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Action/2015 is a global campaign asking world leaders to tackle poverty, inequality, and climate change. It’s a movement of over a thousand organisations, including VSO, in more than 120 countries. Action/2015 is one of the biggest campaigns ever to launch. It has the support of some big names, including Malala Yousafzai, Queen Rania of Jordan, Bono, Ben Affleck, Bill and Melinda Gates and Mo Ibrahim.
2015 is an important year. This year a new set of Sustainable Development Goals will be finalised. Over the past fifteen years the Millennium Development Goals have achieved a great deal, including halving the number of people living in extreme poverty, but there is still much to achieve. According to new research, almost a billion extra people face a life of extreme poverty if leaders duck key decisions on poverty at the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September and the UN Climate talks in Paris in December.
Angela Salt, VSO UK Director said,
"VSO believes that people have the power to create extraordinary change when they come together and act. Let’s come together to call on our leaders to take ambitious decisions for our future. Together, as a global movement of citizens, we will raise our voice today for the generations of tomorrow."
As part of the launch, activities are taking place in over 50 countries all around the world. VSO is reaching out to its global network of volunteers and supporters asking them to take an 'I am' selfie – a message of the world you would like to see and then share it via social media, bringing people together as part of a global movement.
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For further information or to book an interview contact VSO Press Office
Ruby Wright: +44 (0)208 780 7674, +44 (0)7969983222 ruby.wright@vso.org.uk
For more information about the campaign www.action2015.org
VSO is the world’s leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. VSO's high-impact approach involves bringing people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action, and change lives to make the world a fairer place for all. For more information http://www.vsointernational.org/what-we-do/advocacy/Post-2015.asp
The ‘almost 1 billion lives’ figure is calculated from best and worst scenarios based on different actions that could be taken affecting inequality, climate change, growth, aid and social investment. These variables are computed by the International Futures model developed at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver.
