By Matt Davies (Mexico) I was recently reading an article by members of Social Watch about the UN post-2015 development agenda which will see the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a change cynics might say that goes little further than one letter in an acronym. However, the process…
By Diana Skelton (France) “Why are you wasting time by reaching out to people who can’t be bothered to come to meetings, or who don’t dare open their mouths? You’re bottom-dragging.” I was shocked when I heard the words “bottom-dragging,” a terribly insulting way to refer to efforts to connect people with one another. The…
By Julia Sick (United States) Storytelling is an artistic form of expression—a tool we use to convey a moment or experience in a meaningful way. We use stories in our lives every day, yet less often is storytelling recognized for its powers in the field of social change and activism. The stories we tell matter.…
By: Donald Lee (United States) The International Committee for October 17 welcomes and appreciates the theme chosen by the United Nations, in consultation with activists, civil society and non-governmental organizations, for the 2014 commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The choice of this theme underscores the United Nations’ recognition of the…
by: Julia Sick (United States) We are in the small room in the basement of the shelter we work at in Queens. The heat is turned up too high and as usual there is at least one dead cockroach in the corner this Wednesday when I arrive to prepare for our adult knitting group and story garden.…
By Diana Skelton (France) Too often ignored, the intelligence of people living in extreme poverty, and the way their experience shapes their understanding of the world, can be invaluable tools for social change. To give just one example of this, I am very struck by the way our members in South America look at the…
By: Matt Davies (Mexico) At the end of September, the General Assembly of the United Nations held a special event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs were launched in 2000 in order to provide a framework for the international community to eradicate poverty, ranging in thematic areas from poverty and hunger, education,…
By: Diana Skelton (France) Humanity can end the devastation caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, polluted water, failed crops and other crises linked to poverty. Jeffrey Sachs convinced the world of this a decade ago. In charge of the United Nations Millennium Development Project, he insisted to world leaders that their efforts could indeed end poverty.…
By Sarah Kenningham (United Kingdom) Human Rights are about human beings! Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on Housing, had to insist upon this point when taking questions from journalists at a press conference on the 11th to highlight the preliminary findings of her two-week monitoring visit to the UK. TV cameras, journalists and campaigners were left jostling…
By Mariana Guerra (Brazil). (This post originally appeared on Participate2015.org) Awêre para Kisile – “That everything goes well for those who don’t have a name yet” What do we have in common? We, caboclos, ribeirinhos (riverside-dwellers), people of African descendants, youth, slum-dwellers, Indians, men and women, human beings, assembled at the Tijuca Forest, in the month…
Together in Dignity 