2008 Trade Week of Action

Join with millions of people around the world as they participate in the Trade Week of Action from 12-19 October to call for justice in global trade!

For decades, rich countries and institutions have pushed poor countries to open their markets, privatize essential services, and divert development efforts away from local producers. The profits of large corporations, supermarkets, transport companies and advertisers have increased and the power to control trade has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. At the same time, millions of  people – from small farmers to individual consumers, have become increasingly disempowered and impoverished.

That’s why we are calling for trade justice. Trade justice is about recognizing the right that farmers have to feed their families and send their children to school. It is about allowing domestic industries to develop; it is about access to essential services like water and healthcare, and it is about the right to fair wages and dignified work. Trade justice is about people and their basic human rights.

Join us – learn about the issues, find out what’s being planned in your area, and work with others in taking action! Many people have organized their actions during this week around trade and the right to food, but everyone is encouraged to focus on an issue  that makes sense in their own context.

Together we are telling the world that enforced free trade is inflicting misery on millions of poor people, and that there are alternatives.

Trade Week of Action Resource Guide