The Call for Solidarity: 80 associations from all walks of life unite their voice around Nicolas Hulot

What if we no longer wait for a providential man or woman to agree on the essentials? What if in 2017 solidarity became an imperative for the next tenants of the Elysée Palace and the Assembly? To make this possible, nearly 80 leading associations from all walks of life, united around Nicolas Hulot and Thierry Kuhn, President of Emmaus, have decided to make an appeal: the Appeal of Solidarity. "5 caps des Solidarités" set by the NGOs want to constitute a frame of reference in which public policies must henceforth be set. This is the birth of a new citizen movement that places civil society in a strong position in the electoral campaign against a political society that is largely demonetised. 

 

Pecause the crises we are going through are all linked to a lack of solidarity, which can only be resolved by more solidarity, for the first time 80 associations - from the social, ecological, international solidarity, education, democracy, the agricultural world, working-class neighbourhoods, the defence of the rights of all, equality, disability, youth, health, and animal protection - have decided to unite their voices. Uniting their voices to dominate the surrounding hubbub. Unite their voices to make the Appeal of Solidarity loud and clear. So that all those who are proud to be generous and in solidarity may come out of their reserve. That they raise their finger and raise their voice until they impose a change of course. By answering PRESENT!

 

Today, in France: 1 in 5 young people live below the poverty line, there are 600,000 substandard housing units, 12 million people are affected by disability, we ingest 128 chemical residues on average every day through our food, there is a 26% wage gap between women and men, 3% of MPs from the ranks of employees and workers although they represent half of the working population. And in the world: 24 307 species of plants and animals in imminent danger of extinction, 4 742 people drowned while crossing the Mediterranean in 2016, 7.6 million children die in the world every year from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat ... These figures are all more frightening than the others and yet have become commonplace. A priori unconnected realities that have one thing in common: the lack of solidarity.

 

Because this is a serious time, because the crises are combining to become more pronounced, because withdrawal into oneself and into one's home threatens, associations are increasingly gathering their forces. In the continuity of the cry from the heart launched on the anniversary of the death of Abbé Pierre, 80 associations have decided to unite their voices to make the Appeal.

An Appeal to count all those who want to leave a lasting imprint of solidarity in the DNA of a democracy in need of guidance. An appeal to build the future on a foundation of fundamentals shared by an invisible and generous France that is already acting on a daily basis. An appeal to impose "5 Capes des Solidarités" and make it the compass for future public policies.

It is not just a question of declaring solidarity but of gathering the prerequisites for it. Solidarity is with everyone without exception, it is economic and fiscal, it is with nature and future generations, it is with the poorest, it is with those who are discriminated against, it is with those who are not heard, it is with all peoples. So many themes and realities that seem distant but are, on the contrary, totally connected.

 

To show that this new deal is possible, the associations put forward 500 initial proposals and initiatives to be discovered on the campaign website and invite all citizens to imagine how to go further thanks to a consultation organised with Make.org.

It is not a question of challenging the candidates as children pull on an adult's sleeve, but rather of giving them a direction, an "imperative" mandate. In order to impose it, one must weigh and to weigh one must count oneself. Through this campaign, the associations offer citizens, whatever their political affiliation, a non-partisan framework in which to express themselves, express themselves and claim their desire for change, their desire to shape a more united France.

AND IN ONE YEAR'S TIME: THE SOLIDARITY REMINDER Until then, NGOs were regularly convened by the government. It is time to reverse the balance of power. In 2018, they will be the ones to convene the political leaders to take stock of the progress and regression on the 5 capes. From the start of the 2017 parliamentary term, the associations will submit to the MPs hundreds of proposals from associations and citizens in order to achieve this.

 

Each cause has its own symbol that embodies it, allows it to exist in the collective imagination, to affirm values, to give a reference point, to contribute to the emergence of an idea.

A symbol that also allows everyone to recognize themselves as part of a whole, of a family of thought, of a current. From "make love not war" to the hand of anti-racism or the ribbon of the fight against AIDS, through time and eras, very different symbols have contributed to the emergence of an idea, to the imposition of values. Today, the Appeal of Solidarities wants to offer to the solidarities a way to express themselves and to radiate. Associations make the call, everyone can answer Present! by raising their index finger. A finger raised that says "I am in solidarity and I wish to see these capes guide political action".

