Edinburgh World Justice Festival: Building Justice Out of Crisis

There will be a meeting at 7.30 pm on Thursday 28 January in the Friends Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, to consider both plans for this year and the best ways to carry forward the Festival in future years. It’s open to all individuals and organisations interested in supporting the festival, so we hope you can come or, if not, let us know of your interest.

You’ll know that the Festival was established to carry forward the impetus from the massive Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh in 2005; and that it has been successful in providing an annual programme of events which has raised the profile of numerous issues concerning development and world justice. We hope that this can be continued but many of the individuals involved now cannot devote so much time to the festival.

We are proposing that this year the festival be shorter and more focused - a weekend or a long weekend; and more focused in terms of theme, with one event organized by EWJF and/or coalition of partner organisations; plus slots for other events as well on Friday Saturday Sunday and possible Monday.

The meeting is the time to give your views on the form of the Festival this year and in the future; indeed whether it should go forward at all.

We hope to see you or hear from you

The EWJF is supported by a wide community of MSPs, local Councillors, Non-Governmental Organisations, friends and all those who want to be the change that they want to see in the world.

This is what our supporters say about us:

The Fourth Edinburgh World Justice Festival (EWJF) took place from 18th - 31st May 2009. We hope that you enjoyed this edition and we invite you to take part in the 2010 one!

Our contributors this year were: African HIV Policy Network, Amnesty International St. Mark's Group, Bookmarks, Christian Aid, Depletion Scotland, Edinburgh Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Edinburgh Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, Edinburgh Stop The War, Friends of the Earth, Hadeel/Palcraft, HIV Scotland, Impact Aids, Jubilee Scotland, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Sanctuary, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Shakti Womens Aid, Stop Climate Chaos, Unison, Waverley Care, World Development Movement.

The EWJF was inspired by the Make Poverty History demonstrations and the G8 alternative conference. In light of the economic crisis in which we find ourselves, millions of people are demonstrating across the globe for a better world. The EWJF seeks to offer the people of Edinburgh a platform through which to gather together, share ideas and work towards positive change in our own communities and as global citizens in this troubled world.

All the events were free and they included music, film, discussions and presentations, as well as an all day bookfair offering talks and performances from local musicians throughout the day. The EWJF seeks to enable people to engage with justice issues at varying levels, covering issues such as climate change, fair trade, human rights and international development.