ICEM Supporting Poverty Action Call

The ICEM, as part of Global Unions, supports the “Global Call to Action Against Poverty” (GCAP), which was launched at this year’s World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. Backed by a wide range of organisations, the GCAP aims to pressure the world’s governments to dedicate the necessary resources and time to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). These MDGs set world targets to decrease overall poverty. Examples include reducing child mortality by two thirds by 2015, ensure primary education and reduce by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water. Trade unions can play an important role in this anti-poverty campaign, as their support often makes the difference in areas such as fair trade, debt reduction or AIDS. Detailed campaigning material on GCAP, including trade union-related info on MDGs, can be downloaded from the ICFTU site: http://www.icftu.org (in English, French and Spanish). Unions can also get in contact with their national centers for more information on this campaign.