Global Day of Action on Military Spending  
12 April 2011, Aotearoa New Zealand

An invitation to get involved in the new Global Day of Action on Military Spending

Last year global military expenditure was $1,630 billion (US), on average nearly $4.5 billion a day. By way of contrast, an average of more than 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from mainly preventable causes - lack of access to adequate food, clean water and basic medicines. This is one of the prices paid, the collateral damage that is seldom talked about, for maintaining armed forces in a state of combat readiness around the world.

Please scroll down this page for information on: 1) Getting involved in the Global Day of Action, and 2) Background information.

1) Getting involved in the Global Day of Action

There are many ways that can get involved in the Global Day of Action, and here are some:

• Add your organisation to the list of supporters : if you would like your organisation listed as a supporter of the Global Day of Action and of the urgent need to change spending priorities away from funding armed forces towards meeting human needs, please send your details to Peace Movement Aotearoa with 'Global Day of Action' in the subject line and we will add you to the list of supporting organisations. You can also add your organisation's name to the international Global Day of Action site.
• Supporting individuals: you can add your name as an individual supporter of the Global Day of Action by RSVPing to the event listing on the Peace Movement Aotearoa Facebook page (click on the 'Events' tab on the wall).

• Help distribute the advertising flyer: an A4 flyer (which can be printed, then cut to A5) is available here - your help to distribute the flyer through your networks would be appreciated.
• Organise an event: it would be great if you could organise an event in your local community to mark the Global Day of Action - you don't need to plan for something massive, having a small group with a placard or banner or street theatre in a public place, perhaps outside a health, education, refuge or other social service that has had a recent funding cut, would be fine. A public meeting or discussion with speakers from services that have recently been cut or that could put more funding to good use, or from organisations involved in overseas development assistance is another possibility.

It would be really helpful if you could let us know if you would like to organise something so we can put you in touch with others in your area who are also interested in being part of the Global Day of Action. If you would like to discuss your ideas or publicity, or would like any other support, we are happy to help - please email Peace Movement Aotearoa with 'Global Day of Action' in the subject line or phone us on 04 382 8129. Planning for events in Wellington and Auckland, as well as a national media strategy, is already underway.

The Global Day of Action is in the week before the annual White Poppies for Peace Appeal, so if you would like white poppies available for your event, please email Peace Movement Aotearoa with 'Request for poppies' in the subject line.

• Photo wall: you can upload a photo or image illustrating your spending priorities for $1,531 billion to the international Global Day of Action photo wall at http://demilitarize.org/photo-wall.
• Resources: in addition to the global information resources available on the international site ( http://demilitarize.org/category/fact-sheets ), Peace Movement Aotearoa is putting together resources on the New Zealand government's spending priorities - these will be available at the end of March.

2) Background information

The Global Day of Action was started by the International Peace Bureau, based in Geneva, and the Institute for Policy Studies, based in Washington DC. The April date was chosen to coincide with the release of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's latest figures on world military expenditures.

Peace, social justice and human rights groups around the world are now involved in the Global Day of Action and we will be joining together on 12 April to focus public, political, and media attention on the costs of military expenditure and the need for different spending priorities. The international web site for the Global Day of Action is at http://demilitarize.org.