We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again, and we’ll keep saying it for the next 12 months: 2015 is THE year to take action and begin to see the end of global poverty.

As part of this, RESULTS UK has joined the global campaign action/2015, calling on leaders across the world to step-up and take action in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty. NGOs, faith-based networks, celebrities and grassroots groups from America to Zimbabwe are uniting in one of the biggest campaigns ever launched to make this, 2015, the year we decide to save nearly a billion lives.

How will we do this? We’ll start at home with the UK General Election, getting global development on the minds of all candidates through our General Election Campaign. Globally, we’ll be calling on leaders to make ambitious pledges at the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September and at the Climate Change talks in Paris in December, demanding that they commit to deals that could achieve: an end to poverty in all its forms; the meeting of fundamental rights, tackling inequality and discrimination; an accelerated transition to 100% renewable energy; and, finally, a world where everyone can participate and hold their leaders accountable.

These decisions can mean the difference between 360 million people living in extreme poverty (still too many, but huge progress from the 1.1 billion today) and the possibility of a rise to 1.2 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day. In the latter scenario, should global leaders fail to take action, it is estimated that 1 in 3 people globally could live on less than $2 a day by 2030.

That is why calling on leaders through action/2015 as one cohesive voice against poverty is so important; and it all launches today!

Campaigners across the world will mark the occasion in various ways, including:

  • A group of 15 year olds in Tanzania meeting with Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal to discuss their aspirations for the future and the action they want from political leaders,
  • Live broadcasts with well-known celebrities in South Africa where 15 year olds will speak about their hopes for the future,
  • And right here in the UK, some of Britain’s leading youth activists will meet Prime Minister David Cameron and Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition, to urge them to seize the opportunities of 2015.

Civil Society in both donor and recipient countries will be participating today, and we hope you will too. You can get involved with the launch by taking a photo of yourself holding your “I am 15” message and posting it to Twitter and Facebook using the hashtags #Iam15 and #action2015. Then nominate three of your friends to do the same! Follow @action2015 on Twitter and like the UK action/2015 page on Facebook to follow the campaign’s progress across the country and the world.

This year could really be the turning point in our fight for global equity, if serious and binding commitments are made by world leaders throughout the year. In the words of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai: “2015 must be the year the world wakes up and delivers a safer, more just future for children and young people. We all must play our part in ensuring this is the case. Do not let this opportunity go to waste.” Join us and all action/2015 partners in being a part of this global movement to end extreme poverty.

To find out more about action/2015, check out the campaign’s website!

Also check out this article from The Guardian about celebrity involvement in action/2015!