PDA

View Full Version : Make Poverty History: live8 message to the G8


scrape_medic
07-03-2005, 08:42 PM
Case you missed it, the biggest world wide concert took place yesterday, with a message to the G8 summit to be held in Edinburgh this week.

That message is to Make Poverty History.

Poverty kills one child every three seconds.

This is not just a problem belonging to Africa, but to many areas of the world.

Whilst concerts were held in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barrie,Tokyo, Johannesburg, Moscow and at the Eden Project in Cornwall (UK), 225,000 people marched through the streets of Edinburgh and formed the largest human white band around the city, (the white band being the symbol of the Make Povert History movement).

On the eve of the G8 summit, The Final Push will see a concert held at Murrayfield and the Long Walk to Justice will see the photos and petitions of people who have signed up to show support carried from Murrayfield to Gleneagles, the location of the summit.

Read more here (http://www.live8live.com/)

What the Make Poverty History group expect from the G8 summit have been set out in three key areas; MPH are calling for urgent and meaningful policy change on three critical and inextricably linked areas: trade, debt and aid.

1. Trade justice
• Fight for rules that ensure governments, particularly in poor countries, can choose the best solutions to end poverty and protect the environment. These will not always be free trade policies.
• End export subsidies that damage the livelihoods of poor rural communities around the world.
• Make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the
environment.

2. Drop the debt
• The unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries should be cancelled in full, by fair and transparent means.

3. More and better aid
• Donors must now deliver at least $50 billion more in aid and set a binding timetable for spending 0.7% of national income on aid. Aid must also be made to work more effectively for poor people.

Make Poverty History Manefesto - low res pdf (http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/docs/manifesto.pdf)

The G8 is a meeting of the leaders of the worlds most powerful countries – the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia, the eight countries represented by concerts on saturday. This year they meet from 6th – 9th July in Gleneagles with Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair hosting the summit.

This movement is a reaction to the promises made to halve global poverty by 2015, a target which it would seem will not be met.

Is possible to see a world where all children can go to fee free schools, get health care where and when they need it, and have the expectations of employment or a sustainable way of life?

If you are interested, you can find out how to add your voice to these events here (http://www.live8live.com/whattodo/index.shtml)

waltersgirl
07-03-2005, 08:48 PM
this thread will remain stuck for the week, at scrape medic's request. it is closed to comments.