ICNL, ECNL, and TEDxLiberdade are pleased to announce the release of the speaker videos from TEDxLiberdade: The Power of Together.
On April 23, 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, fourteen speakers demonstrated the power of civil society. We invite you to watch and share these TEDx talks available at www.tedxliberdade.com. Join the conversation using the hashtag #PowerOfTogether.
Civil society is where people of all ages, education, wealth, needs, and interests come together to improve their lives. It is where the public exercises a fundamental human right to unite and have identity and power separate from government and business. Through organizing themselves, people of all backgrounds drive our world forward — promoting women’s rights or children’s health, providing services to people with disabilities, combating racism, preserving cultural heritage, or finding innovative solutions to job shortage or climate change. These movements influence governments, businesses, and the public at large.Civil society catalyzes not only local change – it has global impact. Civil society has successfully campaigned for a treaty to ban landmines, mobilized more than $1 billion to improve food security globally, toppled decades-long dictatorships, and drawn attention to numerous injustices that were once invisible. It has the flexibility of working beyond political or territorial boundaries to tackle enduring issues.
The world needs to harness this force.The time is critical for all to be aware of this “Power of Together.” Over 50 countries around the world have recently acted to prevent people from organizing around important issues. Journalists, doctors, and lawyers in Turkey have been arrested for helping protesters or recording police brutality. Ecuador’s government can shut down a civic organization essentially at any time under vague justification. An Egyptian court sentenced dozens of organization staff to jail for receiving international funding without permission. These actions not only violate fundamental freedoms, but undermine our collective ability to address problems in our communities and in the world.
Through TEDx Liberdade, we demonstrated the power of people working together for the common good and the importance of protecting our right for collective action. (via http://www.tedxliberdade.com/topic/)