Events were held across the globe to mark White Band Day II. In preparation for the UN Summit, activists gathered in New York, and in Africa, and celebrations and meetings marked calls to end poverty.

GCAP campaigners sent a message loud and clear to world leaders to wake up to poverty in front of the UN in New York. To ensure that the official delegations know the world is watching them, four Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) campaigners representing world leaders wearing pajamas and sleeping masks climbed into a giant bed on Friday, 9 September. As the oversized alarm clock counted down the years from 2000 to 2015, “the leaders” ignored both the loud buzzer and the campaigners who were shaking the bed vigorously. They were oblivious to the fact that they were off target to meet the goals.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/campa ign/mph/wakeup.htm

South Africa: SANGOCO is part of a national platform that will be supporting the Global Call to Action against Poverty

In South Africa on Thursday September 8 NGOs, trade unions and faith groups united to assess the South African governments progress on meeting the MDGs. A consultation was held to critique the government's progress report on the MDGs, with participation from diverse groups across South Africa. In collaboration with the People's Budget Campaign, the outcome of this consultation will be published in a Civil Society Report by GCAP South Africa early next week. The participants in the consultation welcomed the positive steps taken by the government toward the achievement of the MDGs but also felt there were many areas that were not fully addressed in the South African government report. Hassen Logat, from SANGOCO, and coordinator of GCAP South Africa summarised the consultations findings: "The consultation strongly supported the need for a reformed UN system, where the African continent has full representation on the security council, and this representation is accountable to the whole of the African continent. We also challenged the HIV/AIDs figures in the MDG report, feeling that they grossly understated the true picture in our country".

http://www.whiteband.org/national/zaf/Country

Campaigners in Uganda meet with leaders

Uganda started their campaigning for White Band Day 2 with a strong lobby meeting. The coalition organized a High Level Breakfast meeting, which drew over 60 participants, including Parliamentarians, a Government Minister, the Academia, Donor Community and Civil Society. At this meeting the coalition launched their report to endure that these 60 influential people and decision makers ‘wake up’ to their demands before they send a delegation to the UN Summit.

Mozambique protests with music

In the heart of Maputo on September 3rd, the Mozambique GCAP coalition held a music concert with more than 15 000 people attending. Twelve acts took to the stage to support the campaign bringing a variety of music including the local ‘Marrabenta’ style, and key spokespeople such as the Pastor Rev. Dinis Matsolo, the General Secretary of the National Church in Mozambique also addressed the crowds gathered. Together they spoke out on the messages to the crowd, the media and also the Mozambique delegation to the UN Summit.

http://www.whiteband.org/specialIssues/UNP5/u np50/wbd2_overview_final.pdf