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About GCAP
The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a growing alliance that brings together trade unions, INGOs, the women’s and youth movements, community and faith groups and others to call for action from world leaders in the global North and South to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality.
GCAP’s main aim is to achieve policy and practice changes that will improve the lives of people living in poverty.
GCAP adds to existing campaigning on poverty by forming diverse, inclusive national platforms that are able to open up civil society space and advocate more effectively than individual organisations would be able to do on their own. It also organises global mass mobilisations that express solidarity between the global North and South, allow tens of millions of ordinary people to make their voices heard and bring pressure to bear on world leaders.
Our mission
"Challenging the institutions and processes that perpetuate poverty and inequality across the world to defend and promote human rights, gender justice, social justice and security needed for survival and peace".
We, the GCAP movement, will not rest until we defeat the underlying and structural causes that impoverish and exclude large sections of the population, including women, indigenous peoples, minorities, children, youth, persons with different abilities, people of different sexual orientations, workers, dalits and displaced persons, amongst others.
Key issues
We demand the realization of the millennium goals-plus via seven key issues:
- Public accountability, just governance, accountable companies
- Women’s rights and gender justice as central issue of poverty eradication
- Major increase in quality aid and financing for development
- Debt Cancellation
- Trade Justice
- Climate justice
- Peace and human security, by ending gender violence, human rights violations, occupation, militarization and war
Read the GCAP Strategic Directions 2009-11 to find out more about our current change objectives.
GCAP Works
Read through the GCAP Annual Report Booklets for details of GCAP's successes and impact. Or read through the stories of success around the world below.
History of GCAP
In September 2003, prominent activist on women and children’s issues, Graça Machel, hosted a group of southern non-governmental issues in Maputo, Mozambique. It was here, with other prominent civil society activists such as CIVICUS Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo that the idea of a Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) was first aired. GCAP today can arguably be said to be one of the most ambitious civil society campaigns. Read the full story and GCAP's achievements.
GCAP supporters are united by their use of the white band. The white band is the symbol that people, towns and cities all over the world can adopt to show their support and keep the anti-poverty message highly visible. Find out more about the white band and how it is used.
GCAP National Coalitions
There are National Coalitions in over 100 countries across all regions of the world most which are very active in their respective countries. Many are also connected to regional and global processes. Besides this there are constituency groups such as the Child and Youth Task Force, the Feminist Task Force and the Socially Excluded Task Force.
GCAP Governance
A Global Assembly of all GCAP constituents (including national coalitions, constituency-based groups, INGOs and other civil society organisations, campaign partners) is the ultimate political decision-maker of GCAP at the global level. The GCAP Global Assembly elects a Global Council which is composed of regional and other representation. The Global Council provides strategic direction and implementation of GCAP, as mandated by the Global Assembly and its Declarations.
At the regional level, there are regional governing councils, or steering groups. A global and five regional secretariats support the coordination across the coalition.
The GCAP Global Foundation is an independent legal not-for-profit organization registered in the Netherlands that takes care of the administrative and financial aspects of running GCAP at the global level, including hiring staff and finance.
GCAP Ways of working
Each national coalition and constituency group mobilises locally and/or regionally throughout the year, on the most relevant issues within the overall strategic directions of GCAP.
A Mobilisation Task Force and Thematic Working Groups help coordinate and support GCAP's mobilisation and advocacy at the global level for the key moments when GCAP comes together as one with common messages and demands. The GCAP Mobilisation Guide, and specific toolkits for the various key actions, guide the coordination. The main annual mobilisation is around October 17th - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, when GCAP and its partner UNMC coordinate Stand Up and Take Action, the largest anti-poverty mobilisation around the world.
The white band is the symbol of the fight against poverty. Wear the white band to show your support and get involved with our mobilisations!
