GLOBAL DAY TO #ACT4SDGS TOOLKIT

25 September 2018: 3rd Anniversary of the Agenda 2030

Are we on track to meet the Goals by 2030? We are all part of the plan.

JOIN THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT. MAKE EVERY ACTION COUNT!

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

OVERVIEW 3

Here’s how YOU can join 6

1. Take Individual Action 6

2. Become an Action Partner - Organize a Public Action or Event 6 How to become an Action Partner 7 Planning your Action 8 I. Awareness Actions 9 II. Accountability Actions 12 III. Impact Actions: 14

3. Become an Organizing Partner 14

Communicate your Action 15 1. Make an SDG Wheel 15 2. Amplify the Message on Social and Traditional Media 16 Register 16 Get active on Social Media 17 a. Share your Action 17 b. Join the Viral Campaign 17 c. Join the Thunderclap 17 3. Invite Local Media 17

About the Partners 19

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INTRODUCTION

On 25 September 2015, world leaders agreed to a definitive plan for the planet and the people on it by adopting 17 ​ Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The goals are interconnected, they apply to all countries and they aim to leave no one behind.

193 governments signed up - if they stick to the plan the results will be extraordinary. For the goals to be ​ ​ reached, everyone needs to do their part: the UN, national and local governments, youth groups, civil-society ​ ​ ​ organizations, the media, and the private sector, and people like you and us.

For the SDGs to be achieved, everyone needs to take Action.

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OVERVIEW On 25 September 2015 world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Each WHAT year on the anniversary of this historic day the UN SDG Action Campaign mobilizes the UN, national and local governments, youth groups, civil-society organizations, the media, and the private sector around the world with a global call to Act for the SDGs.

WHEN Every year, the Global Day to #Act4SDGs marks the anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals on the 25th of September. This year, the Global Day to #Act4SDGs coincides with the opening day of the High-Level Debate of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73).

WHY For the SDGs to be achieved, everyone needs to take Action. The Global Day to #Act4SDGs mobilizes thousands of institutions, organizations and citizens across the world to take concrete actions for the SDGs. #Act4SDGs connects and amplifies the impact of local and global actions for the SDGs, encouraging a global movement for the achievement of the SDGs.

HOW Participants will register their actions building a global map of Action for the SDGs. The live Studio at the United Nations Headquarters in New York will feature how the UN, national and local governments, youth groups, civil-society organizations, the media, and the private sector around the world are joining in the Global Day to #Act4SDGs. The platform will invite participants to register their plans and help build a global map of SDG Actions. The global map is a crowdsourced list of concrete collective and individual actions people can take, join, or replicate to #Act4SDGs around the globe. A photo & video challenge will encourage participants across the world to share their story of how they #Act4SDGs. We believe that every second there is someone somewhere moving the SDGs forward. Start planning your action and building momentum to #Act4SDGs.

WHO The UN SDG Action Campaign, Action for Sustainable Development and national coalitions of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) have joined forces to promote a global campaign to raise awareness and encourage SDGs action among citizens – you! Businesses, national and local governments, organizations, universities, and any individual working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals are welcome to join the Global Day to #Act4SDGs.

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YOU own the SDGs. Your actions - both big and small can help.

On the Global Day to #Act4SDGs help turn the plan into action & promises into reality.

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Here’s how YOU can join

The Global Day to #Act4SDGs seeks to create awareness and promote action on the SDGs among citizens and all sectors of society.

This toolkit will show you how to use simple campaign ideas to support and create activities around the 3rd anniversary of the SDGs on 25 September 2018.

These ideas are flexible, can be used in full or in parts, and can be adapted to your specific plans. ​

1. Take Individual Action

The Global Day aims to raise awareness about the SDGs and to show that all of us have a role to play in the implementation. So we are calling for a viral challenge to get as many people as possible to take actions.

Whether it is shopping local, making sure your company uses energy efficiently, or voicing your support for equal pay for equal work, the power of a single individual action can spur a day of change.

1. Decide what action you will take 2. Take a photo or a short video telling the world what this action will be 3. Pick three people you think should join - your best friend, your grandma, your local hero, or your music idol - Tag them & challenge them to ​ #Act4SDGs.

Here’s a sample post you can use:

I/we are doing/will do ______on September 25 to #Act4SDGs. I challenge person A, person B, person C to join the Action. act4SDGs.org

Examples of individual actions: Adapting your daily behaviour - These actions may reflect changes you are making to become more ​ sustainable in your daily life eg. riding your bike/carpooling to work every day, becoming a vegetarian, eliminating single-use plastic, calling out sexist/racist behaviours in yourself/others, etc. Applying your skills/time - What can you offer to improve the lives of others or your environment? Join ​ programmes that are underway or start your own action eg. supporting new migrants, tutoring disadvantaged kids, volunteering at an animal conservation programme, etc.

