What is GCAP?

Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) supports people in their struggles for justice and brings individuals and organisations together to challenge the institutions and processes that perpetuate poverty and inequalities. Together, we defend and promote human rights, gender justice, social justice, climate justice and the security needed for the dignity and peace of all.

GCAP is a network of over 11,000 civil society organisations (CSOs) organized in 66 National Coalitions and in constituency groups of women, youth and socially-excluded people, among others. 

Read more about our work around Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, our current campaign Faces of Inequality and the People’s Assembly .

Our strengths

  • Strong political leadership from the Global South.
  • A focus on the structural aspects of inequalities.
  • Proven ability to mobilise millions of people in support of rights-based advocacy.
  • A solid grassroots foundation, consisting of thousands of small & mid-sized civil society organisations.
  • A real bottom-up process led by marginalized groups and women’s organisations.

History

A Decade of Campaign Experience

In September 2003, prominent activist on women and children’s issues, Graça Machel, hosted a group of southern civil society activists in Maputo, Mozambique. It was here, that the idea of a Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) was first aired.

Launched in 2005 at the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre with the symbol of the whiteband, GCAP has mobilized hundreds of millions of people and co-organised the world’s largest single issues-based campaign to ‘Stand UP’ Against Poverty – certified by the Guinness World Records with 173 million people in 2009.

GCAP played a key role the creation of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have organized community and national consultations in 39 countries since 2013. In 2015, we mobilized 32 million people to act against Poverty, Inequality and Climate Change.

GCAP has successfully insisted on the centrality of addressing inequalities and guaranteeing the active participation of people in the Agenda 2030. The standalone goal on inequalities, SDG 10, is one result.

On 25 September 2017, GCAP initiated in cooperation with the UN SDG Action Campaign the Global Day of Action – Act4SDGs to mark the anniversary of the SDGs. In 2018 a million people took part in 1662 actions in 143 countries.

Mission & Strategy

Mission

To build the movement for Global Justice and Solidarity – by fighting inequalities within and between countries to eradicate poverty in a bottom-up process, involving people facing discrimination and exclusion and with leadership from the Global South.

GCAP is a global civil society movement fighting for global justice to end poverty and inequality with strong leadership from the Global South, with the following aims: 

  • Ending poverty and inequalities: GCAP fights for social, economic and gender rights and climate justice to end poverty and inequalities. We advocate and mobilise for the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their principle of Leaving No One Behind, challenging practices, institutions and processes that perpetuate oppression, discrimination and the structural causes of poverty and inequalities.
  • People’s voice: GCAP is primarily formed by many small and medium-sized civil society organisations with a strong grassroots connection, especially of people facing discrimination and exclusion. They organise themselves into democratic coalitions and constituency groups in a bottom-up process at national, regional and global levels to amplify people’s voices.
  • Global solidarity: The character of GCAP is marked by global cooperation and solidarity with a majority leadership from the Global South to support peoples’ struggles as part of the global justice movement.

Themes

  • Gender and Social Exclusion
  • Role and Accountability of Private Sector
  • Redistribution
  • Climate Justice
  • Civic Space and Human Rights

Main activities

  • Research and Analysis: Inequality Reports and Faces of Inequalities publications
  • Awareness raising and capacity building on inequalities and SDGs
  • Mobilisation and campaigning in a bottom up process
  • Advocacy and Monitoring
  • Civil Society Coordination and Alliance Building

Annual Reports

GCAP 2018 Annual Report

Our structure

National Coalitions

GCAP is made up of over 18,4000 CSOs, organised in 66 National Coalitions. Each works with grassroots organizations and at national level throughout the year, on the most relevant issues in their own country.

Regional Councils

Constituency Groups

The Social Justice DWD Task Force organises Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD), organises and unites those communities who are some of the most vulnerable, neglected and left behind groups in society.



  • Women’s rights and feminist organizations
  • Socially excluded task force
  • Youth
  • Older people

General Assembly

The GCAP General Assembly is the global decision-making body, which includes all national coalitions and constituent groups and meets every three years. The GCAP General Assembly elects the GCAP Global Council.



