Edinburgh World Justice Festival

write my papers

In the summer of 2005, while the G8 met in Scotland and made promises that have yet to be kept, a people’s movement was born in Edinburgh. Under the banner of “Make Poverty History” a quarter of a million people marched on Edinburgh’s streets calling for an end to man-made poverty through changes to a glaringly unjust trade system and a suffocating debt burden. The following year a group of activists and organisations met to keep the spirit of those events going. Since then the Edinburgh World Justice Festival has continued to keep world justice issues on the agenda in our city. The Festival gives us an opportunity to explore what we as individuals and as a community can do to work for positive change.

EWJF 2020 runs from 26th September

to the 17th October – view the programme

The 2017 festival is now over! We held 30 events all over the city, including exhibitions on peacebuilding in Syria, debates on the housing crisis and screenings of investigative documentaries such as 9 Days in Cairo and Shadow World. See videos below and join us for next year! Sign up to our mailing list to find out how to get involved in next years festival!

EWJF Launch Night 2017

What a fantastic launch night, thank you to everyone that came. We heard about the history and ideals of #EWJF, and highlighted some of the best events on during this year's festival, which runs until October 16th. Join us for any of our free events, the next of which is tonight at 7pm, where we'll be launching 'From Hiroshima to Faslane', an exhibition documenting survivors of the atomic bomb and their visit to Faslane anti-nuclear camp.

Posted by Edinburgh World Justice Festival on Sunday, October 1, 2017

I recall taking part in the great Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh, and before that the excellent Jubilee 2000 campaign on world debt. With the credit crunch, action on world poverty is now even more urgent and so the Edinburgh World Justice Festival is an even more vital contribution to the campaign. It has my full support and encouragement.

George Foulkes MSP, Scottish Parliament

I fully support the aims of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival. Knowledge and understanding of the causes of poverty, war and injustice are the first steps in tackling these issues. The simple act of discussing and debating the problems affecting people around the world provides hope and optimism for the future.

Councillor Steve Cardownie Festival and Events Champion, The City of Edinburgh Council

Faslane comes to Edinburgh: Lessons from the forefront of the anti-nuclear movement

By Iona Soper In 1982, a small group of activists pitched tents along the treeline across the busy road that feeds into Faslane Naval Base, the home of Great Britain’s nuclear deterrent, Polaris. They planned to stay for two weeks. They could not have guessed that thirty five years later, their small protest would have evolved into the permanent occupation of the land and the establishment of an egalitarian, anarchist, community based protest site which has become a hub for Scottish activism, and the ‘front lines’ of the anti-nuclear struggle. Since its inception, thousands have passed through Faslane peace camp, […]

SCOTTISH AND KURDISH ARTISTS FOR PEACE IN KURDISTAN

On the evening of 3rd of October 2017, Edinburgh World Justice Festival and Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan organised and event full of art, poems and stories. Artists from Scotland and Kurdistan came together to highlight the human rights issues in Kurdistan. An evening of readings, poetry, music and art along with the remarkable Kurdish food by Rojava Restaurant had just completed the evening. Participants of this exciting event were: writers Alan Cameron, James Kelman, Tom Hubbard, Harrison Hickman and Ray Evans. Speaker of the event from Dove Tales was Jean Rafferty with the contribution of Ezgi Denli (Edinburgh Kurdish […]

How Welcoming is Scotland?

The Edinburgh World Justice Festival launched this week, with a strong theme of anti-racism, community activism and inclusion. The first in a series of events was ‘The hate stops here!’ on how to oppose racism in our communities and on the streets, with Hope not Hate running a soon-to-be sell-out event this Friday on ‘How welcoming is Scotland: Views on Inclusivity and belonging. The event, organised by Edinburgh Unite Against Fascism and Muslim Women’s Association Edinburgh was focused on how important is to promote tolerance and social cohesion between communities, especially now when media and politics fuel racism and attacks […]

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