Need inspiration? See the Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World or UN Online Volunteering ​ ​ ​ opportunities

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2. Become an Action Partner - Organize a Public Action or Event

The Global Day of Action aims to celebrate SDG actions being taken all around the world and to mobilize greater engagement and support for these actions. We invite you or your organization to become an Action Partner by organizing a public or community action or event on the Global Day to #Act4SDGs. By becoming an Action Partner in the Global Day to #Act4SDGs, you will join part of a global movement to build momentum and action for the Sustainable Development Goals, with organizations all around the world taking action on this day. By joining forces on this Global Day to #Act4SDGs, we are generating a powerful message to world leaders and people everywhere that greater action on SDG action is needed. Your actions will be given visibility as part of the global network of Action Partners, and they will have a chance to appear in the Live Studio in New York on the opening Day of the General Assembly.

How to become an Action Partner

Join the network ● Join the #Act4SDGs network at http://www.act4sdgs.org/register/ ​ ● Fill in the form with your plans (this can be updated later). Remember you must register before 25th ​ September in order to join. ​ ● Each Action Partner will have a partner ID ● Your organization and action will appear on the global map of actions and have a custom partner page on the Global Day to #Act4SDGs network.

Plan and implement an action ● Bring your organization and network together to plan and implement an action or event on awareness, accountability and impact on the SDGs

Share your good work ● Post photos or videos of your action on social media with hashtags #[yourpartnerid] and the #Act4SDGs. These will appear on the Global page of actions and on your custom partner page. ● Your action will have a chance to appear in the global Live Studio in New York on the opening day of the General Assembly. Your actions may also qualify for a chance to win a UN SDG Action Award. ​

Proudly show off your Action Partner logo (download logos here) - available in all 17 SDG colors ​ ​ ​ ​

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Planning your Action

We challenge you to start planning early to have the greatest impact. Together we will mobilize thousands of citizens, institutions and organisations across the globe to take action on awareness and the achievement of the SDGs. These actions will help celebrate what is being done and bring new people into the action through a series of physical and virtually connected events all over the world.

We are calling for actions that will generate SDG: 1) Awareness: increase public awareness of the SDGs among citizens and all stakeholders, especially in the ​ communities that are left behind; eg. Public event/exhibition, presentations in schools, libraries, social media campaigns, public documentary screenings, community dinners 2) Accountability: Empower people with information to help engage others and hold their governments to ​ account; eg. Public declarations, presentations of MY World citizen voices to governments, petitions 3) Impact: Take individual actions and/or unite with others to make a lasting change towards SDG ​ achievement; eg. tree planting, urban regeneration,

We invite you to combine the above actions for your own custom I/We #Act4SDGs event or campaign. Do not forget to make it count at a Global Level - SHARE your actions on the Global platform of Actions by including your ​ ​ ​ ​ partner ID and #Act4SDGs hashtag when you post on your favourite social media channels.

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A excellent way to ensure you have an ambitious yet realistic impact and set of objectives is to use the SMART analysis. BE SMART! Specific: what exactly do you want to happen? Measurable: will you know when you have achieved it? Achievable: is it realistic or even possible to achieve your objective, given your resources and time? Relevant: is it relevant and appropriate to all stakeholders, and to the problem itself? Time-bound: by when do you want it to happen?

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND

In planning your action, please ensure to follow the SDG principle to Leave No One Behind: support & mobilize specific communities including; youth, indigenous groups, disabled, women’s groups, faith communities, and academia to be involved. See the Leave No One Behind toolkit for more guidance. ​ ​ ​ The following provides a series of example actions and tools that can support your planning and preparation. As we get closer to the day, you can also take a look at the actions others are planning for this year to inspire and replicate as you see fit.

I. Awareness Actions Awareness Events The majority of people all around the world still do not know about the SDGs. By raising public awareness of the SDGs, you can help to ensure governments will remain accountable to their commitments and sustain the political will to tackle the challenges of implementation. You can also inspire people to become part of the SDG action. Here are a few ways to raise awareness to a broad audience.: ● Organize a public meeting at a library, place of worship or town hall with key experts from your community ● Give an introductory lesson at a school assembly or classroom ● Print flyers or billboards accompanied by a radio, tv, movie theatre or social media campaign ● Capture the SDG stories in your community and share them on the global day

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Inspiration

Mongolia A United Nations’ bus displaying the Global Goals for people and planet that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development took a tour around the city of Ulaanbaatar, engaging the public at various locations. The bus travelled from the city center to the ger district with performers and public on-board to raise awareness about people's' role in Mongolia’s development.

