The Trade Justice Movement is a British coalition, founded in 2000, of more than 60 organizations campaigning for trade justice.
The Trade Justice Movement provides expertise and analysis to civil society organisations, politicians and the media across a range of trade issues. Examples include the ways in which trade and trade agreements can impact on climate goals, poverty reduction and gender equality. It is a membership network of more than 60 organisations, including development and environment NGOs, trade unions, human rights campaigns, Fairtrade organizations, and faith and consumer groups.
TJM was known in the early years for large mobilisation campaigning. In 2005 it held a mass lobby of Parliament, which was the largest such event in the history of modern British democracy with 375 MPs lobbied in one day. This surpassed the previous record of 346 MPs lobbied in June 2002, which had also been set by the Trade Justice Movement. In 2003 the coalition staged the biggest national lobby of MPs when more than 500 parliamentarians were lobbied in their constituencies ahead of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico, when talks collapsed. In April 2005 the coalition staged the biggest mass protest of the UK election campaign when over 25,000 people filled Whitehall at an all-night vigil. In 2005 the Trade Justice Movement was one of the networks at the core of Make Poverty History, a UK coalition of more than 500 organizations lobbying for the trade justice movement, debt relief, and increased foreign aid.
From around 2010, the organisation shifted its focus towards the provision of advocacy and expertise. It has been instrumental in the collapse of the EU-US trade negotiations (TTIP) and in the movement against investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). It campaigns for UK trade deals to be negotiated in a way that is democratic and protects environmental standards and the right to health.
Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts, their relationships, the media, and messaging to educate government officials and the public. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes, including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research. Lobbying is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on a specific issue or specific piece of legislation. Research has started to address how advocacy groups in the United States and Canada are using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.
The European Social Forum (ESF) was a recurring conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement. In the first few years after it started in 2002 the conference was held every year, but later it became biannual due to difficulties with finding host countries. The conference was last held in 2010. It aims to allow social movements, trade unions, NGOs, refugees, peace and anti-imperial groups, anti-racist movements, environmental movements, networks of the excluded and community campaigns from Europe and the world to come together and discuss themes linked to major European and global issues, in order to coordinate campaigns, share ideas and refine organizing strategies. It emerged from the World Social Forum and follows its Charter of Principles.
Trade justice is a campaign by non-governmental organisations, plus efforts by other actors, to change the rules and practices of world trade in order to promote fairness. These organizations include consumer groups, trade unions, faith groups, aid agencies and environmental groups.
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London. War on Want works to challenge the root causes of poverty, inequality and injustice through partnership with social movements in the global South and campaigns in the UK. War on Want's slogan is "poverty is political" and its stated focus is on the root causes of poverty rather than its effects.
Christian Aid is the relief and development agency of 41 Christian churches in the UK and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
Make Poverty History were organizations in a number of countries, which focused on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally formed a coalition of aid and development agencies which worked together to raise awareness of global poverty and achieve policy change by governments. The movement has existed in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. The various national campaigns were part of the international Global Call to Action Against Poverty campaign.
Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in over 40 countries that called for cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. This movement coincided with the Great Jubilee, the celebration of the year 2000 in the Catholic Church. The campaign has been generally hailed as very successful. As planned, the Jubilee 2000 Coalition dissolved at the end of the millennium year but left a legacy of organisations around the world.
Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.
Stop Climate Chaos is a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United Kingdom that focuses on climate change. It was established in September 2005 and is known for running the "I Count" campaign from 2006 to 2007. In addition, the coalition organized 'The Wave" on 5 December 2009 as a lead-up to the UN talks in Copenhagen.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is a UK-based campaigning organisation working towards the abolition of the international arms trade. It was founded in 1974 by a coalition of peace groups. It has been involved in several high-profile campaigns, including a legal challenge against the Serious Fraud Office's decision to suspend a corruption investigation into BAE Systems in 2007. On 27 September 2012, it was honoured with a Right Livelihood Award for its "innovative and effective campaigning".
The Campaign against Climate Change is a UK-based pressure group that aims to raise public awareness of anthropogenic climate change through mobilising mass demonstrations. Founded in 2001 in response to President Bush's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, the organization saw a steady increase in attendance on marches before a sudden take-off in interest between October - December 2005. An estimated 10,000 people attended a rally in London on 3 December 2005. The following year on 4 November 2006 the Campaign organised a march from the US Embassy to the iCount event in Trafalgar Square. At least 25,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square that day making it easily the biggest demonstration on climate change in the UK to date, until The Wave march in December 2009.
The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a network of over 11,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) organized in about 58 national groups. It supports people in their struggles for justice and brings individuals and organizations together to challenge the institutions and processes that perpetuate poverty and inequalities.
A civil society campaign is one that is intended to mobilize public support and use democratic tools such as lobbying in order to instigate social change. Civil society campaigns can seek local, national or international objectives. They can be run by dedicated single-issue groups such as Baby Milk Action, or by professional non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as the World Development Movement, who may have several campaigns running at any one time. Larger coalition campaigns such as 2005's Make Poverty History may involve a combination of NGOs.
The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, is an independent, non-profit research and network organisation working on social, ecological and economic issues related to sustainable development. Since 1973, the organisation investigates multinational corporations and the consequences of their activities for people and the environment around the world.
Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations use various forms of advocacy and/or lobbying in order to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an important role in the development of political and social systems.
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) is the European branch of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI). It includes 33 national organizations and thousands of local groups.
The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group that campaigns against the United Kingdom's involvement in military conflicts.
The Women's National Coalition was established in South Africa in April 1992 as a national alliance of women's groups across the country. Women were represented from across the political, economic, racial, cultural and religious spectrum. The coalition was launched to survey the concerns and needs of women throughout South Africa. It was aimed at ensuring that women participate in the making of the constitution and in the formulation of the Women's Charter that was launched in 1994. The Women's National Coalition now focuses on lobbying, training and plays a key role in Adult Basic Education and Gender training.
Rights Now, sometimes written with an exclamation mark, was a British umbrella group of disabled people's organisations and charities which campaigned for a change in the law to prevent discrimination against disabled people and for a full civil rights law, even though the result was the flawed Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The biggest protest in numbers of people was in July 1994 at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, London. It was a very broad-based campaign, including trade unions for example. Campaigning to improve the laws for full civil rights continued, but Rights Now as a group ended in 1995.
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