MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DATE: October 30, 2002
CONTACT: Mr Justin Whelan
+61 438 281 017
stopwtocc@yahoo.com.au

CHRISTIANS TO CONVERGE AGAINST THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION (WTO)

A new ecumenical coalition was founded last week by ACMICA and members from the Australian Student Christian Movement (ASCM), Foothills Vineyard Church youths and University of Sydney's Catholic Society to raise awareness about the fundamentalist agenda of the WTO and organise actions against their meeting in Sydney in November.

One of the first initiatives of the Stop the WTO Christian Coalition (StopWTOCC) will be to host a Preparation Day on November 9, on the weekend before the broad-based action against the WTO meeting which is expected to attract thousands of people from Sydney and inter-state.

The Preparation Day will be an intensive full day open space workshop format and is based on ACMICA's "circle of praxis" methodology involving ideological and critical analysis of the WTO's agenda, biblical reflection, legal and direct action training and practical preparation such as banner, costumes, prop and t-shirt making.

According to one of the organisers of the event, you do not have to be a hard core activist to get involved.

"Besides practical preparations such as banner making and direct action training, the idea of a preparation day is also to inform people about what the WTO is and why thousands of people from around the country will converge to protest against its agenda. For Christians we must also ground our actions in solid theological and moral platforms." Mr Minh Nguyen said.

"Even if people do not intend to participate in the protests, they should still come along if they want to know more about the WTO or how a theological enquiry can help inform our responses. People should also come if they want a better understanding of what non-violent direct action is, and what might happen on the day rather than relying on the tabloid media to tell them this."

If you would like to join our coalition, whether an individual or organisation, please subscribe to the StopWTOCC e-list: stopwtocc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.