first Global Day of Action on Military Spending

People in more than 35 countries will participate tomorrow in the first Global Day of Action on Military Spending and will join actions to focus public, political, and media attention on the costs of military spending and the need for new priorities. There is a lot of actions happening tomorrow throughout Europe. Please check this website: http://demilitarize.org/

to find out about what kind of events will take place in your country, and learn about yearly military spending figures and ideas on how to cut global military spending. Please spread the news about the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending among the members of your organizations.



The Global Day is co-organized by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC and the International PeaceBureau in Geneva, Switzerland. It has been endorsed by more than 100 organizations, including Religions for Peace.


The theme of the military spending is an important part of our Arms Down! Campaign, advanced globally by the Global Youth Network of Religions for Peace, and in Europe – by our EIYN network. The the third goal of our campaign is to redirect 10% of military expenditure to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.


"Since the Millennium Development Goals were first articulated a decade ago, world military expenditure has risen by 50 per cent to more than 1.5 trillion dollars. This money could surely have been much better spent on poverty reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, women’s and children’s health, and other global development

challenges. " (UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon)



The first phase of the Arms Down! Campaign finished in October 2010 with 20 million signatures collected for the Arms Down! petition, delivered to the UN Secretary General in the ceremony that took place in NY.


You can see the video about the campaign activities implemented on different continents in the years 2009-2010 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu6CB_jz2_0&feature=player_embedded


To read Message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Religions for Peace young disarmament activists click here:

http://www.armsdown.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/remarksfrommoon.pdf



The Arms Down! campaign continues, with its second phase, till the end of 2011, trying to bring the attention of governments and political leaders to the critical issue of arms-spending and its link to the unspeakable scandal of poverty, illness, and disease in our world.



There are Arms Down! activities planned in Europe for the upcoming months, we should soon let you know about them.


You are invited to follow our activities on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rfp.eiyn