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. 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.
Have a look to our current programme of events to find out more. You don’t have to have any prior knowledge of the issues to join in and all of the venues are accessible. We hope that anyone who cares about justice in the world will find one or more of the events of interest to them.
The Festival brings together a wide range or organisations and individuals with a shared set of values, these are: Justice, Peace, Non-violence, Human rights for all, Democracy (within the organisation and in the wider world), Respect of differences, Independence and self-responsibility, Honesty & openness, Equality, Solidarity – with each other, the local and global community, Accessibility to all, Voluntary contribution, Quality of experience (for both contributors and audiences). The EWJF programme does not contain events whose purpose is to promote a particular religious or political ideology or which advocate the use of violence.
EWJF is run entirely by volunteers. There is plenty to do and we could always use more help, so if you would like to help with the organisation, please email us at [email protected].