THE WORLD WE WANT OUR ANNUAL REVIEW 2017
To bring about a more just and equal world, we need real and sustainable alternatives to the status quo. The support from people like you, our members and supporters, means that we are able to empower activists, lobby decision-makers, champion movements and reach thousands of people so that together we can build a future that works for people and planet. Thank you for standing with us.
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CONTENTS A message from our director
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The world we want: 2017 in review
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Trade that puts people and planet first 8 Access to medicines for all
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Aid to combat inequality
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A humane world beyond violent borders 12 Building the movement for sustainable alternatives 13 People power in numbers
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How we’re funded
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR We are living through the most volatile and frightening times that most of us can remember. The rise of ‘populist’, right-wing and authoritarian governments around the world, an arms race, and growing international tensions – it’s enough to give all of us sleepless nights. But we’re also seeing real glimmers of hope. For the first time in many years, senior politicians are arguing for radical change: different ways of doing trade and aid, the regulation and taxing of big business, and support for a very different foreign policy. With your help, we are moving the focus from opposition and fear, to creating a better world by developing real alternatives. Over the last year we’ve outlined a democratic and fair way of trading with other countries. Our ‘democratic trade’ model has dominated debates in Westminster, while the Scottish
parliament in Holyrood has adopted our alternative proposals in full. Our alternative model for aid and development has generated huge discussion in development organisations, and some of it has been integrated into Labour Party policy. Your support has also meant that we’ve been able to work with international allies to build pressure for an alternative model for researching and producing medicines. And we’re working with friends and colleagues to mobilise activists around a migration model that replaces hatred with humanity. Recently, we have seen an increase in activists engaging with political parties. Demanding change through parliament is vitally important. But remember that big change always comes from below – from activists and movements pushing for that change, through educating, mobilising and
directly creating alternatives. That’s where we come in – and why we continue to need your support. I hope this review will make you proud of what we’ve achieved together in 2017 and give you the determination to keep working for the better world we all believe in.
Nick Dearden Director
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THE WORLD WE WANT 2017 in review
From standing against President Trump’s state visit, to calling for democratic trade after Brexit, last year we faced the after-effects of events that shook the world in 2016. And thanks to our work together – supporters, members, activists and staff – we have a lot to be proud of. As bleak as things sometimes look, we are making a big difference. And it’s important that we take time to acknowledge our successes and achievements and draw strength from them. So we’ve put together a timeline of highlights from our fight for a more just world in 2017. By focusing on real
alternatives to the challenges we face, we have moved beyond the narrative of fear and hate. We hope these higlights show just how valuable your continued support for Global Justice Now is. They’re proof that, by working together, we can change things. Under the mounting pressure of a people-powered movement, decision-makers can no longer ignore our demands for justice. That’s how we make successes, like the ones in this timeline, possible. It’s how we change the world, one step at a time.
Thank you for making all of this possible. 4
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© Bridges Not Walls
Our groups across the country join Bridges Not Walls, a nationwide demonstration in response to Trump’s inauguration and the rise of the far right in Europe.
JANUARY After our campaign against the New Alliance – a controversial aid scheme facilitating the corporate takeover of Africa’s food systems – the UK ceases to fund it.
We first brie ‘Tra out US-
Our Take Back Our World event in Glasgow examines how we can reign in the power of corporations. In Scotland, we coordinate an assembly with our allies to agree principles for a just trade system. In early 2018 these were officially voted into Scottish parliament strategy.
FEBRUARY Our groups across the country stage actions to ramp up the pressure on MEPs to vote against CETA, including painting a largescale mural in Bristol.
MARCH Our groups learn how to have ‘difficult conversations’ about migration at 15 jointly-run workshops.
We join protests against Donald Trump’s state visit invitation.
APRIL
More than 140 young people meet up at We Rise, our first eve Global Justice Now youth network national gathering
We support the UK food sovereignty movement by helping to launch ‘A People’s Food Policy’ – an exciting positive vision for a better food system in this country.
e publish the t of four trade efings in 2017: ading with Trump’ tlines the risk of a -UK trade deal.
0 e e er e k g.
Thousands of supporters call on the British government to stop undermining a UN declaration of rights for small-scale farmers.
MAY
Our alternative aid report showcases a new progressive vision for UK aid focused on principles of social justice and solidarity.
We join La Via Campesina at their international conference to fight in solidarity with this global social movement for food sovereignty.
JUNE
Our Migration Gathering in Glasgow brings together organisations that work with migrants and refugees to plan joint action across Scotland.
Our members meet in Bristol at our annual conference and discuss how to build the movement for global justice in the context of rising right-wing populism.
We launch our campaign for access to medicine with our new report, and BBC Radio 5 Live dedicates a programme to our findings.
