Annie Lennox Launches World Fair Trade Day

by Zarah Patriana · 2009-02-09 14:59:00 UTC
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Speaking of celebrity endorsements, Annie Lennox has now launched World Fair Trade Day. The people behind World Fair Trade Day have been keeping me in the loop around the all the news and events leading up to the big day and the excitement is building. Annie Lennox!

The long-term solution to poverty does not, ultimately, lie in ‘charity’ – it lies in giving people access  to opportunity. Fair Trade is absolutely crucial to millions of people whose daily life is a struggle for survival. It’s about justice and human rights. Isn’t it time millions of men, women and children got the break they deserve? Isn’t it long overdue? Support World Fair Trade Day 09. Become a real human being!

Sweet Fair Trade dreams are made of this. World Fair Trade Day has been celebrated since 2001, but this is the first year that the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT) are hosting the event and bringing all the Fair Trade networks around the world together and bringing a strong collective energy around it. It's a crucial time for the collective movement to really come together to try to tackle and different crises the world is facing.

IFAT's switch from being to the International Federation for Alternative Trade to the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) occurred back in October of 2008 when 91% of global membership majority vote passed. The transformation is a "direct response to the failure of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to correct the imbalance of trade and to provide a Fair Trade solution to the extraordinary issues we face as a global society today". The powers that be haven't been useful in solving the problems they ultimately created, so the WFTO is an example of the people coming together to make a difference. Including Annie Lennox!

Check out the site, as it is updated pretty regularly and be sure to peep out the events page and look for an event going on near you.

Zarah Patriana
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