Global Day of Action for Burma was an initiative by Burma Campaign UK and The Support The Monks Protest In Burma group on Facebook.com who called, during the

2007 Burmese anti-government protests The Saffron Revolution (; ) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The protests were triggered by the decision of the national military govern ...

, for October 6, 2007 to be designated a "Global Day of Action for Burma" beginning at 12:00 noon. This event was held in 30 countries and nearly 100 cities including:

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Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and

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and

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. Spurred by the global outcry as a result of the military crackdown on the peaceful protesters all over

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, a number of independent groups, social service organisations and individuals had gotten together to support the Burmese populace. The concept for the day was developed by a coalition of Burma groups including - Burma Campaign UK, US Campaign for Burma,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Avaaz.org Avaaz is a US-based nonprofit organization launched in 2007 that promotes global activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict. The word ''avaaz'' means 'voice' in several Asian and E ...

and many, many more. Much of the coordination for the protests was done through Facebook.com, where a group called Support the Monk's Protest in Burma (now called Burma Global Action Network was later formed), working closely with Burma Campaign UK and

, had steadily grown to over 440,000 members in a matter of weeks. It was and a hotbed of protest related news and as a flashpoint for Burma related activity on the Internet. An online petition hosted by Avaaz.org was being sent to the Chinese president

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

and the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, urging them to "oppose a violent crackdown on the demonstrators" and "support genuine reconciliation and democracy". The petition includes a pledge to hold them "accountable for any further bloodshed". Initially it aimed to receive 500,000 signatures, having achieved that, a new target of 1,000,000 has been set. As of January 2008, it had 834,718. International Bloggers' Day for Burma, a campaign for bloggers to not post to their blogs, was held on October 4. They were asked to simply put up one banner, underlined with the words, "Free Burma!".International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th of October
Event Description Besides the larger and more public protests held in these major cities, numerous smaller organisations and groups of individuals participated in this event in places where a more formal demonstration was not possible either due to local government opposition or lack of adequate infrastructural support. The protests were all peaceful in nature, aimed at more at promoting awareness about the plight of the Burmese people and to activate public support for their cause. Protesters used various means to show solidarity, with some wearing red and saffron clothing, sporting red Buddhist sacred threads, usage of the Peacock Flag and other iconography associated with the movement. The events were considered a success and organizers hoped that public involvement would force international community to take appropriate action.

Notes

External links

TUC (Trades Union Congress)

Global Day of Action - AustraliaGlobal Day of Action ''Asian Tribune''

Unison International
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606203445/http://www.unison.org.uk/international/pages_view.asp?did=5758 , date=2011-06-06 Burmese democracy movements Human rights in Myanmar