs. Two, learning more about using Web 2.0 tools to learn more about and to promote the UN Millennium Development Goals. These basically include so far blogging and social-tagging. This has been the subject of discussion at the End POVERTY / Fim POBREZA forum Leveraging Social Media. Last month I found some great resources that were featured in the post Implications for Aid Practice - From the Citizen Perspective and The Global Perspective. Afterward, I received some kind appreciation from Elizabeth Corley of the Development Gateway Foundation.
Those resources have already been described as extensive and expansive, but they go even further than that. They begin to meet the challenge of making the web a collaborative platform for these efforts, and does so in a way that is of educational use for the learner and of practical knowledge for the practitioner. It fulfills one of the wishes from the forum discussion, finding better means of collaboration.
The ComPart system is being developed within the ICCO-Alliance as to sustain the COMmunication with PARTners. It is a combination of (mostly) free Internet based applications that are all user friendly and stimulate participation and collaboration.
The ICCO applies those tools through a variety of different partnerships in fulfilling its mission which is:
The ICCO Alliance’s mission is to strive for a world in which people can live in dignity and well-being. The Alliance focuses on three main themes:
With ICCO, I took advantage by downloading their search tool, which features not only Google searches, but icco alliance, euforic, focuss and Wikipedia searches as well.
Maarten Boers, the administrator of ICCO-Alliance Learning Network, explains below how Compart is suppose to work as a collaborative tool. I received a response from Mr. Boers regarding joining the ICCO-Alliance, but have not been granted access just yet.
Welcome to Dgroups, the starting point for fostering groups and communities in international development. We are a partnership which caters to both individuals and organisations by offering tools and services that bring people together. Whether you are trying to support a team, a group, a network, a partnership or a community, we hope to provide you with the capacity to do this in an environment which is simple, non-commercial, respectful of privacy, and targeted at low bandwidth users in the South. Learn more here.
So now my list of what I can learn about the Millennium Development Goals and related organizations, program, projects, and Web 2.0 tools has grown expontentially. My latest endeavor is signing up for a PBwiki account. Finally, I decided that all this rates having its own section on this blog - Collaborative Tools for the Millennium Development Goals.
I have been having an ongoing discussion on leveraging social media on behalf of the Millennium Development Goals in one of the End POVERTY / Fim POBREZA forums. I am not claiming to be an expert in this area, just an interested participant. This blog is basically my ongoing personal attempt to marry Web 2.0 to global activism. Below are other online resources found in my web-trekking. They are very extensive and expansive resources so rather then trying to post fully about them here I am including then under Learning More About the Issues and Supporting Millenium Development Goals "In the Trenches".
The Development Gateway Foundation is an international nonprofit organization that provides Web-based platforms to make aid and development efforts more effective around the world.
It envisions a world in which the digital revolution serves people everywhere – creating greater opportunity through increased access to critical information; greater reliance on local capabilities; and more effective, better coordinated international aid.
dgCommunities is both a place to find knowledge resources focused on development issues and an interactive space where you can share your own work, participate in discussions, find people with similar interests and more. We have more than 36,000 members worldwide - and over half are in developing countries.
Web-Based Platforms for Effective Aid and Development
The foundation provides Web-based platforms for more effective aid and development efforts around the world focusing on three areas where even small investments in information and communications technology can make a major difference:
Effective government – enabling better aid management and coordination, and more efficient and transparent government procurement.
Knowledge sharing and collaboration – leveraging the Internet for online communications among development practitioners worldwide.
Local partner programs in nearly 50 countries – connecting developing country organizations into a global network to empower them to use information and communications technologies to bolster local development efforts.
This blog holds the belief that it will be impossible for governments or with entities substantially dependent upon governments to succeed alone in meeting any of the Millennium Development Goals. It also holds the belief that implementing global health care systems to address challenges such as HIV/AIDS will require sound business practices. Those business practices in turn require global reach into some of the poorest countries and that can be provided through United Nation resources, many of which are highlight within these posts. It is going to require a partnership, it is going to required thousands of partnerships.
One of the resources of this website is the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, found under Global News Sources, which reports on both the good and bad acts of businesses around the world. The articles below are a sampling taken from their site.
The role of businesses in addressing AIDS is not limited to large American companies. While we may think of AIDS in Africa being an affliction of the absolutely destitute, business enterprises in Ethiopia are also exploring means of addressing the challenge by translating intent into action in Ethiopia 11/27/08.
A landmark step in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Tanzania's media industry is to be marked today when 18 media houses launch their workplace policies on HIV/AIDS…The policies…[will address] prevention, treatment, care, support and reduction of stigma and discrimination within the media houses.
Speaking at a Qatar Petroleum HIV/Aids workshop, HARPAS UNDP Regional HIV/Aids [of the UNAIDS Joint United Nations Program on AIDS] programme co-ordinator for Arab states Dr Khadija Moalla said it is high time for the private sector to get 'smart' and make interventions on HIV in order to halt the spread of the disease among young adults social and health planning adviser at Dr Laila Ishrair the General Secretariat for Development Planning hinted that a draft law on human rights of people living with HIV will be sent[to] the Minister of Health, the law include[s] rights to work, to housing, to treatment as well as protection against discrimination.
Again, these are only some of the examples that can be found on the web. Other avenues of inquiry could include what is the economic impact of fighting against AIDS in a developing country. Jeffrey Sachs chaired a World Health Organization commission looking at the links between epidemic disease and economic stagnation, and to play a part in the setting up of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Here are other HIV/AIDS articles from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
On Monday November 10th, the BlogCatalog community came together like never before. According to BlogPulse, blog posts about refugees nearly doubled. According to Google search, more than 12,000 bloggers wrote about Bloggers Unite For Refugees. More than 2,500 included our program partner Refugees United (refunite.org), which provides refugees with an anonymous forum to reconnect with missing family.
It seems a small thing, I know. But the net itself is made of small pages, like mine and like the web pages of the over 10 thousand bloggers part of the Bloggers Unite. Ten thousand stories and thoughts for giving voice to 40 million refugees, for making known an association that help people for real. And to put in practice an expression I read on the Refugees United’s page and – with its simplicity – seemed to me such fundamental: spread the world.
I have signed up both with the current group and for an invitation to be part of the launching of Bloggers Unite as it's own social cause event site where bloggers and social cause organizers will be able to communicate and rally around causes. These efforts do have an impact.
With the average contributing blogger reaching 200 readers, the plight of refugees may have reached as many 2.5 million readers, many of whom took action on Monday by writing letters to government officials and making donations to several worthwhile nonprofit organizations. The volume of posts also attracted the attention from Ode Magazine in California to the blog of Raju Nrisettiof, who writes for the The Wall Street Journal in India. This excludes the ongoing coverage of refugees by traditional media, which has been covering the estimated 100,000 refugees currently trapped in the Congo.
Sphere: Related Content
One of the objectives of this blog is to use social media to get the word out about the Millennium Development Goals. Just as important is getting the word in. Starr Guzman, the National Campaign Coordinator for the Australian Council for International DevelopmentMake Poverty History Campaign, is providing a way for Facebook users to send their participation in Stand Up Take Action in on the Internet. Great, if your one of those who can't tear themselves way from the laptop. Maybe, you will still be worked up over the Blog Action Day post you did two days before.
Starr Guzman wrote on October 10, 2008 at 9:24pm on the Stand Up Take Action Facebook page.
If you can't attend a STAND Up event in your region or can't organise your own, why not stand up online?
Last year over 5,000 people took a stand against poverty via an online stand up. Here's how you can participate this year.
Read the pledge as shown on the Stand up against poverty facebook page (or provided below).
Email us at - mph@acfid.asn.au and let us know how many people are participating in your online action.
Let us know also what region of the world you're in and a postcode.
Once we've received your email, we'll add you via our official and approved online stand up action.
easy!
STAND UP PLEDGE
We are standing now with millions around the world on this symbolic day, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, to show our commitment to the fight against extreme poverty and inequality.
We are standing because we refuse to accept more excuses in a world where 50,000 people die every day as a result of extreme poverty and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider.
We are standing because we want our leaders to honour their promises to meet the Millennium Development Goals – and we ask them to exceed these goals.
We join in solidarity with people from over 100 countries to say: To the leaders of the wealthy countries – We urge you to keep your promises on poverty – debt cancellation, more and better aid, trade justice and gender equality. To the leaders of poorer countries – make it your first responsibility to save the lives of your poorest citizens. We ask you to tackle inequality, to be accountable to your people, to govern fairly and justly, to fight corruption and to fulfill human rights. Today, and every day, we will stand up and speak out against poverty. We will continue the fight against poverty and inequality and t o hold our leaders to their promises.
We are asking not for charity but for justice. We are millions of voices standing in solidarity to say, no more excuses - end poverty now.
Both Blogging Action Day Poverty and I are on the same page that it's 5 days until the big day when over 7,000 blogs raise a ruckus against poverty.
