The Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) 2020 claim “Military Spending for Healthcare Investment”

The Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), which is taking place this year from April 10 to May 9, claim “Military Spending for Healthcare Investment”. This special period of action is part of the GCOMS (Global Campaign for Action on Military Spending) campaign of the International Peace Bureau (IPB) coordinated by the Delàs Centre, which aims to demand significant reductions in global military spending and the redirection of these public funds to address real human needs.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us where our priorities are and where our priorities should be as a society. This brutal attack on the security of people around the world discredits the levels of global military spending and exposes the bloody waste and missed opportunities that they represent. What the world needs now is to focus its efforts on vital threats to security: healthy living conditions for all, which necessarily lead to more just, green and peaceful societies”.

“The Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) in 2020 want to draw attention to the high opportunity cost of current levels of military spending: $1.82 trillion a year, almost $5 billion a day, $239 per person. When a minority of the world’s population chooses to finance preparations for war, we all lose the opportunity to provide political funding to confront the real threats to our security”.

To support this call, the Global Campaign to Reduce Military Spending has produced an infographic comparing military spending with spending on human security, putting into perspective the costs of war preparation compared to the costs related to health and welfare.

“Drastic reductions in military spending would free up resources not only to ensure universal health care, but also to deal with climate and humanitarian emergencies, which also cause thousands of deaths each year, especially in the Global South countries, which are suffering the worst consequences of an economic model that has been imposed to them”. This is highlighted in the declaration made public by the campaign, available in Spanish and Catalan, and in other languages.

You can consult all the actions held and planned by organizations and social movements around the world in the framework of the GDAMS here.

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