For a long time, the Statue of Liberty was the first outstretched hand of the United States for millions of immigrants. Today it remains a symbol of hope and solidarity. A solidarity that has been put to the test all over the world. So, what better than the icon of freedom to remind us of the need for more solidarity at the heart of the French presidential election? On March 23, 2017, the replica of the New York statue located on Swan Island in Paris, exchanges its flame for a raised index finger to answer Present! to the Call for Solidarity.

 

©Bertrand Guya/AFP

Seizures multiply and combine. It is a time for withdrawal into oneself and one's home, which is detrimental to the general interest, deepens inequalities, destroys social ties, slows down the ecological transition, weakens democracy and threatens our rights and freedoms. All these crises are linked to the fact that the prerequisites for more solidarity are not met: how can we share when the dominant economic model destroys and depletes the substratum of wealth, natural resources and raw materials? How can we share when the very few concentrate the bulk of wealth while depriving the many? How to share when some speculate on vital resources to create the scarcity they then profit from.

 

The time is over when an entire part of the world economy could be accommodated by states and peoples. All these crises can only be resolved through greater solidarity: with all people, with nature and future generations, with those who are in difficulty and discriminated against, with those who have no voice, with all peoples. They cannot be resolved separately without a global vision. Solidarity in the plural is the link that brings together all the actors of the associative fabric, the leitmotiv of a discreet but resolutely united society. Yet, despite the palpable reality on the ground, these solidarities are not visible, and are not at the heart of the political and media software and the word gradually emptied of its meaning.

 

It's about uniting voices, creating unison to overcome the brouhaha of the presidential election. It is a question of gathering around the essentials, the "capes" of solidarity. There is no shortage of proposals, experiments, solutions and indicators to keep each course. Now it is a matter of bringing them from the shadows into the light.

 

By making the Appeal of all those who defend solidarity as a prerequisite for any political action. By making the Appeal of the discreet but resolute majority that works in solidarity every day, and encouraging it to claim itself as such.

 

There's no way we're going to call the candidates, or challenge them. It is citizen support that will allow these capes of solidarity to impose themselves, to become the mandate of all political leaders well beyond the presidential deadline.

 

That's why we have to get together and count each other out. Gather the associative fabric to launch a Call for Solidarity. And count the citizens who will answer "present! "to this Appeal so that solidarity becomes the heart and the course of the next five years.

The Call for Solidarity is backed by five "capes" which show the major issues at stake, the prerequisites to be met in order to shape a fairer and more united world, and to emerge from the current crises from the top. These five capes are based on hundreds of proposals, solutions and experiments. Our associations combine solidarity in the present with initiatives that are spreading throughout France. However, we hear very little about them, they do not make the headlines at the Assembly or at the Elysée Palace. It is not solidarity that is lacking, but the place it is given in the public arena. The Appeal website lists 500 initial proposals and the Make.org consultation will make it possible to list hundreds of them directly from citizens. This will help guide the work of future leaders at the Elysée Palace and the Assembly.

 

1-Solidarity of all with all and all of them: Let us fight against inequalities in all their forms, against tax fraud and evasion and against the impunity of banks, politicians and multinationals. Did you know that in France ...

- 21 billionaires own as much as the 40 poorest %s. The richest 1 %s own 25 %s of national wealth.

- Tax evasion accounts for more than 60 billion a year.

- Social fraud represents 150 million euros per year.

- Poverty affects 1 in 7 French people.

- 3 million units are unoccupied.

- Since 2008, 1 million people have fallen into poverty.

- Women earn, on average, 23% less than men. At the current rate of catching up, it will take another 170 years for women to reach the same level of pay as men.

- The price of agricultural land has increased by 50% between 1995 and 2015 and 1/3 of the farmers earn less than €350 per month.

- The CAC 40 companies distributed 55.7 billion in dividends in 2016. 9

The mobilization of people who have experienced poverty and others who have joined this fight has led to major advances (RMI, CMU, etc.). By joining the Call for Solidarity, we want to show that there are initiatives that have been tested in the field for a different society, without discrimination".

Christophe Géroudet, national delegate of ATD Fourth World

 

2 - Solidarity with nature and future generations : Let's fight to protect the climate, soils, oceans, biodiversity and animals. Let us fight for renewable energy and an economy where nothing is lost, where everything is transformed. Did you know that...

- Each year we need the equivalent of 1.6 planet Earths to meet our needs.

- 128 is the average number of chemical residues we find in our non-organic food every day.