JULY We get an EDM (early day motion) tabled in parliament calling for greater accountability and parliamentary scrutiny in trade deals. To date, 125 MPs have signed it. We bring 60,000 voices against the Daily Mail to the M&S annual general meeting to make sure their board knows what supporters think of them advertising in the paper.
AUGUST 30 Global Justice Now activists go to Toulouse to join with other ATTAC branches at a European gathering packed with with education, discussion and planning for a better world.
SEPTEMB
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We join with Another Europe We help get 265,000 is Possible to slam the EU people to petition Withdrawal Bill (formerly Liam Fox to give MPs known as the Great Repeal power over trade deals Bill) as “the biggest and a further 60,000 threat to parliamentary make submissions to democracy in the government’s mass decades”. consultation on trade. We convince Hannah Bardell, SNP spokesperson on trade, that Scotland needs its own trade policy, at our fringe event at the SNP conference.
OCTOBER We take our campaigns to the Labour Party and World Transformed conferences in Brighton with a range of events.
We join with allies round the world in Geneva to coordinate the global campaign to hold corporations to account with a new UN treaty.
We celebrate as the Labour Party pledges to back the UN treaty on transnational corporations and human rights.
Our director gives evidence to parliament’s trade committee.
NOVEMBER Our trade event in Westminster gets cross-parliamentary support, including Green Party co-leader, Caroline Lucas, and Labour’s shadow secretary for international trade, Barry Gardiner, who vow to amend Liam Fox’s Trade Bill.
Our Sick of Corporate Greed speaker tour visits nine locations across the country to share global stories of how we can challenge big pharmaceutical companies and win.
After our campaigners get banned from the WTO in Argentina, we support southern allies to keep the voice for an alternative strong at the counter summit.
DECEMBER We release our new aid report and appear on BBC’s Panoroma to raise our concerns about the private companies profiting from aid.
TRADE THAT PUTS PEOPLE AND PLANET FIRST Trade affects every aspect of our daily lives, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, to our public services and even the air we breathe. That’s why progressive trade deals that put people and planet at their centre are so vital. Your support means that Global Justice Now can campaign for a properly democratic trade process. Until we get a say on the deals signed in our name, people and planet will always come second to the power of big business.
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After we defeated TTIP*, in 2016 (the toxic US-EU trade deal) we began 2017 continuing our campaign against the similar Canada-EU deal, CETA**. Although the EU parliament finally voted ‘yes’ to the deal in February, by then we had changed the minds of many British MEPs to vote against it. What’s more, the huge public opposition to ‘corporate courts’ generated as part of the campaign has meant that these parts of CETA have not been passed, and also forced the EU to reconsider these provisions in other deals.
TRADE DEMOCRACY Our new campaign Democracy, transparency and scrutiny were conspicuous by their absence in TTIP and CETA. As the UK begins to sign its own trade deals outside of the EU, this situation is set to become worse – with even fewer
*The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership **The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
provisions for democratic scrutiny. So as trade ministers began racing round the globe, discussing new deals behind closed doors, we launched our campaign for trade democracy. Your support meant we could move quickly as events unfolded. By the time of the general election, all opposition parties, except the DUP, had committed to the democratic scrutiny of trade deals in their manifestos. And by July we’d researched and published three new in-depth briefings and got an EDM (Early Day Motion – a type of parliamentary petition) laid down, which supporters across the country called on their MPs to sign – alerting them to the fact they would be locked
out of future trade deals. At the same time, our supporters were joining their voices with a quarter of a million other citizens in a joint petition with our allies that called on the trade secretary to make the trade process democratic and transparent. In the autumn, as the government put out its consultation on trade policy, we helped mobilise over 60,000 people to send in their submissions. Then in November, when the government published its new trade bill, we officially launched the campaign in parliament to ramp up our work informing and lobbying MPs – the ones who will vote on the bill. Insiders tell us we really made a splash.
“Global Justice Now has been instrumental in waking up parliament to the dangers of undemocratic trade and in mobilising public opinion so that my fellow MPs can’t fail to take notice.” Caroline Lucas MP Co-leader of the Green Party
What next? Your support in 2017 meant we got trade on the agenda in a big way and made great progress. We are taking that momentum into 2018 as we: • Lobby MPs to vote for amendments to the Trade Bill that would secure trade democracy. • And lobby the devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales to withhold their consent for a trade bill that doesn’t include parliamentary scrutiny. • Keep ‘trade watching’, alerting MPs and the public to the dangers in international trade secretary Liam Fox’s new trade deals as more and more come to light. • Continue to work with allies to push for progressive trade alternatives.
