Increased support for global solidarity as people unite around the world for a day of action

New UN research shows a surge in support for strengthened solidarity across the world. The research is published as hundreds of civil society and community organisations come together for a ‘Global Day of Solidarity’ to call for greater global cooperation in the fight against Covid-19 and to share the acts of kindness and mutual support springing up all over the world.

In research, produced as part of the UN75 initiative, the option of “Strengthening solidarity between people and nations” ranked second when survey respondents were asked “What (three things) should the international community prioritize to recover better from the pandemic?” – only “Universal access to healthcare” ranked higher.

The majority–60%–of respondents indicated that they are now in favour of more cooperation between countries in light of COVID-19, while only 9% indicated they now favour less cooperation.

A film, produced for the day of action, brings to life what solidarity means, highlighting examples of people coming together to tackle this crisis across the world. On the day, civil society organisations will take action using colour as a uniting theme. This will range from grassroots organisations sending messages of solidarity, children creating paper chains and a social media campaign using #StrongerTogether.

There are a range of actions people can take from signing a call to leaders to deliver a collective plan for the future, donating to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and nominating a hero for the UN SDG Action Campaign’s ‘Solidarity In Action Award’. The day focuses both on the immediate action needed to confront COVID-19 but also the need for leaders to work together to Build Back Better.

Fabrizio Hochschild, the UN Under-Secretary-General leading UN75, said:

“Whilst these are preliminary findings, we are clearly seeing increased support for solidarity between people and countries ranking highly in our survey — and rightly so. We cannot get through this crisis without working together, and without putting the needs of the most vulnerable front and centre. So I welcome the Global Day of Solidarity that is taking place today. Civil society has a crucial role to play in both the response and the recovery. Now, more than ever, we have to work in partnership as a global community.”

Julia Sánchez, Secretary-General of ActionAid International, said

“Today, we are glad to be working in partnership with many community organisations around the world. The world faces immense challenges and this pandemic has further exacerbated inequalities but there are also incredible acts of solidarity and community action taking place across the world. We are sending a message to leaders that they must support and enable community voices to be heard and not excluded from decision-making at this critical time. This crisis is not an equaliser, it hits the poorest and most vulnerable hardest; so as we plan ahead for the recovery, support must be targeted to those who have been hardest hit.”

Katja Iversen, President/CEO of Women Deliver, said

“As the COVID-19 crisis intensifies around the world, it is clear that if we truly want to achieve the Global Goals and deliver health, wellbeing, and dignity for all; girls, women and gender equality must be front and centre in global and national response and recovery. Women are on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis, and we are #StrongerTogether when their unique needs are addressed, and their expertise and leadership is leveraged.”

Alice Macdonald, Campaigns Director of Project Everyone, said

“We’ve created this film to provide a snapshot of some of the amazing acts of everyday kindness we are seeing across the world. In fact, we could have made a feature-length film. We need our leaders to show the same kind of commitment and energy right now and for the long-term, if we are to tackle COVID-19 and achieve the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, which risk being set back by this crisis.”

Notes

1) The Global Day of Action has been organised by the UN SDG Action Campaign, GCAP, Action 4 Sustainable Development and Project Everyone. More information can be found at www.solidarityinaction.org

2) The film produced for the Day can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/IzBcu-2yB8U

3) Launched by the UN Secretary-General, the UN’s 75th anniversary initiative is markedly different from previous commemorations, with less emphasis on communicating the UN’s successes and a strong focus on listening to the global public, especially young people. Over the course of 2020, the UN75 team will gather public perspectives on global challenges and solutions on how to tackle them through a one-minute survey (in 53 languages) and dialogues – now overwhelmingly online – organised by partners across the world. The results will be presented in September 2020, at the official commemoration of the UN’s 75th anniversary, after which UN75 will focus on how best to take them forward, with a final report to be published in January 2021. For further information see: https://www.un.org/un75

4) The response to the question ‘What should the international community prioritize to recover better from the pandemic?’ was gathered by UN75 online between 22 April and 21 May 2020 from 27,758 respondents and is one of seven questions being asked in the UN75 survey about global challenges and solutions. To see the full survey visit https://un75.online/