- A tomato produced out of season in a heated greenhouse emits up to 10 times more greenhouse gases than a tomato produced outdoors and during the season.

- In France, 11m2 of farmland disappears every second.

- 80% of the world's fish stocks are exploited or overexploited.

- On average, France spends 54 billion euros a year on its oil import bill.

- There are 52,000 premature deaths due to air pollution per year.

- On French territory, there are 11.5 million people in a situation of fuel poverty. The thermal renovation of housing could create 460,000 net jobs by 2025.

- 24,307 species of plants and animals are in imminent danger of extinction worldwide.

- In 2014, 1.8 million animals were used for experimentation in France.

- 80% of the French consider the animal cause important in 2017 (IFOP).

- In 2017, 84% of French citizens say they are concerned about environmental protection (IFOP).

The preservation of our ecosystem cannot be achieved without joint and shared management of our resources, and vice versa. When we choose to ignore the limits of our planet, or to ignore the needs of others, we make the same mistake: we believe we are freeing ourselves, but this waste enslaves us. »

Flore Berlingen - Director of Zero Waste France

 

3-Solidarity with people in difficulty, excluded and discriminated against: Let us fight to guarantee housing, employment, access to health care, education and income. Let us defend our fundamental rights, let us fight against the prejudices that conceal our humanity. Did you know that in France... -1 in 5 young people live below the poverty line.

- The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 is 40% in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

- Pupils from disadvantaged families are three times more likely to fail at school. -85 % of respondents report never having undergone an identity check. 80 % of 16-25 year olds, perceiving themselves as black or Arab, report having been checked. They are 20 times more likely than others to have been checked.

- There are 600,000 substandard dwellings and 4 million people living in substandard housing.

- More than one million people with disabilities live below the poverty line.

- 21% is the unemployment rate of persons with disabilities, double the unemployment rate of the general population.

- More than 1.5 million people over the age of 75 are in relational isolation. -3/4 of French people are willing to spend time with an elderly person.

- There are 15,000 homeless people in France and 140,000 people without a fixed abode.

- 1 out of 4 homeless people is employed.

- State medical aid represents only 0.48% of health insurance expenditure.

 

4-Solidarity with the voiceless : Let us fight so that everyone can make his or her voice heard in every territory and in every neighbourhood, in all circumstances and with equal weight. Did you know that in France...  

- Employees and workers represent half of the labour force, but only 3 % of MPs.

- 27.45 % of 18-24 year olds did not vote in the 2012 presidential election and nearly 50% say they will not vote in 2017.

- Abstentionism is rising: from 21% in 1977 to 37% in 2014 for municipal elections and from 22 to 50% for regional elections.

- 83% of the French people surveyed feel that the democratic system is not working well and do not feel represented.

- 10 million people do not have access to the Internet.

- Non-European foreign residents do not have the right to vote in local elections.

- The voluntary sector represents 13 million volunteers, 1.8 million salaried employees, 1.3 million associations, and a total annual budget of more than 85 billion euros.

 

5-Solidarity with all peoples : Let us fight for solidarity without frontiers, for cooperation between countries and continents, for welcoming those who take to the road, who flee misery and war. Did you know that in the world...

- Today we produce enough food to feed 1.5 times the world's population. Yet 795 million people still suffer from hunger.

- More than 50% of agricultural workers live in poverty.

- 168 million children work.

- 2.4 billion people do not have access to toilets and adequate means of hygiene. -7.6 million children die each year from diseases that are easily preventable or treatable.

- Today, a woman living in Mali is 73 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than a woman living in France.

- In 2015, more than 65 million people went into exile, the equivalent of the entire French population. More than half of them are children.

- 90,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in an EU country in 2015. This compares to 13,000 in 2013.

- Out of 80,075 people who applied for asylum in France in 2015, only 1 in 4 obtained it.

- 4742 people died crossing the Mediterranean in 2016.

- 17 million people in sub-Saharan Africa now have access to life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment. 10 million still do not have access.

- 1.6 billion people do not have access to electricity. In Africa, an additional 300 GigaWatts of renewable energy installed by 2030 would give the entire continent access to electricity.

- Taxation of European financial transactions would make it possible to free up 20 to 22 billion euros per year to finance solidarity actions.

Living together is not something that can be decreed, it can be built. Migrants in France have a voice and a major role to play. The recent adoption of the SDOs confirms the need to think about solidarity and citizenship in a global and transnational way, as FORIM has been doing for a long time. More than major re-formulations, we believe that some simple but nevertheless priority measures will help to strengthen the positive links between migration and development for a peaceful, more sustainable and inclusive society, here and there".