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ACCESS TO MEDICINES FOR ALL Every year, millions of people around the world suffer and die because they cannot afford the rip-off prices being charged for the medicines they need. At the same time, the industry making those medicines is the most profitable in the world. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have a vision of a world where everyone can access the drugs they need to live healthy lives – where health comes before wealth. And, with your help, we’re working hard to make that
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vision reality. In 2017 we joined our voices with the growing international cry for change as we launched our campaign taking on the power of the pharmaceutical industry. First, we exposed the way pharmaceutical companies take over drugs developed using public money and then sell them back to us at vast prices. Our joint report with STOPAIDS made a splash in the broadsheets and saw BBC Radio 5 Live dedicate a programme to our findings. Our Sick of Corporate Greed speaker tour quickly followed, getting the message out across the country. South African activist, Sibongile Tshabalala, inspired attendees with her story of the successful campaign for affordable HIV and AIDS medicines, showing how, together, we can win. And thousands of supporters added weight to the campaign by signing action cards and emailing their MP. Thanks to you, we’re now ready to take this campaign to the next level.
“Our voices were so strong that... our campaign was stronger than the power of their patent.” Sibongile Tshabalala Treatment Action Campaign activist
What next? • Mobilise around the NHS’s 70th birthday to highlight how rip-off drug prices threaten the right to public healthcare. • Work with our global allies to defend the legal rights of countries to take action on high drug prices in the face of corporate bullying. • Showcase what our pharmaceutical system could look like if driven by public need, not private profit, with a groundbreaking report.
AID TO COMBAT INEQUALITY Aid should be about tackling inequality and poverty, not about profits for big business. 2017 was a big year for our aid campaign. Together we shone a light on the problems around current aid spending and put forward alternatives. Our exposure of Adam Smith International (ASI), which contributed to a parliamentary inquiry into the use of for-profit companies in aid spending in 2016, continued to spark interest. And in December, we were invited to feature on the TV programme Panorama on the BBC, exposing ASI’s project in Syria. To coincide with the airing of the programme, we also produced a report on the ‘Conflict, Stability and Security Fund’. In it we showed how the case covered in Panorama was just the tip of
the iceberg. Because of your support, we were also able to work alongside organisations from across the world, to highlight the problems with aid money being used to set up private schools in Africa. After an inquiry showed that these schools were inadequate and were marginalising children from the poorest households, we called for an end to aid money being used to support one of the major private education companies – Bridge International Academies. This followed calls from teachers’ unions and education officials in Uganda and Kenya for the company’s schools to be shut. Thanks to the support of people like you, we were also able to produce
“Global Justice Now has played a vital role in challenging the way aid has been misused – and pointing to ways it can become truly transformational.” © Chris McAndrew
Kate Osamor MP Shadow secretary of state for international development
a report recommending policies for a new progressive vision for UK aid. Now the shadow secretary of state for international development, Kate Osamor, is taking up key demands in the report, including that UK aid must not only reduce extreme poverty but also inequality. This is a real breakthrough and presents a big opportunity for our movement.
What next? • Continue to challenge aid policy in parliament and push for radical alternatives to the current aid agenda, including as part of Labour’s International Development Task Force. • Stop new funds going to private education initiatives in Africa and the rest of the world. • Campaign to shut down the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and make sure that all aid reaches those it is intended for. 11
A HUMANE WORLD BEYOND VIOLENT BORDERS We want a world where people are not forced to move from their homes because of poverty, inequality, war or other injustices created by the global economy. And a world where people are not met with hostility when they try to make a better life for themselves by crossing borders. As part of the Stop Trump coalition, we helped organise thousands of people to oppose Trump’s state visit to the UK following his ‘Muslim ban’.
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“Global Justice Now’s work has been invaluable to advancing our collective work on migration and encouraging others already engaged in supporting migrants.” Akram Salhab Campaigner at Migrants Organise
As part of our work opposing the Daily Mail’s anti-migrant reporting, we decided to target one of its major advertisers, Marks & Spencer, to ask them to stop funding hate and racism. Thanks to all of our supporters, members and activists donating to our crowdfunder, we were able to attend the M&S annual meeting and present a letter, co-signed with 72 migrant rights and anti-racism organisations, in front of hundreds of shareholders. We also teamed up with campaign group Hope not Hate to deliver workshops with communities across the country on how to
communicate effectively about the issues surrounding migration.
What next? • Keep challenging Theresa May’s hostile environment and bring the daily cruelty of our immigration system out into the open. • Continue to stand up to antimigrant narratives and mobilise for Trump’s state visit scheduled for July. • Provide expert research into policy proposals for transitioning to extending free movement beyond Europe.
