Today, Jan. 15, is the global launch of action/2015. Over 1,000 organizations from around the world — Save the Children, the United Nations Foundation, the ONE Campaign, Amnesty International, the Global Poverty Project, Kids Caring 4 Kids and many others — are joining together to call upon global leaders to write ambitious agendas for the next generation in tackling global poverty, inequality and climate change. In 2015, two important meetings will occur that will determine the course of our world.
The UN General Assembly will take place in September and will result in new development goals. The UN Climate Framework Convention on Climate change will take place in December and act to set new climate action targets and commitments, in order to ensure a safer planet. action/15 is a mobilization campaign aimed to engage a global community to put pressure on our world leaders to make the right kinds of commitments at these meetings.
If action/15 succeeds it will mean:
•An accelerated transition to 100% renewable energy so that a safe climate and sustainable economy - with all its benefits for people and planet - is possible.
•An end to the soaring levels of inequality and discrimination, which we know destroys the lives of many, especially women and girls.
•An end to poverty in all its forms by securing development and economic systems that benefit everyone – not only the few.
•Securing a world in which everyone’s fundamental rights are met and realized, including access to nutritious food, clean water, essential services, and decent employment.
•A world where everyone can participate and hold their leaders accountable.
In her Nobel Peace Prize Speech Malala Yousafzai announced action/2015 saying: “2015 must be the year the world wakes up and delivers a safer, more just future for children and young people.We all must play our part in ensuring this is the case. Do not let this opportunity go to waste.”
At Kids Caring 4 Kids, we are so excited to be a part of action/2015. Through our own experiences engaging with communities across the United States and sub-Saharan Africa, we have witnessed the need for unity in commitment to create a better world. We are calling upon young people in particular to lend their voice to this global campaign because it is young people that will inherit the future of our world.In order to mitigate the challenges our world, and the people who inhabit it, will face in the future, we need to act now. We need to pool our voices and urge our world leaders to make audacious policy decisions that place an emphasis on alleviating global poverty and inequality.
Joining action/2015 is easy. Visit www.action2015.org to get involved or join the global conversation by using the #action2015. This launch is just the beginning for the campaign this year so stay tuned for more ways to lend your voice to the global cause.