Famous global landmarks wear giant white bands

02 Jul '05

5 min read

The Global Call to Action against Poverty marks its first global White Band Day mobilization on Friday 1st July

Some of the world's most famous landmarks will be adorned with huge white bands on 1st July, as part of a curtain-raiser to a week of global action during which campaigners and the public in 72 countries will use their voices to call for an end to global poverty.

As part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), the world's largest anti-poverty movement, landmarks including Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge, Rome's Trevi Fountain, a huge mosque in Indonesia, St Paul's Cathedral in London, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and a famous cotton tree in Sierra Leone will simultaneously be wrapped in oversized white bands – the symbol of the global campaign.

Coming just 5 days before world leaders arrive at Gleneagles for the G8 summit and a mere 24 hours before Live8 concerts are broadcast around the world, this first White Band Day mobilization will mark the occasion when millions of people will call on their leaders in developed countries to honor their promises on more and better aid, trade justice and debt cancellation. Campaigners across developing countries will also reiterate demands on their leaders for transparent poverty reduction initiatives and challenge them to aggressively fight corruption.

An eclectic array of events also marking White Band Day will include: a music festival in the slums of Maputo, Mozambique, an open air concert in Lusaka, Zambia, a peace rally in Nepal, a rally in the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam and a concert and rally with a human dragon in the Philippines, a peaceful march of 10,000 in El Salvador's capital San Salvador and beach party in Ghana with farmers groups who will highlight the plight of rice farmers burdened by unfair trade rules.

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