99 Days to the G20 - We The 99 are gathering for a new global economy
By: Deepak Xavier (Global Convenor) & Jenny Ricks (General Secretary)
Dear members and allies across the world,
With the second half of 2025 well underway, we wanted to write as Global Convenor and General Secretary to share some highlights from across the Fight Inequality Alliance and invite you to join key actions in the decisive second half of the year. Today marks 99 days until the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. We will share why we think this matters to us as a global movement, and what we can achieve in and beyond this moment.
A reflection on the moment we are in
We are at a conjuncture characterised by deep rupture—economically, socially, ecologically, and politically. The global economy, as it stands, is not merely faltering—it is extractive, exclusionary, and unstable. It concentrates wealth and power in the hands of the few, while imposing debt, austerity, and crisis on the many.
Next year, the United States will assume the G20 presidency after South Africa. And we know, with certainty, that it will drive a regressive agenda—one that is anti-people, anti-democracy, anti-planet, and firmly in defence of financial and geopolitical dominance. This transition marks a critical inflection point.
We are in a moment of real geopolitical reorganisation. An interregnum in which the old world has not yet fallen, and the new one is yet to emerge. The economic order born out of Bretton Woods and colonial finance is delegitimised. Multilateral institutions are being questioned, South-South alliances are forming, and new blocs are emerging. Even with all of these promising signals, no outcome is guaranteed. The risk is that power shifts without justice—that one elite is replaced by another while maintaining the same relations of power and domination.
We have a narrow but decisive window of opportunity to embed a people-centered, justice-driven agenda into the DNA of the new international economic order that is taking shape. This window requires the organisation of a global solidarity movement, and the consolidation of global peoples power. We see our contribution to the growing international effort—not as a one-off event, but as a stepping-stone on a long-term process of coordination, visibility, and strategic intervention.
Our steps forward so far in 2025
Firstly, we always need to take time to celebrate our achievements. It is what will power us to even greater heights. From the enormous amount of work across the Alliance, a few standout achievements for us include:
- Our January Global Protest during the World Economic Forum in Davos, where we drew a red line to billionaires in 50 cities across the Global South
- The #RiseFor actions ahead of the Financing for Development conference in Seville, where Peoples’ Assemblies and actions took place in 80 locations across the world
We continue to build strength nationally, with alliances weaving together powerful campaigns to address the inequalities faced by people in their everyday lives, with the bigger structural changes to the global economic system we need. Some progress that caught our attention is:
- FIA Zimbabwe's #FixOurPublicHealthCareZW campaign has gathered momentum both online and in person from both the public and politicians, with attention from both a Cabinet Minister and the President resulting in refurbishment works beginning at the country's biggest referral hospital.
- National political education programmes have been piloted in Mexico, Zambia and India to help build the layers of youth leadership needed for mass mobilising across our movement
- FIA Mexico has been part of a successful campaign for working rights to be expanded by reducing the working hours a week from 48 to 40.
At global level, as we agreed in last year’s Global Gathering in Manila, we are pleased to share that a Global Council now governs the Alliance’s global work. This is of course being replicated across the regional and national alliances in line with our 10 year roadmap. I am honoured to be the first Convenor of the Global Council, working with Jenny as the General Secretary.
And onwards - 99 days to We The 99
And of course we still have ambitious goals that we need to achieve together this year as a movement at national and at global level.
The movement for a new global economy is emerging
By working together, we want to achieve more wins, including:
- By the end of 2025, we would like to see consensus built around the need for a mass, generational gathering of the movement for a new global economy by 2027-8.
- In response to growing public and movement pressure during the G20, several progressive governments form coalitions of the willing to pursue bold policies on taxing the super-rich and cancelling debts.
- Nationally we will campaign for key inequality fighting wins, showing how coordinated national-to-global movement can deliver real systemic change. In Zambia this will mean reversing the suspension on the mining export tax so Zambians can benefit from the country’s mineral wealth - a form of wealth tax. In Kenya this will mean campaigning for a budget for the people, to ensure public services are funded and taxes hit the rich, not the poor. Mexico is preparing a new campaign push on "que los ricos paguen lo que nos deben" - "make rich pay what they owe us" during an upcoming fiscal reform consultation from the government in September.
- The Alliance across Latin America and the Caribbean is growing, with Perú holding its first People's Assembly in September. And allies from Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras and El Salvador are preparing joint regional campaigns and national actions to link local struggles with global demands
- FIA India will shortly begin a 100 Days Against Inequality & Discrimination campaign across the country. FIA Indonesia will protest this month against tax increases affecting the poor and working classes, and undertake a Peoples’ Assembly to reclaim democracy.
We The 99
That’s why we invite you to join this exciting next phase of movement building.
We are inviting you, your community, organisation or movement to be part of this countdown to unite, build, organise and demonstrate our power to bring about transformative change.
What will we do together?
In person in our countries across the world, as well as virtually and physically together in Johannesburg in November, an exciting programme of action is shaping up as we build this movement to the next level.
- Organise or Join People’s Assemblies (Sep-Oct) — Together, we will create gatherings where ordinary people, especially those most impacted by inequality come together to speak, listen, and reflect. It’s not a conference. It’s not a panel. It’s a space for real voices, real stories, and real solutions. A space to decide on our collective vision and build the power of the 99%.
- Join us at the Fight Inequality Alliance’s Global Assembly (Nov 17-18) — It is an iconic gathering to continue growing the global movement to fight inequality, bringing together leading voices, organisations, and community leaders from around the world standing on the frontlines of inequality.
- Join We The 99 - a People’s Summit for Global Economic Alternatives (Nov 20-22) — This is a people’s summit and not a side event. It is a direct counter-space of power, a sharp contrast to the closed-door G20 deliberations dominated by elite interests. This gathering centers the voices and lived experiences of those living on the frontlines of debt, austerity, extractivism, colonial legacies and systemic exclusion. Exciting actions will be taking place from September - November as part of this effort.
Be the first to know about these various initiatives and how you can participate whether it is in your country, virtually or in-person.
We look forward to continuing on our ambitious roadmap – mass mobilising to fight inequality as we build this movement together.
With deep appreciation for all you are doing to fight inequality.
Deepak Xavier - Global Convenor
Jenny Ricks - General Secretary