What Can I Do?
This Month's Action
It's still important to campaign on EPAs. Visit Tearfund's website to read a new report ("Partners under Pressure") which details some of the problems raised by the EU's negotiation strategy . . . or read the summary on Traidcraft's website. Then email your MP to raise questions about the material in the report . . . . .
General Suggestions
1. Pray for justice in international trade. Some suggestions for prayer are on our praying and preaching page . . . or send us your own!
2. Study the Scriptures on trade; you might want to look at the theological papers on the praying and preaching page to guide you.
3. We tend to know where our coffee, tea and chocolate come from . . . but what about our computers, curtains and jewelry? Look at the different ways in which you depend on international trade over the course of a single day/week/month. Then try to find out more about the people and patterns behind that trade. CAFOD has run campaigns on the working conditions behind both computers and gold; go to their website to find out more.
4. If you work for a company that has an international supply chain, try to find out more about it.
5. Visit the TJM website and see what the latest joint campaign actions are. Send an email and/or join in a particular action. Or follow the lead of whichever particular agency you support.
6. To become a more effective campaigner, try to go "wide" and "deep." Stay apprised of trade issues in general by scanning the papers (Larry Elliott in The Guardian and Alan Beattie in the Financial Times are two reporters to look for) or, if you want some more depth, reading the weekly Bridges digest from ICTSD.
Then pick a country and try to find out all you can about its particular trade situation over a period of time. You can
- search for studies about that country on ELDIS
- check out statistics from UNCTAD and the World Bank
- read documents relating to it on the WTO website
- search the TJM database for agency documents that are helpful
- search the newspapers for stories
Links to all of the above are in our "further information" section. If you have connections with a country through a church link, consider doing this work in conjunction with your link partners -- and then joining together in advocacy. Bringing in specific information and examples helps to ensure that conversations about trade stay "real" and "rooted."
Once you feel comfortable with the issues, don't hesitate to write to your MP when matters related to your country's trading situation arise. Write to the newspaper, too, if that's an option.