Advocacy

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We live in such a globalised world that much of what happens on the international stage affects peoples at the grassroots level. So although as it is of vital importance that development initiatives occur from the bottom up – in other words, we work with local people in the first instance – if the larger picture is ignored much of what can be done at the local level will be undermined.

The obvious example is Climate Change where only action at the global level has any hope of arresting the runaway global warming that is predicted to cause wide-ranging chaos and hardship, predominantly amongst the developing nations.

Another example is the global trade regulations that favour developed countries over developing ones leading to situation where local markets are often flooded with heavily subsidised imports. A further example is the lax international tax laws that allow multi-national companies to avoid paying proper tax in the countries from which they take natural resources, effectively robbing local people.

Debates and policies that take place in the international arena directly affect farmers and their communities in the developing world. Much of the poverty that can be found world-wide is avoidable through good governance and a fair playing field, one which favours local people rather than discriminates against them.

Deforestation, land grabbing by international companies, corruption, a moral-based approach to trade regulation, aid and debt relief: these are just some examples of the many areas upon which international policy can have either a positive or negative effect on local people’s lives.

Charities like Rainbow that have direct grassroots experience in developing countries are uniquely placed to speak up for impoverished peoples on the global stage. Indeed, perhaps they have a moral duty to do so.

Rainbow, being small, does not run advocacy campaigns itself, but it makes a point in actively participating in campaigns run by larger organisations that are relevant to the work it does.

Some Campaigns:
10:10 UK
Global Climate Campaign
Stop Climate Chaos Coalition
The Wave
350.org
Campaign against Climate Change
Christian Aid UK