Thierno Camara, President of FORIM

During the Call, citizens themselves are invited to make their proposals today via the Make.org platform.

This national consultation should enable thousands of suggestions to be gathered around the five main "solidarity capes" set by the Appeal:

For greater solidarity among us: how can we better distribute wealth?

Ensuring a future for future generations: what solutions can be found to preserve nature?

Fighting poverty: how to improve access to housing, care and employment? For a living democracy: how to guarantee citizen participation in political decisions?

For more international solidarity: how to ensure that everyone can live with dignity wherever they are?

All these proposals and those of the associations will then be submitted to the MPs at the start of the September 2017 parliamentary session.

With one click, everyone can discover the Call for Solidarity and answer Present! on the dedicated website : appel-des-solidarites.org

Internet users also have the possibility to upload a photo, which will be part of a mosaic that will be generated as entries are submitted. And because there is no shortage of ideas and concrete actions, the site presents :

- The 5 capes of solidarity and the 500 current proposals of the associations,

- 100 initiatives to boost its solidarity,

- A citizen consultation in partnership with Make.org

- A shared agenda in partnership with Printemps citoyen de Kawaa to create events and make them known.

SEND PRESENT! By free SMS to 32321 To allow all those who cannot vote electronically to do so by SMS and thus answer the call.

A "tour" in 7 cities in France. During one month, alongside representatives and beneficiaries of different associations, Nicolas Hulot goes to meet students.

Program :

On March 24th at the Recyclerie in Paris from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm with Générations Cobayes and Générations Futures, as part of the night of the Debates.

On March 28th at the Faculty of Lyon 3, from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, with the French Students' Network for Environment and Sustainable Development and Students & Development.

On 1st April at the University of Nantes, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm, with Emmaus France and the association Le Carillon.

On April 4 at Sciences Po Rennes, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, with Médecins du Monde and Cimade.

April 6 at the Toulouse Business School from 2:30 to 4:00 pm with REFEDD and Générations Cobayes.

On 13 April, at the IEP in Bordeaux, from 3 to 5 p.m., with REFEDD, the Auteuil apprentices and other youth associations.

On 19 April, at EDHEC in Lille, from 6 to 7.30 pm. 15

 

Numerous events organized by the associations of the Appel des Solidarités. For example :

From March 23rd to April 21st: come and propose solutions for more solidarity on the Make.org platform, which is organising a citizen consultation on the 5 caps des Solidarités.

From 9 March to 30 April: Secours Catholique organizes a tour of France against prejudice. Thanks to two itinerant buses and an app based on the PokemonGo model.

On March 24: the NGOs ACF, CARE, ONE and Action Santé Mondiale, in partnership with Coordination SUD, organize a discussion with representatives of the presidential candidates on their vision of France's development policy and international solidarity for the next 5 years.

On 25 March: the lights will be turned off for an hour at the initiative of the WWF; the artists will call to sign the Chant des Colibris in Bordeaux; working-class neighbourhoods will launch their spring.

From 25 March to 11 April: the APF organises the Citizens' March of the Forgotten from Nantes to Paris to defend Human Rights.

March 27: Secours Islamique France organizes a symposium at the Senate on the theme "Where to find refuge".

April 1: The Primo Levi Centre launches a digital campaign to mark the presidential election and to counter the influence of xenophobic discourse. "Fear is poison, fear of refugees is an antidote: the facts!" #uesdayApril2017

April 8 and 9: the Colibris invite us to visit the Halle de la Villette in Paris to shape the world of tomorrow.

April 10: Animafac will raise the issue of engagement and youth in the presidential debate.

On April 11: The trial of one of the chair reapers against tax evasion will take place.

April 16: Printemps Solidaire will take to the streets of Paris to celebrate solidarity! Manif-concerts on floats - Hôtel de Ville- Champs Elysées

April 22nd : Meeting - Giant Concert - esplanade des Invalides

April 29th and 30th: 450 farms in agro-ecological transition in 22 departments will open their doors to the general public.

Imagination and reflection allied to action, as well as the principles of fraternity combined with the fierce will to tackle the causes of social and ecological deregulation, will succeed in federating a strong and united movement with the objective of moving towards a society of the Good Life".

Franck Pupunat, facilitator and spokesperson for Utopia