For Action/2015, “This is our year.” The coalition of more than 1,950 organizations worldwide is carving a brighter future in order to make 2015 the year of action and change. The agenda includes tackling climate change, poverty, and inequality, and so far, Action/2015 made substantial progress through key campaigning and advocacy events.

January
Action/2015 launch:
On January 15, 2015, Action/2015 launched campaigns all over the world from Mali, Mexico, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the UK to name a few. Twitter helped spread #Action2015 to millions of people.

March
International Women’s Day:
On March 8, 2015, the coalition held street marches and rallies around the work in support of women’s rights. They could be spotted from the UK, Nicaragua, Spain, Ecuador, New York City, Bangladesh, Spain, and South Africa.

April
Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day:
The coalition mobilized its campaign via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, in order to address the annual spring meeting of the World Bank held in Washington D.C. #Hero, addressed the world’s Finance Ministers to fund poverty reduction projects such as the Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Goals.

May
Throughout the month, Action/2015 campaigned to pressure world leaders attending the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal Summit in September and the COP21 climate negotiations in December. More than 22 million advocates in 150 countries held events to call for change. In Kenya, the President responsively agreed to a 12 percent pay increase for workers.

May’s Days of Actions guided support through various themes of change. May 1 was Yes to Labour Rights, No to Social Exclusion Day, and May 13 was Poverty is Sexist Day. Among more, these days calling for global action complemented other events like Citizen Heartings, community sports days, caravans, and concerts.

June
The G7 Summit was held on June 7-8 in Germany. The coalition played its part by taking to Twitter to stand #AgainstPoverty. Many participants were also a part of a free concert, United Against Poverty, also calling to the G7 leaders for greater attention to end poverty.

July
The Financing for Development was held on July 13-16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Just before the conference, 4.8 million coalition events in 150 countries rallied to demand that world leaders “meet outstanding sending commitments, fight structural injustices of unfair tax, and many other issues.”

August
International Youth Day unleashed #YouthPower. Sri Lanka, South Africa, Brazil, and Benin hosted marches, workshops, political meetings, flash mobs in honor of the movement. The coalition offered guidance through the options to download from their website, International Youth Day toolkits, YouthPower Workshop plans, and contact the team for direct consultation.

September
The United Nations General Assembly will take place on September 15-28. The world’s most influential leaders will meet to conclude the Millennium Development Goals and create a new set of Sustainable Development Goals. The coalition is scheduling September 24 as a Global Day of Action for global mobilization.

November-December
From November 20 to December 11, Paris will host the UN Climate Change Conference. Action/2015 advocates will join around the globe to pressure their world leaders for stronger leadership and progress in poverty reduction.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: Action/2015 1, Action/2015 2, Action/2015 3, Action/2015 4, Action/2015 5, Action/2015 6, Action/2015 7, Action/2015 8, Action/2015 9, World Bank
Photo: Restless Development