Across the world, Governments and International Financial Institutions continue to follow an economic model that has consistently failed the many for the last 50 years. Reduced public spending imposed by this model has left devastating impacts on people’s lives as the cost of living rises, public services are underfunded, and debt repayments are prioritised over the rights and needs of the people. It has led us to this point of crisis for people and the planet.
We are a wide range of activists, artists, social movements, unions and civil society organisations mobilising people around the world to claim our stake in remaking our broken economy. We are calling on Governments and International Financial Institutions like the IMF and World Bank to cease the economic model that has been driving the inequality crisis by slashing the taxes on the rich, imposing austerity, underfunding public services and pushing countries into a debt trap.
Join the call to action and participate in pushing forward this agenda together this year.
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Globally inequality is on the rise, many of our countries and our economies are still reeling from the impact global health pandemic and the resulting economic recession. The cost of living is on the rise and austerity measures implemented by our governments are only pushing us to breaking point. We are on course to a climate catastrophe.
There is increasing realisation by people across class, race and gender that inequality is being driven by the existing neoliberal economic model. In this context, our people powered organising from the grassroots up is more urgent than ever to advance alternatives to the current trajectory.
The current trajectory we are on works for the few and not the majority. The solutions to the crisis cannot and should not be dictated to by the elites, the same elites who created the problem in the first place. What is needed are solutions that come from real people who are confronted by the challenges.
People’s Alternatives is being coordinated by the Fight Inequality Alliance, but alongside many, many movements, groups, artists, activists, academics and others across the world. People’s Alternatives is a broad space for the growing inequality movement. Organisations, movements, artists, activists and others who share the vision for this should join.
Not really. This is only one milestone in our agenda. The vast majority of the organising and mobilising will take place in your country over the coming months (see below for the way the timetable for the rest of this year looks at the moment). We must grow our organising as movements in over 60 countries and advance people-powered alternatives from those living on the frontlines of inequality.
Peoples’ Alternatives is not about physically attending the World Bank and IMF meetings in Morocco. It is about us, the 99% coming together in our communities, cities, countries and regions through Peoples’ Caravans, Assemblies and Tribunals, making our voices heard about the impacts of inequality in our lives and on our planet, and making our demands and alternatives heard by our governments, as well as challenging the role of the World Bank and IMF.
To make our criticisms of and alternatives to the global economic system loud and visible, we will also be taking action around the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings from 9-15 October in Marrakech, Morocco. This meeting on the African continent is only the second one since the 1944 founding of the Bretton Woods Institutions. The first and only meeting in Africa was held in Nairobi in 1973. These meetings are an opportunity to speak truth to power with a vision of People’s Alternatives coming from frontline activists across the Global South as these institutions bring their meeting to African soil.
No we are not. The Fight Inequality Alliance is made up of social movements, NGOs, trade unions, community groups, activists and artists around the world who are fighting the root causes of inequality. Some political figures, political parties and others may agree with some or all of our proposals though. Everybody now says that tackling inequality is a problem and uses some of the language of the movement - from the IMF and the World Bank, to governments signing up to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG 10 on fighting inequality), to wealthy individuals, the Pope and many others. However, despite this rhetorical agreement, there is no consensus on the systemic change that is needed to fight inequality.
The heart of Peoples’ Alternatives is large scale physical mobilisations where people on the frontlines of inequality can share their stories as well as create solutions with others. We aim to physically mobilise in over 60 countries across Africa, Latin America, Asia as well as Europe and North America. There will also be action happening digitally throughout the year, as well as globally at the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings as one global focal point.
Asia and Oceana
Philippines
India
Nepal
Indonesia
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
South Korea
Vietnam
Thailand
Fiji
New Zealand
Australia
Middle East
Palestine
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico
Costa Rica
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Panama
Haiti
Barbados
North America
United State of America
Canada
Europe
Denmark
UK
Netherlands
Spain
Italy
France
Germany
Iceland
Greece
Switzerland
Norway
Portugal
Sweden
Finland
Ireland
Join in! Also, if your country is not on the list you can still be involved by organising action in your country as well as participating digitally.
The call to action to remake our broken economies began at the same time as the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in April 2023. The call to many more groups to join this exciting initiative for Peoples’ Alternatives continues, with activity throughout the year and beyond.
We hope to organise Peoples’ Caravans beginning from May-June 2023, sub-national Peoples’ Assemblies in May-July, national Peoples’ Assemblies in August-September, and Peoples’ Tribunals in countries and in Marrakech in October.
We will join with other key activities including Africa Liberation Day on 25 May, and other relevant national, regional and global moments with allies throughout the year.
Beyond October 2023, we see this energy and momentum continuing into further national and global action in 2024 and onwards.
Through the year, mass actions across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Global North will take place. Debates will be held and solutions will be created amongst people in their millions in person, on social media and through media. People’s Caravans will move across countries holding popular education sessions and local discussions, People’s Assemblies will be held at sub-national and national level. People’s stories and demands will be heard at People’s Tribunals, where the current system, including the role of the World Bank and the IMF will be scrutinised.
If you want to be part of this, sign the call to action or email info@fightinequality.org and we will send you all the information you need to know where in your country these actions will take place, or to organise a meeting with you to set an action together.
As long as we don’t rise up together on a global scale, with coordinated organisation, and throw powerful messages to face the rich and the power holders, the reality of the injustice of inequality is not going to change.
Now more than ever, movements across the globe are putting into the public debate things that during decades will not even be considered seriously. This is a great moment to join together! Now it's the time to come together.
Fight Inequality Alliance and many of our allies have been pushing this agenda nationally and globally for several years, achieving some progress. The demand to Tax The Rich is part of the Peoples’ Alternatives agenda (see the call to action). At the core of a new economic system must be one that redistributes from the richest to the poorest globally, and within our societies. As people articulate their demands for universal public services, for women’s unpaid care work to be rewarded and redistributed, for those most responsible for climate change to pay the costs of the Global Green New Deal we need and so on, the richest individuals and companies in our societies must pay their fair share as part of how power and wealth must be redistributed in our societies and globally.