After mobilizing hundreds of other young people for the last months to take action on the MDGs without actually doing something concrete myself, I finally had the chance to join some of the 2nd White Band Day activities in New York this last Saturday. The New York office of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) had organized to join the Labor Day Parade and so many of the GCAP people that are here for the M+5 Summit this week (among them Kumi Naidoo, the chair of GCAP and many coordinators of national Campaign activities) went on the streets of New York to tell people to “wake up to poverty”. I really enjoyed the march. The group was a fantastic mixture of people from all corners of the world and many of us distributed white bands to the people watching the parade (which were unfortunately not as many as I had hoped). I also had some great conversations and got to know many of the amazing people behind GCAP.
After the parade, we went to Central Park, where we had a little rest and a brief information meeting about what (lobbying) activities GCAP is planning over the course of the M+5 Summit.

In the afternoon, Vidar, Emily and I headed to New York University where a group of students had organized a big summit for young people on the MDGs, called MDG Young Global Leaders Summit. We were there to present the work of TIG and GYAN around the MDGs and many interested young people actually came to our booth and asked questions.

In the evening, we went to the Party against Poverty” in the Club Deep. Ben, one of the guys who had organized the event in New York, had promoted the event during the Labor Day Parade in the morning and we were able to get our name on the guest list. I was very enthusiastic before I went there: Ben had promised a fashion show with GCAP clothes (Make Poverty History underwear!), and Kumi agreed to say a few words to the crowd. But when I arrived at the nightclub, I was soon getting disappointed. There was no speech, no fashion show and no other information about GCAP or what this party was for. The only hint was a table at the entrance where volunteers were selling white bands for the Katrina victims (!!!). I was really disappointed and felt that it was a shame to have a party against poverty, if it is organized in such a way. Party and poverty are two things that are not going together from an ethical perspective, so if you decide to organize a party against poverty, then you should at least ensure that enough information is given out for people to know why the party is organized and what the issues are that are being addressed.
But well, I hope that the parties in other cities (as this was a global initiative with parallel parties in 8 cities on 3 continents) provided more information for people and that it actually helped to raise awareness about the MDGs. And after all, I got at least a good impression about New York’s nightlife and I enjoyed a great day with lots of activities.