Global Council

El Consejo Global proporciona la dirección estratégica y la implementación del GCAP, según el mandato de la Asamblea General y sus Declaraciones, y está dirigido por tres Copresidentes del Consejo Global. El actual Consejo Mundial del GCAP fue elegido en octubre de 2020 tras un proceso electoral inclusivo y con muchos candidatos en cada región. El Consejo Global tiene un mandato de 3 años, tal y como se define en el documento de gobernanza del GCAP. Paul Divaka, Georgina Muñoz y Oumar Sow son los actuales copresidentes elegidos del GCAP, y Constantinos Machairas es el tesorero.



Africa

  • Oumar Sow

    Co-Chair
    Senegal

    GCAP Senegal

    Oumar is the head of GCAP Senegal and is a dynamic and highly experienced person with management and coordination experience. His work with GCAP started in working for GCAP as main person responsible for advocacy. Being responsible for the STAND UP campaign being the focal and coordination point and being a coordinator for the action2015 campaign in Senegal. Ourmar is very familiar in the international NGO sector and has experience leading and coordinating different networks. …En savoir plus
  • Caroline Usikpedo

    Nigeria

    GCAP Nigeria

    Caroline Orobosa Usikpedo is the Executive Director of Noble Delta Women for Peace and Development formerly known as Niger Delta Women’s movement for Peace and Development. Caroline and her organization NDWPD has been committed to reducing extreme poverty by fighting climate change and environmental pollution which is the root cause of poverty and conflict in the Niger Delta and empowering women and girls to reduce their vulnerability. …En savoir plus

Asia

  • Arjun Kumar Bhattarai

    Nepal

    NGO Federation of Nepal

    Mr. Arjun Kumar Bhattarai was born and grew up in the small village of Ilam, in a province in eastern Nepal. He holds expertise in social work, community-led development, a rights-based approach, human rights, leading Non-Governmental Organizations, development media, and press freedom, CSOs capacity enhancement of civic space and governance. He also has experience in social mobilizations, strategic planning, and sustainable development. Mr. Bhattarai received his Master’s Degree in Social Work - Comparative Perspectives – from the University of Nord, Norway. His Master Degree in Rural Development Nepal from the Tribhuwan University of Nepal. Currently, he works as deputy secretary-general of NGO Federation of Nepal, CGAP focal person as well as taking responsibility for Nepal SDGs Forum and the Agenda 2030.
    Mr. Bhattarai is associated with a national NGO called Nepal Development Initiative (NEDI), coordinator for National Social Entrepreneurs' Forum (NSEF), and member of Social Entrepreneurship Fund under Social Welfare Council, Government of Nepal.
    He associated with GCAP since 2005, worked as a national focal person for GCAP Nepal well as a regional council member of South Asia and coordinator of the Global Youth Task Force as well during 2008- 2010. He led the big campaigns i.e. stand-up and take action, white-band, speaks up during MDGs Era. He has been working as a development expert, CSOs think-tank, and CSOs leader for two decades and was elected for a third term to the NGO Federation. He has been contributing tremendously to national, regional, and international CSOs movements and recently elected as a global council member of GCAP. …En savoir plus
  • SIN Putheary

    Cambodia

    Cambodia Cooperation Committee (CCC)

    Ms. SIN Putheary is the current Executive Director of Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), a membership-based organization of 200 NGOs. She has been active in the civil society sector for over 15 years now, in the field of advocacy policy related to democratic space. She is a member of the Global Councils of GCAP and Forus and was a former steering committee member of Asian Democracy Alliance in 2020-2022. She is a strong advocate for better policy development at the national and regional level, and is an expert at discussions of policy engagement for common voices in civil society. Ms. Putheary has a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from Hong Kong, and has Bachelor Degrees in Media & Communication and Education from Phnom Penh. …En savoir plus

Constituency Groups

  • Paul Divakar

    Co-Chair
    India

    GCAP Social Justice Task Force on Discrimination Based on Work and Descent

    N. Paul Divakar is an advocate for Dalit rights, an expert on Economic Rights, and a Human Rights Defender. He is one of the founding members of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). He serves as the Chairperson of the Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF), which works in the South Asia region on inclusion and issues around untouchability and caste-based discrimination. ADRF convenes the Social Justice Task Force (SJTF) of GCAP. He is also the Convenor of the Global Forum on DWD (Discrimination Based on Work and Descent). He has been a key actor in popularising the sustainable development goals and bringing in the aspect of inclusion in the discourse on the new development paradigm. He is a former member of the Executive Board of Amnesty International. He has been recently voted by Outlook magazine as one among the 50 most influential Dalit Leaders in the country.