BUILDING THE MOVEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES With activism support staff based in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, in 2017 we invested in strengthening our activist network on the ground for the future. By running activities including street stalls, public stunts, film screenings, courses and events, last year we were able to catch the attention of the public, and engage ordinary people in conversations around alternative and sustainable solutions to some of the biggest political threats and challenges today.
A new group formed in Bolton and our youth network grew in its first full year running. Together, our seasoned as well as new activists campaigned tirelessly for better and more democratic trade deals as well as a fairer coverage of migrants in the mainstream media. To increase our impact and strengthen the movement for a more just world, our activists also built links with UK-based campaigning groups such as Hope not Hate, Demand the Impossible, People & Planet and Common Weal, as well as like minded organisations and movements in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
© Fotografías Emergentes
“ATTAC and Global Justice Now are part of an international movement. Only through international solidarity can we bring about really big change.” Luciana Ghiotto Campaigner at ATTAC Argentina
What next? • Train activists in public speaking, campaign strategy planning and organising protests, to increase our campaigning impact. • Engage more young people in our ‘systemic alternatives’ events across the country. • Continue to make links with UK and international like-minded campaigning organisations to build a mass movement for lasting change. 13
PEOPLE POWER IN NUMBERS People power works. There’s no question about it. From abolishing slavery, to winning the vote for working people, to the antiapartheid movement, the evidence is clear: when people come together to fight for what’s right, they can achieve real, lasting and radical change. To build the world we want, we know that there are huge challenges ahead. But together we can face them. While as individuals, we’re weak, as part of a movement, we can change history. Thank you for being a member of Global Justice Now.
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123,885
people saw our tweet and photo of our
projection on the Houses of Parliament. Working closely with the Trade Justice Movement, we mobilised
265,014
people to petition Liam Fox to give MPs power over trade deals.
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generous people donated to our crowdfunder, allowing us to invite Sibongile Tshabalala, national chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign, to tour the UK.
11,299
new Facebook followers in 2017, totalling 54,077 by the end of the year – and counting.
2,263
people helped us spread the word about scapegoating of migrants and refugees in the media by sharing one of our Facebook posts. As a result the post was seen by 392,807 people.
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MPs signed a trade EDM calling for increased parliamentary scrutiny over trade deals.
media mentions – exposing global injustice to the public and growing the movement for a better world.
61,395
people helped us take action against the scapegoating of migrants in the right-wing media.
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Global Justice Now activists went to the ATTAC Summer University for social movements in France to learn, debate, discuss and plan how we bring about change.
6,387
people ordered our ‘Bin the Daily Mail’ campaign pack, raising awareness of the horrible treatment of migrants by some UK tabloids.
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young people met up for our very first Global Justice Now youth network national gathering.
492
people joined Global Justice Now with a direct debit, allowing us to continue to run sustainable and hardhitting campaigns.
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HOW WE’RE FUNDED
© Newcastle University
“I love the fact that Global Justice Now is prepared to speak out about the issues that really count. Far too many NGOs bite their tongues and are too cautious, in my view, about the really important stuff. But that never stops Global Justice Now.” George Monbiot Journalist and author
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We want to make really big changes in the world. This won’t happen overnight; it will be made up of thousands of little steps – steps we can take thanks to the commitment of donors like you. In 2017 nearly two-thirds of our income came from passionate and dedicated individuals, through regular and one-off donations, as well as legacies. It’s your support that means we can stay independent, without having to make compromises in our vision for a fairer world. In fact, regular gifts like direct debits made up a huge 41% of our income last year. It’s precisely these gifts, along with those left in wills, that give us the stability to run our campaigns in the long term, and the flexibility to react as the world around us changes.
The rest of our funding (just over a third) came from carefully selected trusts and foundations, and a number of faith-based organisations, to which we are also very grateful.
HOW YOUR DONATION IS USED Nearly three quarters of our income (73p in every pound) goes directly to our campaigns fighting injustice and building the kind of world we want to see. A small amount (1p in the pound) goes on the costs of keeping our democratic structure functioning (what we call ‘governance’). 26% goes on getting our message out to supporters and the public and on raising the next pound, to ensure we can keep challenging injustice into the future.
Governance £26K 1% Fundraising
Regular gifts
£452K 26%
Events Faith based and other organisations incomes £18K £14K 1% 1%
Grants (restricted) £441K 31%
£585k 41%
Expenditure
Income
Grants (unrestricted)
Legacies Campaigns £1,261K 73%
£75K 5%
One-off donations from individuals
£42K 3%
£254K 18%
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THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THE MOVEMENT FOR REAL ALTERNATIVES
To find out more or ask a question, get in touch at: Global Justice Now, 66 Offley Road, London SW9 0LS 020 7820 4900 offleyroad@globaljustice.org.uk www.globaljustice.org.uk @GlobalJusticeUK
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Global Justice Now
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