Europe is gearing up for its third #MillionsMissing Day of Action set for May 12th, which is the international day of awareness for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
Organizers from #MillionsMissing groups across Europe are working together to share ideas and prepare for their awareness events in Norway, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Sweden, the Isle of Man and the U.K.
The #MillionsMissing rallies in Europe will focus on public awareness for ME, education in the medical community on ME, and more money for biomedical research. The organizers plan to present solutions for addressing these issues to their governments.
#MEAction is not coordinating a #MillionsMissing global Day of Action but, instead, will focus its staff time on supporting congressional advocacy in Washington, D.C. in May in partnership with SolveCFS. However, we encourage cities everywhere to participate in the #MillionsMissing Day of Action on May 12th along with Europe, and we will make our resources (posters, fact sheets, talking points etc.) available to anyone interested in organizing a #MillionsMissing rally or protest in your city.
#MillionsMissing began when one activist wanted to organize a protest in Washington D.C. in May 2016, and approached #MEAction about using our platform to connect with the community. Eleven cities across the globe joined that May protest, wishing to make a stand for their lives against negligent governments. #MillionsMissing grew exponentially that fall when 25 cities in 14 countries organized protests and rallies once again to demand their governments stop the neglect, and to raise awareness for ME. People with ME also joined the rallies from their homes – setting out empty shoes and sharing photos of them online – and the #millionsmissing hashtag trended on social media.
#Millionsmissing represents the millions of ME patients around the world missing from their careers, schools, social lives and families due to the debilitating symptoms of the disease. At the same time, millions of dollars are missing from research funding that ME should be receiving based on its disease burden. And, millions of doctors are missing out on proper training to diagnose and help patients manage this illness.
This video showcases the first #MillionsMissing Day of Action in May 2016.
Learn more about the #MillionsMissing movement.
If you are interested in hosting a #MillionsMissing protest or rally in your city on May 12th, and would like to connect with the European organizers, please email [email protected].
Also, if you would like access to the #MillionsMissing materials that already exist (posters, fact sheets, talking points, photos, videos etc.), please email [email protected]. Check out photos from the previous #MillionsMissing on our website beneath “Media Resources.”
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8 thoughts on “Europe gears up for its third #MillionsMissing Day of Action”
What will be the focus this year? Will it be shoes again or something totally different? We have a concert planned for May 13 and we are busy planning that but I hope we can get involved on May 12 depending on what the focus is and if we can occupy the Steps at the Welsh Assembly. I have to get other people on board to help when I know what the focus is.
Hi Miriam,
The best person to contact regarding UK planning for #MillionsMissing is L.A. Cooper: [email protected]
Oh, what a deception! After only two events this idea of the global protest day is already at its end.
It would have taken a much longer time to raise public awareness.
What are the reasons for that decision?
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for your comment. Hopefully, I can help clarify about the #MillionsMissing Day of Action, which we very much support.
#MEAction is excited to see the #MillionsMissing Day of Action going strong in Europe, and that even more countries are joining the movement. Organizers from Europe have spent the past three months – and even longer – organizing towards the May 12th Day of Action so they’ve been working really hard with more time to organize. They also have plenty of resources to draw from that were developed during the previous two global protests. (#MEAction has a folder with these resources that is open to all #MillionsMissing organizers.)
For the U.S. there was a lot of conversation among the organizers about the #MillionsMissing Day of Action. Initially, organizers were gearing up to organize protests / rallies in their cities but, eventually, the conversation evolved after realizing that it would be very difficult to attract media attention for protests and actions in the U.S. given the present political climate in which there are massive protests taking place, and in which the media is focused on covering the work of the new administration.
U.S. organizers realized that they needed to spend their energy in the most productive way possible to bring about real change for people suffering with ME. As you know, in our community, we have very limited energy and must be judicious about how we spend it. Sadly, a lot of the organizers suffered major, long-lasting crashes after the Sept. protest because of the wonderful dedication they showed to organizing the Day of Actions in their cities.
As for #MEAction staff, we have a very small staff and limited capacity, and are dedicating our resources to supporting other actions that activists are bringing to us, including ongoing U.S. congressional outreach in collaboration with SolveCFS. (#MEAction activists held dozens of meetings with congressional representatives last week that has resulted in very promising developments, which we will be sharing in the next week.) #MEAction and SolveCFS are also planning a big congressional advocacy week surrounding May 12th.
It is very important to have U.S. congressional support for ME since congress can directly (and indirectly) impact the budget for ME research at the National Institutes of Health, which is the largest research institute in the world. Research coming out of the NIH will be important for validating and encouraging ME research in other countries.
Hi,
Please will you add the Republic of Ireland to you list of European #MillionsMissing demonstration.
We are holding it outside our government (the Dáil) building in Dublin on Thursday, 11th May 2017.
Many thanks,
Noreen
Yayy !! 2 more days to go.
Our concert is on Saturday May 13th in Cardiff, South Wales in the UK. It’s being held in Freedom Church in Trade Street Cardiff not far from the back entrance to Cardiff Central Station. The Concert runs from 6.30 until 8.30. We have a violinist, a female choir, a soloist and Bollywood dancers. Come and join us! And look us up on Facebook as MESiG, ME Support in Glamorgan. Read all about it!
We also had students from Cardiff University filming and presenting these films via our website. They filmed a Carer, a person who had been ill with ME for many years but is now well, a woman with severe ME and a young woman with mild ME.
This was an awesome event! Anyone knows where can I find the video for this year’s Millsionsmissing day?
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