Advisory: 3000 sq ft Zimbabwe appeal to fly over United Nations

3000-sq-ft banner to deliver 120k petition—"Mbeki: Time to Act"

Avaaz.org, the world's largest international online advocacy network, will issue a dramatic aerial appeal on Wednesday for Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, to step up to the plate and support democracy in Zimbabwe.

Building on a 120,000-strong global petition, Avaaz will fly a 3000 square foot banner above the UN on Wednesday morning, calling on Mr Mbeki to convince Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president, to respect the will of his people.

Zimbabwe's high court refused today to order the release of the March 29 election results. Mr Mugabe's regime threatens to use violence and fraud to hold on to power.

Mr Mbeki is chairing a presidential level Security Council meeting on Africa on Wednesday, and is widely believed to be the man best placed to change Mr Mugabe's mind. But his brand of "quiet diplomacy" has so far failed to win meaningful results. On Saturday, Mr. Mbeki provoked outrage by saying "there is no crisis in Zimbabwe."

A worldwide petition launched last week is calling on Mr Mbeki to take a tougher stance, as well as calling for the immediate release of election results. It has already attracted 120,000 signatures from almost every country on earth, including thousands of Avaaz members in the African continent. http://www.avaaz.org/en/democracy_for_zimbabwe/

"Global public opinion is loud and clear," says Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz. "Thabo Mbeki's credibility as a global and regional leader is on the line."

"Now is the time to act. Mbeki is in danger of betraying the principles of the worldwide movement that helped bring democracy to his own country."

Press Contact:
Please contact our media team at: +1 866 394 2338, or send an email to media@avaaz.org

About Avaaz
Avaaz, which means "voice" in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages, was launched in January 2007 with a simple democratic mission: to use the tools of online campaigning to help ensure that the views and values of the world's peoples shape the policies that govern them.

Avaaz has since grown to more than 3 million members from every country on earth. The Economist wrote last year of Avaaz' power to "give the world leaders a deafening wake-up call"; while the Indian Express heralded "the biggest web campaigner across the world, rooting for crucial global issues."

David Miliband, the UK foreign secretary who asked Avaaz to co-host his first major speech, calls the organization "the best of the new in foreign policy." Zainab Bangura, the foreign minister of Sierra Leone, describes Avaaz as "an ally, and a rallying place, for disadvantaged people everywhere to help create real change".

Avaaz' call for dialogue over Tibet received more than 1.6 million signatures in little over a week, in what is thought to be the fastest growing global online petition ever. http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_report_back/

And Avaaz's 'Stop the Clash' video recently won the YouTube political video of the year award, gaining more votes than Obama Girl and other videos centered on the US Presidential race. www.youtube.com/ytawards07winners

This release was published on openPR.