    He has been actively engaging with the communities in strengthening access to justice, gender concerns especially on the intersectionality of Gender and Caste, financial accountability, transparency and participation. His deep interest for the economic empowerment of the Dalits led to initiating a campaign in India for advocating for equity budgeting from the lens of the marginalised. …En savoir plus

Latin America and Caribbean

  • Georgina Muñoz Pavon

    Co-Chair
    Nicaragua

    Latindadd

    Georgina is the Co-President of Latindadd based in Nicaragua. Her interest and focus is on the political impact on social and economic justice issues and on public policies. …En savoir plus
  • César Artiga

    El Salvador

    Movimiento Enlaces por la Sustentabilidad / GCAP El Salvador

    Cesar is a person committed to the creation of a different society, which manifests a Lasting Sustainable Peace for the present and future generations, through the accompaniment of organizational and advocacy processes to raise and amplify the voices of the people and their capacities for proposals and solutions.

    He is part of various national, regional and international organizations, networks and movements on global issues such as inequalities, climate change, peace and security, habitat and cities, disaster risk management, financing for development, among others.

    He is also the founder of national and regional initiatives on youth, the culture of peace, and sustainability, currently, Cesar is a Youth Mentor of the Latin American and Caribbean Youth Forum (FLACJ), at the national level I am the Coordinator of the National Impulse Team of the Escazú Agreement and the National Impulse Group of Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. …En savoir plus

Europe

  • Constantinos Machairas

    Finance
    Greece

    Hellenic Platform for Development

    Constantinos is the Executive Director of Hellenic Platform for Development (HPD), a representative platform that integrates in its membership new CSO sectors (such as youth and the environment) and follows the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Greece. He is a member of the Steering Committee of SDG Watch EU, Europe’s largest cross-sectoral alliance of NGOs with the goal of holding governments to account for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. He serves as the General Secretary of IFOAM AgriBioMediterraneo, the regional group consisting of the Mediterranean members of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM). Since November 2016, Constantinos has been the President of the Hellenic Platform for Development the Greek coalition of NGOs promoting the SDGs. In addition, he is a Member of the Boards of Directors at ActionAid Hellas, at specialized Vocational Training Center Margarita for people with intellectual disabilities and a member of the temporary Steering Committee of the recently established UN Global Compact Greece. …En savoir plus
  • Justina Kaluinaite

    Lithuania

    Lithuanian NGDO Platform

    Current policy, advocacy, and partnership coordinator at Lithuanian NGDO Platform, co-founder of the civic movement "Me for Lithuania" and founder of a global social enterprise on community development and fair trade. From leading executive role to volunteer more than 10 years of civic actions and activism.
    Focus on Lithuanian national - global policies, SDGs, CSOs empowerment in national and global level, experience in variuos global context on social empowerment and developmental focus.
    Professional interest: community inclusion and social work, development architecture and cooperation, mediation and humanitarian education, civic activism, and social entrepreneurship.
    Educational background - Advanced MAS in Humanitarian Education, MAS in Social work with children and youth. Extended long-term educational program on international relation and humanitarian action. …En savoir plus

Secretariat

La Secretaría Global es descentralizada y ejecuta las operaciones diarias del GCAP basándose en la estrategia y las decisiones del Consejo Global.



  • Ingo Ritz

    Director
    Belgium

    ingo.ritz@gcap.global

    Ingo is the Director of Global Call to Action Against Poverty since 2013. He coordinates the decentralized Global Secretariat and is based in the GCAP Europe Secretariat in Brussels. As part of his role he supports national coalitions in their work on the Sustainable Development Agenda after 2015 and is active at the regional and global levels to ensure the inclusion of socially excluded groups and gender equality as part of the new framework. A trade economist from Germany, he has been a part of GCAP through GCAP Germany since 2004, and he worked as the Executive Director of the German Civil Society organization NETZ Partnership for Development Justice from 2001 to 2013. In NETZ he worked with local and national development human rights organisations in Bangladesh and India and performed advocacy work in Germany and towards European institutions. The focus of his work in Bangladesh and India was on income generation, education and the rights-based approach of marginalized people in remote rural areas. …En savoir plus
  • Viryiny Castrillo