Norway - Night Trek for the SDGs ​ A public night trek was organized by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, together with local municipalities, the Red Cross, the Norwegian Trekking Association and hundreds of volunteers to invite hikers to learn about the SDGs at 17 light stops. The team created a Facebook invitation and used targeted marketing, bloggers, local and national media to attract people from all across the country. In 2016 and 2017, 20,000 hikers joined the treks.

India Last year over 50 events took place all over India. Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA) / GCAP India organized a poster competition, photo stunts in front of monuments. State chapters of WNTA released an SDG report. National Foundation for India (NFI) and its partners organized discussions in universities in some states and via a Twitter chat.

Zimbabwe Hundreds of students learned about the SDGs at the Global action on Sustainable Development Goals event at Glenview 1 High School in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Photo from Matilda Lund, United Nations Association of ​ ​ Zimbabwe.

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See actions from the Global Day to #act4SDGs in 2017 for inspiration TOOLS World’s Largest Lesson for classroom lessons, videos & resources about the SDGs in multiple languages ​

VIDEOS

These films have been developed through a partnership between UN SDG Action Campaign, UNDP, UNF and Project Everyone.

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND - Shows the Sustainable Development Goals’ commitment to leave no one behind. English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

NUMBERS IN ACTION -‘Numbers in Action’ explains the progress made under MDGs and targets for SDGs, bringing ‘Icons to Outcomes’ to life. English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

PLAN - short clips from classic films send the message to the world that ‘We have a plan’ English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian German ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Media campaigns

We have the power to spread the message of the SDGs quickly and easily at our fingertips. Think creatively about how you can reach the hundreds or thousands of people in your social networks to pass on key messages and share why the SDGs matter to the world. Remember to use the hashtags: #act4sdgs and your partner id to bring this action to the global day.

Inspiration

The SDG Voices - City of Ghent, Belgium ​ This campaign, led by the City of Ghent, challenged 6 cities in Belgium to promote awareness about the SDGs and encourage and mobilize Belgians to implement the SDGs in their daily lives. The campaign involved 23 different Ghent city services and departments, and the equivalent in the challenged cities. Nearly 6,000 citizens in 6 cities participated physically, many other people supported the challenges via social media (communicated through short movies, web-posts and campaign images.

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Hashtag Our Stories - Global Citizen reporting In collaboration with Hashtag Our Stories, the Global Day of ​ ​ Action featured live videos streamed on social media from citizens reporting directly on their stories on SDG related matters. This included stories from India, South Africa, Serbia, , Norway, Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria and China. Dozens of #Act4SDGs voices videos were recorded and shared online with people speaking up why and how the Sustainable Development Goals matter to them and their communities.

Create your own 360 SDG Media

Immersive media can be a powerful tool to let viewers experience other people’s realities and develop a unique sense of connection, that can inspire people across the world to take action. How are the people around you taking action for the SDGs and making change in their communities? Use our toolkits to learn the skills and tricks you need to be able to represent the story you want to tell using 360° media, and share your #myworld360 media with the #act4SDGs movement. Explore the SDGs, ask yourself and your community what stories of action and examples of positive change need to be shared, and tell that story.

Tools: ● MY World 360° Program Guide ● 360° Production Guide – from 360° cameras to smartphones, whatever hardware and production ​ equipment you have, this Guide offers comprehensive tools, technical tips and videos to develop the skills to create 360° media. ● Technical Guide to Producing 360° Media – a resource on equipment and apps that can be used to ​ produce 360° videos and photos.

II. Accountability Actions

MY World 2030 Survey

MY World 2030 is a global survey to report on citizen’s awareness, priorities and perceptions related to the SDGs. The survey is led by the United Nations but shared by partners in civil society, governments, academia and the UN system. It can be a powerful tool to hold governments and institutions accountable and make sure every person

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has their say on the achievements of SDGs. The survey is shared by partners like you, who take it to their communities, gather voices then share the results with the public. Actions: ● Collect 1000 responses to the survey and create a People’s Voices Report to handover to your leaders on 25 September ● Set Up a MYWorld 2030 Voting Booth in your community, school or place of worship on the Global Day of Action . ● Public exhibit: display MY World results, citizen scorecards, of MY World stories and set up a MY World 2030 voting booth ● Invite your member organisations to motivate people to share the MyWorld survey

Find more information and MY World tools (ballots in languages, visuals, etc) at: about.myworld2030.org ​

INDIA Society For Compassion & Peace organized a community meet-up where participants made their voices ​ heard through the MY World 2030 survey in Kerala, India.

