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Stand Up! Take Action! End Poverty Now!

Sunday, 18 October 2009, WFTO Indonesia participated in “Stand Up; Take Action, End Poverty Now” in the Lapangan Puputan Badung, Denpasar-Bali. Stand Up has taken place annually since 2006, in an effort to pressure world leaders to fulfill their commitments to end poverty, as written in the MDGs (Millenium Development Goals).

The MDGs are an agreement signed by 189 countries who agreed to end poverty within their own nations. This program was planned to begin in 1990 and they hope to achieve the goals, which include overcoming poverty and famine, by 2015. Unfortunately, the current global conditions threaten the progress with the MDGs. The recent economic crisis continues to increase the number of those who are poor.

For 2009, Stand Up focused on the issues of food production and gender – especially the issues of women’s reproductive health. Stand Up in Bali is coordinated by ALASE Bali (the alliance of Balinese non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations) and additional NGOs working to decrease poverty. The local government also supported this event. The events included: an Anti-Poverty exhibition, a discussion, a bazaar, street art, a concert and a poster exhibition. The main events involved the namesake, symbolic, action of standing-up paired with Anti-Poverty pledges, and they were attended by almost 4,000 people.

Our participation in the Stand Up events strengthened the network created between WFTO Indonesia, other NGOs and other local, social organizations in Bali. In this event, WFTO Indonesia organized a booth to exhibit fair trade products from our members across the country. In addition to products, we also shared information related to fair trade principles. Of course, we did not forget to bring a banner listing the ten standards for Fair Trade. This was a way to promote fair trade to the public, as well as a chance to practice the WFTO Indonesia advocacy strategy “To bring the voice of Fair Trade to the policy makers”.