The French and international NGOs have agreed and announced their mobilisation plans for the G8 and G20 Summits in 2011. They have sent out a call for to the global communityto put forward alternative models to the current financial system pushed by G8 and G20 powers. Planning Meeting and Demands:
French and international NGOs met recently in Paris to agree plans for the G8 and G20 mobilisations. Attending the meeting were NGOs, coaltions and social movements, including ATTAC, Oxfam, ONE, CIDSE, WEED, Collectif Normandie G8, CRID, CCFD, Medicins du Monde and others. According to minutes of the meeting agreed groups discussed the French government's G8 and G20 agenda and agreed to link the Summit's agendas to the following key issues:
- Climate change / Nuclear Power/ Energy Crisis
- Support the struggles in the Arab countries + struggle against dictatorships
- Fight against the austerity policies (UK, Greece, Portugal ...)
- Better distribution of wealth both in the global North and in the global South
- Challenge the dominant production model (capitalism)
- Challenge the legitimacy of the G8 and G20 and to spread alternative proposals
- Selected slogans: People first, not Finance! ; For the G8 : G20 Get out! [Ed: something may have been lost in translation for the second slogan).
Mobilisations:
The meeting also agreed on the format and timing of the alternative mobilisations for the G8. The activities will take place under the headline G8 Degage and include the following events:
The plans of action for the G8 include a caravan that will travel through Northwest France to inform the public on the G8 and G20 and exlore alternatives to the current global financial situation.
Rally and Concert
On the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of May, the week before the G8 meets in nearby Deauville, the G8 Degage coaltion will hold a Summit and a rally in L'Havre. The rally will take place in the afternoon of the 21st and end in a concert. The Summit will be held on the 22nd at a local university.
Other Activities
Actions around the 26th and 27th will be decentralised with local and regional activities planned in France, Germany and the UK. Organisers are planning a street party in Paris on the final day of the G8 - the 27th May.
New Website
All the plans and minutes are on the new G8 Degage website which will post more information as it becomes available.