Public Actions and Events

Hold a demonstration or organize a large group photo with an #Act4SDGs message in front of a landmark building or structure or monument. Meet politicians with public statements and demand implementation of the SDGs in your country. Examples

● Organize a public discussion eg. with young people, or in communities of marginalized people; you could include an interview or debate with the President, Prime Minister, MPs, mayors or other public figures to share a public statement and request a response from the authorities ● Invite a politician or leader to speak to your community ● Organise a rally or stage a peaceful demonstration demanding better implementation of the SDGs. ● Send a delegation of people from marginalized communities to meet the relevant Minister, Governor, MPs, mayor, local political representatives etc. and hand over a public statement.

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● Collect voices of marginalized peoples speaking about their situation, or collect short videos of politicians pledges on the SDGs ● Prepare a public statement or memorandum about how we are doing on the SDGs and submit it to your government in a public event or send to local media together with photos ● Organize TV debates

Inspiration

Mali Alliance Contre la Pauvreté au Mali / GCAP Mali held a press conference on the 2nd anniversary of the SDGS with 20 journalists, which resulted in extensive coverage in the written press, online, and on the radio.

Nepal NGO Federation Nepal / GCAP Nepal organized a discussion for reflection and sharing of experiences on implementation of SDGs in the country with government officials, CSOs' representatives, prominent civil society leaders, representatives of international development partners, INGOs and the media. A memorandum was submitted to the National Planning Commission.

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Malawi The Council for NGOs in Malawi (CONGOMA) / GCAP Malawi organized a press conference and a photo shoot session to reach out to Malawian leaders with assorted messages on SDGs and to raise awareness of the public of what the government has done in the past two years. The event enjoyed massive media coverage in both print and electronic media, reaching a readership and listenership of 7.5 million people in Malawi.

Find sample declarations and suggestions Action For Sustainable Development resources: https://action4sd.org/tools-resources/

Civil Society Voices in the Voluntary National Review process The Voluntary National Review (VNR) is an official review mechanism for member states to conduct regular reporting on progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable and Development and the SDG. As a part of this process, member states are expected to incorporate inputs from civil society. learn more ​

If your country is preparing a VNR you may have the chance to provide official input from civil society or to create a shadow report. You can use the Global Day as an opportunity to present the civil society report or statement about the VNR.

See sample reporting template for civil society ​ See a sample national report for Brazil ​ See a sample of the national engagement in that ‘leaves no one behind’ ​

III. Impact Actions:

Community or Workplace actions Community Actions - What are the problems that are most pressing for your community? What kinds of actions could bring about tangible solutions for improving lives and the environment around you? Develop a joint action plan in your community, including partners from different backgrounds for a shared objective such as reducing plastic, joint food production, creation of public spaces, etc. Join forces with your colleagues, organization or friends to organize an action such as a beach clean up, tree planting, community dinner, recycling programme, or used goods exchange, innovative sustainable solutions fair, or more. Use your imagination and bring people together to realize your dreams for a better community.

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3. Become an Organizing Partner

Does your organization have the power, reach and the networks to CONVENE and MOBILIZE? We invite you to join us in becoming an Organizing Partner for the Global Day to #Act4SDGs.

An Organizing Partner ● has an established network or audience ● has the capacity to influence a large number of people/organizations to act ● can help deliver key aspects of the Global Day; ie. live studio, reporting on actions, etc

An Organizing Partner helps to:

Spread the message about the Global Day to encourage others to join. Eg. ​ ● Send a custom message to a large network members ● Host webinars in your language(s) to tell people how they can get involved ● Translate and share the toolkit

Create and share a custom message for your audience, country or sector. Eg. ​ ● Have key influencers or celebrities to issue the call to action ● Customizing Social media ● Developing a more contextualized version of the toolkit for a particular audience such as for private sector, youth, etc

Outreach and Support for Action Partners ● Provide coordination support and reporting about the actions from your network

How to Become an Organizing Partner:

Write to [email protected] to tell us how you fit the profile of an organizing partner and how you would intend to support the Global Day to #Act4SDGs.

