9 November 2009, by Andrea Figari.

UNCAC Coalition demonstration during the 3rd UNCAC Conference of States Parties, Doha, Qatar, November 2009

Doha Chronicles, Day 1. Greetings from sunny Doha. I wanted to share with you news about the “Spelling it out” action that the UNCAC Coalition organized to convey our message to the UN Delegates here Doha. This was the first time we did something like this and it was not only a clear way to convey our message, but it was also a team building exercise for the group and we had lots of fun!Since a picture is worth a thousand words, click here to see what it looked like.

Photos from this link can be downloaded for you to use on your own websites, blogs, etc.

What happened? Coalition Volunteers peacefully invaded the stage of the plenary room at the Conference Center displaying the three 10m long banners with the Coalition slogan “Be accountable. Be inclusive. Go Public” to greet UNCAC delegates as they were returning from their lunch break. Surprised delegates and excited members of local and international media followed the action with interest and excitement, including local Al Jazeera in Arabic and Qatari newspapers. Our Arabic speaking colleagues were very busy giving interviews ahead of the action. Members of the Bangladeshi Parliament spontaneously joined the action by climbing to hold one of the banners, while other government delegates and media curiously approached coalition members to know more about the message we were delivering. The action was witnessed by small groups of delegates present in the room, but it was also broadcast live in all closed circuit big screen TVs in the Conference Centre, with delegates reportedly watching the action in amazement. We stayed in the room until delegates started arriving back but were later kindly reminded that we needed to leave the stage to its rightful users. Photos of the action are also posted on this website and several Coalition members have sent updates on Tweeter, Facebook, and their own individual blogs.

This story is on the cover of our next newsletter, the Monitor. In the meantime, you can read the first issue of the Monitor, which you can find in the resources section of this website.

Updates will follow soon…stay tuned for more news from Doha.