Campaigns & advocacy

Why we campaign and advocate change
Our campaigns
How to get involved

Election 2010

Whichever side of the political fence you sit on, there’s a lot to consider during a Federal election campaign. Which party will best represent your views? Who will give Australians the leadership they deserve?It’s not World Vision’s place to tell our supporters who should be in government. But we have both a duty and an obligation to continue our work of more than 50 years in representing the rights of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. That involves talking to leaders as well as the general public about key issues of poverty, justice and equity for all.

Check out a comparison of the major parties policies on aid and development issues

What is World Vision asking for in this election?

World Vision Australia is promoting eight key actions our leaders can take to make significant impact on the millions of people living in poverty around the world:

A Federal election campaign provides every Australian with opportunities to understand the policies and speak directly to those who will make future decisions around issues of justice and equity for all people.

Keep these eight aims in mind as you consider party policies and cast your vote at this election.

In the fight to end world poverty, part of the battle is bringing local and international attention to the factors that plunge and hold people in poverty. It’s about speaking out for the needs of those who have few resources and little or no opportunities to be heard in a world competing for the next big headline.

When around 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries use 86% of the world’s resources and the poorest 20% use only 1.3%, the inequality is painfully obvious.

We campaign for change on behalf of others and you’re a vital part of that. You can make a difference.

Long-term change requires analysis and improvement of the systems and structures that cause poverty. Research, advocacy and the creation of effective policy are vital steps in this process.

People in positions of power need to know what concerns you. We can influence policy - locally or internationally - to make sure justice is done for the billions of people who go without enough food or clean water every day.

The Millennium Development Goals were developed to address many of the problems that underpin disadvantage. Signed by 191 member countries of the United Nations, including Australia, their pursuit aims to halve world poverty by 2015. Australians everywhere can lend support, exert pressure and ensure this commitment is fulfilled. The solutions are available - all that’s needed is the determination to see them realised.

Why we campaign and advocate change

When the world seems saturated with bad news, frustration can generate apathy. World Vision campaigns to keep real issues – and real solutions – in the public eye.

Ultimately, we aim to raise awareness and secure aid and funding for impoverished communities.

Money alone can't create sustainable change. To break the cycle of poverty, loans and spiralling debt, self-sufficient and smarter programs need to be adopted.

Long-term substantial change, like improvements in education, can have a ripple effect through a community’s standard of health, level of HIV and AIDS and income generation.

For the Millennium Development Goals to be realised, governments must ensure substantial and suitable aid and fair trade. Only then will the 8 goals be achieved, and today’s appalling worldwide disparity between standards of living be relieved.

Our campaigns

• Don’t Trade Lives is an advocacy campaign seeking to unite Australians against human trafficking and slavery. Working together, Australians can create change, asking governments to strengthen anti-trafficking policies AND petitioning industries to make changes to help eradicate child labour.
• World Vision's global campaign Child Health Now is the culmination of 50 years of experience caring for children and their communities. We have a unique understanding of how the health of mothers and children can be improved through simple, affordable and achievable means. Get involved in the campaign and help bring an end to preventable child deaths in the world’s poorest countries.
• Climate change threatens to unravel decades of successful development work if it continues unabated. The poor are already being impacted, through record floods, greater spread of disease and uncertain food supplies. World Vision is campaigning to support the world’s poorest children and communities to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and enable them to participate in decisions affecting their future. You can take action today to help highlight the solutions.
• The Make Poverty History coalition, of which World Vision is a member, is an an international alliance of 60 NGOs, religious and community groups advocating for solutions to the factors creating and sustaining global poverty for billions around the world.
• World Vision supports Micah Challenge, a global Christian campaign urging world leaders to fulfil their promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The Micah Challenge sets out to develop and strengthen the commitment to an integrated Gospel, one that both proclaims and demonstrates the love of Jesus to a world in need. It aims to be a prophetic voice, influencing global leaders to uphold the rights of the poor and oppressed. 
• World Vision supports the Robin Hood Tax campaign. The campaign is asking governments around the world to support the introduction of a tiny and innovative tax on financial transactions in global markets. The Robin Hood Tax offers the coporate and financial sectors a significant opportunity to help governments and civil society tackle the causes of poverty.

Get involved

Your lifestyle choices and passion can be an inspiration. Support a cause by making small changes:

• Sign up to Don’t Trade Lives, the campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking and slavery.
• Sign up to Child Health Now, World Vision's global campaign to improve maternal and child health and reduce child deaths under 5 from preventable causes.
• Attend the One Just World forums. Taking place across Australia, these forums on global poverty and justice have been convened in partnership with AusAID and the International Women’s Development Agency.
• Reduce your consumption, bargain fairly when travelling and purchase fair trade items for your home.
• Invest ethically and encourage your employer to be a socially responsible corporate player.
• Email your politicians. Phone talkback radio. Hold elected representatives accountable; they are in effect "our employees" – don’t let them forget it. Be brief, be polite, put your concern in your own words, and ask that action be taken.
• Encourage your friends, neighbours, colleagues or congregation to get involved too.

Together, we can all help raise awareness and influence decision-makers.