MY World Mexico was an organizing partner of the Global Day ​ of Action in 2017 and coordinated 87 actions in 15 states across ​ the country. These included advocacy activities, beach clean ups, teaching the SDGs to children, visits to coral reefs and mobilizing the MY World 2030 survey. The activities engaged at least 10,000 people across the country, including mobilizing thousands to provide support to those affected and in need after the September 19 earthquakes. MY World Mexico also held its first National Festival of Agenda 2030 with the participation of Mexico's Office of the Presidency.

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Communicate your Action

1. Make an SDG Wheel The SDG Wheel is a powerful symbol of the 17 SDGs. In bringing the 17 colours together in a circle, the wheel can symbolize that: ● the goals are interconnected ● the goals apply universally ● all sectors from all countries have a role to play to make them happen However, this symbol and the goals it represents are not yet well known by the public. Therefore we invite you to use this symbol as a central image of your campaign or event as a way to demonstrate that on the Global Day to #Act4SDGs we UNITE across the world to take action. Use your creativity to create the SDG wheel as one of the key images of your action. For example, this ​ could be an aerial group photo, an image of people bringing their arms together in a circle with the wheel superimposed, an artist’s or child’s representation of the wheel, a collection of beach garbage assembled into a wheel, etc.

Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development Image: Inger Kjer/photothek

Image: Kristian Jensen

Image: Make Ireland Sustainable For All

Image: IASS Potsdam

Image: UN City

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​2. Amplify the Message on Social and Traditional Media

1. Register

When you register to become an Action Partner your action will appear on the map of Global Actions for ​ ​ the Global Day.

These actions will be part of the #act4SDGs global communications and given broad visibility on our Global Day to #act4SDGs platforms. Some actions will have the opportunity to remote connect to present to the Live Studio in New York on the Global Day. website: www.act4sdgs.org and social media platforms: @SDGAction

2. Get active on Social Media

a. Share your Action

Post, tweet and share your stories, photos & videos of your action

Use #act4sdgs hashtag and your partner id to amplify your action. ​ ​ ​ ​ Live broadcast your #Act4SDGs Event through a FB Live, Twitter’s Periscope, and Instagram and Snapchat Stories using #ACT4SDGs. Invite event participants to talk about why they are taking action

b. Let’s make action for SDGs a global movement Whether you are an individual, an action partner or an organizing partner, you can join the #Act4SDGs movement online to spread the word and get others involved. Customize and share the message below to your networks.

I/we are doing/will do ______on September 25 to #Act4SDGs. I challenge person A, person B, person C to join the Action. act4SDGs.org

c. Join the Thunderclap You can help tell everyone about the Sustainable Development Goals by joining the Thunderclap. Add yourself to the thunderclap campaign to send this powerful message all together on the Global Day.

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3 years ago today the world agreed to a global plan - to fight inequalities, end poverty & tackle . I'm joining people everywhere to #act4SDGs YOU can join too: http://act4sdgs.org/

d. Update your Facebook profile picture with these frames

I #ACT4SDGs http://bit.ly/2Lk3op2 WE #ACT4SDGs http://bit.ly/2Juv0mz ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

3. Get your Local Media excited Get your facts and key ideas together, contact your local media and get them excited about your local action with global impact. Invite them to come, interview the lead organizer, share your photos/videos with them.

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WE can do this! Make every action count! for a better future for people and the planet. #Act4SDGs

For more inspiration go to act4SDGs.org to see what others are planning ​ ​ around the world.

For more information contact [email protected] or [email protected] ​ ​ ​

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About the Partners

UN SDG Action Campaign The UN SDG Action Campaign is a special initiative of the UN-Secretary General, administered by the UNDP to create awareness about the 2030 Agenda, empower and inspire people across the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while generating political will, and help make the Goals attainable by 2030.

Action for Sustainable Development

Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD) is a global civil society platform which aims to bring citizens and civil society together to inspire and to commit to actions that empower all peoples, especially those who have been marginalised, and in order to collectively tackle the root causes of inequalities, injustice, rights violations, poverty, environmental degradation and climate change. The founding partners include GCAP, CIVICUS, the International Federation of Platforms (IFP) and Climate Action Network International. There are now over 1,650 members in 155 countries, from grass-roots activists and community organisations to large networks of civil society, many of whom are leading their own national actions for accountability on the SDGs. www.action4sd.org

The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)

The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a southern-led movement that challenges the structures and institutions that perpetuate poverty and inequality. GCAP supports people in their struggles for justice and brings individuals and organisations together to challenge the institutions and processes that perpetuate poverty and inequalities. GCAP aims to defend and promote human rights, gender justice, social justice, and the security needed for the dignity and peace of all.

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