    Regional Coordinator Lat Am & Caribbean
    Nicaragua

    viryiny.castrillo@gcap.global

    Viryiny is Regional Coordinator of GCAP LAC since November 2021. She coordinates GCAP activities in Latin America and the Caribbean and participates in the management of GCAP LAC projects, research, events and ad-hoc studies. Viryiny is Nicaraguan, she is a bilingual professional, studied Business Administration, doing her Master's degree in Spain. For several years she has been working in Nicaragua with civil society organisations, social movements and sectors, providing support in social networks, computer systems, communication management, support with country studies, Istanbul principles, popular assemblies, among others, all at the national level. She has experience in human relations, community service, media relations, digital marketing, campaign promotion. …En savoir plus
  • Kyerewa Asamoah Sekpey

    Leave No Woman Behind Project Coordinator of GCAP Africa
    Ghana

    kyerewa.asamoah@gcap.global

    As a team-player and bilingual professional with demonstrated abilities in development program coordination, training/facilitation, the uncanny gift in identifying and harnessing human, capabilities. She has about ten (10) years’ experience in development work with extensive exposure to varied cultures, and good understanding for contemporary development issues especially on gender and youth development issues. Ms Asamoah enriches teams she is privileged to work with. With a previous UNDP Civil Society Resource Center working experience based in Ghana, specifically tasked with Youth Focused issues and volunteer with reputable Youth NGOs, Ms Asamoah has the rich experience in advocacy and forging strategic alliances with governmental agencies, local and foreign partners for effective program implementation. She is a passionate campaigner and advocate for poverty reduction and equality for all. Until recently, she coordinated the activities of over 800 registered organizations in Africa under the campaign named Action2015 campaign which seeks to remind stakeholders and especially governments to fulfil their promises of reducing poverty at all levels and achieving the Millennium Development Goals and also to commit to the new agenda of Sustainable development Goals.
    Kyerewa is currently working with Ghana, Kenya and Mali coalitions on “Leave No Woman behind” project supported by Voice Global led by Ghana Federation of people with Disability (GFD) and GCAP as the project coordinator. …En savoir plus
  • Divine Magno

    Communications Officer
    The Philippines

    divine.magno@gcap.global

    Divine is currently the Communications Officer for the GCAP Secretariat. Since the start of her career as a communicator, she has worked with political campaigns, development organisations and public relations agencies. Her tasks include creation and management of communications with the Secretariat, interface with organisation partners, and other collaborations with GCAP coalitions. Born and raised in the Philippines, she feels most strongly about raising communities’ voices and she believes that storytelling holds much power over history, current events and the future we envision. …En savoir plus
  • Pradeep Baisakh

    Asia Coordinator
    India

    pradeep.baisakh@gcap.global

    Pradeep Baisakh is the Asia Coordinator since July 2015. He coordinates GCAP actions in Asia done by the National Coalition members. He also coordinates the larger civil society platform on SDG, the Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable development (APSD). Pradeep is from India and has nearly thirteen years of experience in development sector. He comes with splendid understanding of the grassroots development from his early years of work. He is also an award winning journalist for his development reporting. and has written columns for some prominent newspapers and websites in India, as well as international journals. His research experience includes among others, being part of a research project on “Material Cultures of Financial literacy among Rural and Urban Poor in India” done by University of California, Irvine. …En savoir plus
  • Emily Lomax

    Campaigns Officer
    United Kingdom

    Emily is studying public health, with an interest especially in the wider determinants of health, inequalities, rights and justice. In GCAP, she currently helps out in communications and program coordination. Previously, she has also worked in communications for an advocacy charity and for a citizen’s advice helpline in the UK. …En savoir plus
  • Carlos García Flores

    Coordinator Lat Am & Caribbean
    El Salvador

    Carlos García Flores, is a Peacebuilding and Sustainability resource person. He pursued International Relations, has a Masters degree in Project Management. He is committed to building a peaceful, equitable and just planet and devotes himself to participating in local and regional-level in networks that promote the reduction of inequalities, climate change, peace and security. …En savoir plus

Global Foundation

La GCAP Global Foundation es una organización legal independiente sin ánimo de lucro registrada en los Países Bajos que se encarga de los aspectos administrativos y financieros del funcionamiento del GCAP a nivel mundial, incluyendo la contratación de personal y las finanzas.



Networks & Platforms



GCAP and partners jointly built these global and regional platforms and continues to play a key role in their coordination.

GCAP is also a member of the following UN Major Groups

Partners



GCAP cooperates politically with and receives financial support from the following organizations: