CEFRAD JOINS GLOBAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST POVERTY

CEFRAD, the Centre for Rights and Development, announced the participation of the NGO in future global civil society activities and actions to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY. This was announced after the CEFRAD leader, Mr. Matthew Servina, returned from what has been described as ‘a crucial meeting’ which took place in Beirut, Lebanon, from March 11 to 15, to determine the future shape and direction of the Global Call against Poverty (GCAP).

The meeting was attended by 175 senior civil society representatives and anti-poverty campaigners from over 60 countries from Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe, North and Latin America and Australia, as well as from a dozen international organisations, including Oxfam, Action Aid, World Vision, Habitat International, Amnesty international, UNDP-Millennium Campaign, amongst others.

The Beirut Meeting was jointly organised by the World Citizenship Alliance (CIVICUS), the Global Campaign Education to end Poverty (GCE), and the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) as Host Organisation. CEFRAD was invited to join the GCAP movement after having been the GCE co-ordinating organisation in Seychelles since 2001. Mr. Servina is actually the main co-ordinator of a Seychelles Coalition of Education and Information for Sustainable Development (CEISD) which was put in place earlier this year to contribute to ensuring the right to quality education and information for children and adults as being crucial for sustainable development and equal opportunities for all. From now on, the Seychelles coalition, which is made up of several civil society organisations and interested individuals, is expected to act as the local group to assist CEFRAD push forward the GCAP initiative in Seychelles, as well as in the Indian Ocean sub-region where there is, for the moment, no other GCAP affiliate.

The GCAP movement was launched at a meeting in Johannesburg in September 2004 by a group of NGOS, international networks, trade unions, religious groups and other civil society actors with the main objective of making governments take action to effectively tackle poverty and deliver sustainable development, as pledged in the Millennium Declaration. The Beirut Meeting reviewed the GCAP impact on new global efforts to eradicate poverty during 2005, noting that “People all over the world feel less secure and less safe than ever”. Strongly believing the world can unite again in solidarity against poverty, participants agreed to undertake joint action and mobilisation at key times during 2006 and 2007.