Today is a great day to talk aboutNo. 5. Share of the 6 different ways to make Blogging Day unforgettable. Easton Ellsworth (plug), who started this off with his Action Blog post, was kind enough to leave an encouraging comment at my post "3. Dream":
The whole intention of this blog is to put forth my true thoughts and opinions about poverty on October 15 and beyond. It was social media accounts, or the people in them, that got me involved in this effort in the first place. I am participating in Facebook, MyBlogLog and am trying to start a diigo group, but the most fruitful has been Orkut. Aditi (a mysterious visitor to my other blog) led me to the Orkut group Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty (may have to join to see). The fact that I can join a group in India proves the global reach of blogging. I have been very impressed with what they have put together. They have reached 1,965 members and have a number of involved forums. Rupesh Manda from Watconsult.com, which handles all the social media presence and management for UNDC s poverty campaign in India, was also supportive of my efforts. He recently told me that Blog Action Day is now Blogging Action Partner for UNMC now.Together we will make a difference!
Blogging Action Day Poverty is next Wednesday October 15, 2008. I am still doing posts on the 6 different ways to make Blogging Day unforgettable that Easton Ellsworth provided in his Action Blog post. Today the word is Act. Yesterday's post featured organizations that had either a vision for a better world or a dream of ending suffering in this world and were taking actions to make that a reality. Today's post features organizations found under Supporting Millenium Development Goals "In the Trenches" that are taking political/social action to bring about change.
It is down to each and every one of us to work to end the injustices that cause poverty and inequality in the North and South.
The last few years have been landmarks in the global fight against poverty. In January 2005, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) was launched at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre and organized three whiteband days, at the G8 (Gleneagles, June), the Millennium Summit (New York, September) and the WTO Ministerial meeting (Hong Kong, December). In 2006, GCAP continued to grow in strength and numbers and millions of people were inspired to take action. 2007 was a vital year for GCAP with further mass mobilisations throughout the year, under the common slogan Stand Up and Speak Out.
This year, GCAP will continue to mobilise around the world at key moments to demand action to end poverty and inequality.
It is 10 days until Blog Action Day 2008, so it is a good day to re-blog Easton Ellsworth's post on How to Make Blog Action Day 2008 Unforgettable which appeared the Blog Action Day 2008 blog on 9/22/08. I usually try to summarize or combine ideas from different sources so that it's not just copying, but I am leaving this one basically alone. Easton's post follows:
Please, please share this with your friends.
1. Ponder. Think about poverty.
Ponder the plight of the world's poor and your place in the grand scheme of things. Consider the things you have that others have not. Let the numbers appall you. Let the images disturb your sleep. Let the complexities of the causes and solutions vex you. Let the depth and emotion of this sensitive subject rock you to your core.
2. Believe.
Do you really think that you can make a difference in the global conversation this October 15 just by blogging about poverty and doing something about it? We believe you can. Do you?
3. Dream.
There is no such thing as a lack of opportunity - only a lack of vision. This is not a pointless exercise. This is a chance to grab the world by the ears for one day. You have the power to rally hundreds of people around you in your family, friends and community to do something on October 15 that calls attention to the issue of poverty. There is no limit to what you can do - unless you think there is. So dream up a brave, original way to make the world a little richer, even if only in knowledge, through your participation in Blog Action Day 2008.
4. Act.
Make Blog Action Day not just a day of blogging, but also a day of action. Our worldwide impact will be great if we all talk about this issue, but far greater if we do something about it and talk about what we are doing.
5. Share.
Let the world know your true thoughts and opinions about poverty on October 15. Use your blog, your social media accounts, and any other means you can to spread your ideas. Join with other Blog Action Day participants to generate a collective noise far louder than any you could could muster on your own.
6. Change.
Decide to care a little more about poverty from now on. When it comes up in conversation, take it seriously. Changing the conversation is the first step toward changing the people in it. Please join us in making Blog Action Day 2008 an unforgettable experience for thousands - maybe millions - of people across the world.
Your Turn
What other ideas do you have? How can Blog Action Day 2008 actually make a real difference to the world of tomorrow?
Does architecture give us a model as to how we can we use the Web to drive social change? The TED prize is one avenue created to bring about social change. Architecture for Humanity leveraged a 2006 TED Prize to build the Open Architecture Network, linking communities around the globe with architects and designers who can help them solve problems.
While the media will focus its attention on the loss of life, there will be millions displaced in the coming weeks -- and like most natural disasters, there's no plan for long-term sustainable reconstruction. Large aid agencies like Oxfam and Care will be knee-deep in immediate delivery of aid. How will the country respond to the long-term strategic need to rebuild the country?
Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction
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Many are afraid that tackling climate change is going to be too costly. But
increasingly, studies are showing action will not just be cheaper than
inacti...
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With the average contributing blogger reaching 200 readers, the plight of refugees may have reached as many 2.5 million readers, many of whom took action on Monday by writing letters to government officials and making donations to several worthwhile nonprofit organizations. The volume of posts also attracted the attention from Ode Magazine in California to the blog of Raju Nrisettiof, who writes for the The Wall Street Journal in India. This excludes the ongoing coverage of refugees by traditional media, which has been covering the estimated 100,000 refugees currently trapped in the Congo.
