What can you do?

Sometimes international problems seem so huge it seems like there is nothing that anyone could do which would make any difference. This is not true. There are plenty of things you can do to make a difference to international issues. You could:

• Lobby politicians. Write letters or emails to your Federal Member of Parliament expressing your concerns. This could also involve generating petitions or holding demonstrations. 2009 figures show that the Australian Government gives just above 0.3% of gross national income to international aid whilst spending about 2% on defence.

• Raise awareness. If the issue is an international issue, perhaps no one in your local community knows about it. People raise awareness of different issues in many ways. Some run marathons or hold a walk-a-thon, or wear ribbons or badges. Perhaps during the school year you and your school SRC could organise an event to raise awareness about a particular issue.

• Join with others. Joining in with other groups and people who are fighting for the same cause is really important, especially when it is an international issue. You can do this by helping organisations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Oxfam, or visit the Worldwide Non Government Organisations Directory and keep up to date with what other organisations are doing around the world.