http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca 

Canada World Youth has joined forces with eight other volunteer cooperation agencies (VCAs) –CUSO, CECI/WUSC (Uniterra), Oxfam-Québec, CCI, VSO, CESO and SUCO- to mobilize the whole CWY family and more particularly our past participants in the international campaign to Make Poverty History (MPH).

The MPH campaign began in earnest in Britain and has spread to some seventy countries around the globe. A groundswell of public events and actions calling on governments to abolish poverty are already making a difference. The message is simple:

• More and Better Aid
• Canceling the Debt
• Trade Justice

In the context of this campaign, our coalition of nine VCAs will also undertake a number of activities leading up to International Volunteer Day on December 5.  We will be seeking your involvement and encouraging you to share your stories with the Canadian public.

On September 10: Wear a white band!
September 10, 2005, marks the second White Band Day, with people joining everywhere around the world – a unique opportunity to get involved!

On the eve of the U.N. Millennium Summit + 5, which will be held in New York from September 14-16, Canada World Youth invites you to wear a white band as a gesture of solidarity towards all who live in extreme poverty.

The Millennium Summit + 5 will evaluate progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As you may know, these goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2000, and aim to reduce poverty and hunger, to make education accessible to all children, to promote gender equality, to fight HIV/AIDS, and to ensure a sustainable environment for all… by 2015.

Time is running out! So far, progress towards the goals falls desperately short of what is required. In 2005, over 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty, with less than one dollar a day. Every day, 50 000 people die of poverty-related causes.

What you can do support the Make Poverty History campaign:

Get a white band and wear it on the 10th. Under the “white band” section of the Web site for the Make Poverty History campaign, you will find regional contacts and retailers (10,000 Villages and Roots) where you can buy a white band.  You can even make your own white band out of fabric to wear on September 10.

Sign the on-line petition. Visit www.makepovertyhistory.ca  for more details.

Tell your friends about the campaign.

Take action in your community by:

• Joining a local action committee made up of returned volunteers like yourself. Contact Heather Harding: hharding@cciorg.ca.
• Creating your own volunteer action group to lead public education activities in your area.
• Meeting or writing to your local MP to tell him/her about the campaign.

Prepare to share your experience and to write us about what YOU have done to fight poverty. We will have a common VCA website which will enable you to become actively involved with us. In communities across Canada, returned volunteers will be encouraged to join together to tell their stories and to reach out to their communities. So, stay tuned, sign on, and be ready for our call to further action - more to come in our October bulletin!