Our voices can save elephants!

Dear friends,  In a few days, leaders from all over the world will gather for a major summit on elephant conservation in Botswana, and organisers want the voices of Avaaz members to take centre stage! The meeting comes at a crucial moment. China, the US, and now Hong Kong have all moved to ban ivory, but so far the EU, home to one of the biggest ivory markets in the world, has refused to act! So organisers have said that if we gather messages from around the world calling for Europe to close its ivory trade, they'll show them on a giant screen in front of the EU delegation as we deliver our petition! It's a great way we can all help save elephants from extinction. All you need to do is take a picture of yourself holding up a short, personal message calling for Europe to close its ivory trade, or thanking those countries that have already acted. Here's how to do it:  Write your name, your country, and a message to the summit on a piece of paper in landscape orientation: Write whatever you feel, but in big letters and in dark ink, so it's visible. Make it short and snappy so it can be seen -- something like: ‘EU: Ban Ivory Now!’, ‘End Ivory, Not Elephants’ and ‘China and Hong Kong: Thank you!’ Take a picture of yourself holding your piece of paper Email your picture to: savetheelephants@avaaz.org Once we have the messages, Avaaz staff will travel to Botswana, deliver our voices and ask leaders from around the world to sign our petition to Europe. Public pressure forced through the other bans -- so let's show Europe the world says no to ivory! Join the call -- send a picture message! With hope and determination, Sarah, Julie, Nell, Spyro, and the rest of the Avaaz team PS Here are a couple of examples from our team to get you started...

Avaaz is a 46-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.