Can Labour really make poverty history?

Can Labour really make poverty history?

At the opening of the 2007 Labour party conference, a high-ranking line up of Labour development experts and two of the stars of Channel 4’s new four-part series Millionaires’ Mission joined Channel 4 Economics Correspondent Faisal Islam to ask: can Labour really make poverty history?

The packed fringe event, hosted by World Vision and Channel 4, examined some of the lessons learnt by ethical travel millionaire Deirdre Bounds, who recently joined seven other entrepreneurs to work alongside World Vision and a Ugandan community to look at ways to improve livelihoods and life chances – and the implications for the NGO and government agenda.

And at his first Labour fringe event, former Tory Quentin Davies MP, who crossed the floor of the House of Commons in June, acknowledged that it was not possible to make poverty history within the next five to ten years but insisted that it was important to set targets, even if they were not achieved, in order to coordinate action.

However, he observed that aid had doubled since 2000, highlighting the important work carried out by the British government and the G8 in Gleneagles.

International Development Minister Gareth Thomas also pointed to the achievements of the Labour party's international development policies since 1997. But Thomas acknowledged that since 2005, G8 summits had not given as much priority to development issues, leading to a corresponding drop in media coverage. He insisted that at the halfway point for the Millennium Development Goals, next year’s G8 must be used as an opportunity to re-invigorate media interest.

Thomas pointed out that the debt relief deal agreed upon at Gleneagles had been implemented and was making a difference. However, he observed that trade was still a big challenge and there was an urgent need to get US and EU agreement on fair trade rules that allow developing countries to achieve greater economic growth.

World Vision’s Rudo Kwaramba, who mentored the Millionaires’ Mission entrepreneurs in Uganda, applauded DFID’s commitment but noted that the quality of aid was as important as the amount. She also highlighted the fact that conflict was one of the many traps that could siphon resources.

When asked to isolate the key factors that the government could focus on to make poverty history, Davies highlighted the crippling effect of HIV and AIDS on development. He claimed this as the key area in which G8 countries could use donor funding to make a real and immediate difference.

Kwaramba argued that the UK government needed to do more in order to put pressure on drugs companies and also to commit further money to the Global Fund. Moreover, she pointed out that there were still some prohibitive laws surrounding the trade in antiretroviral drugs.

Thomas flagged up the need to link the debate on development with that of climate change.

Taking the debate beyond the political arena, Millionaires’ Mission entrepreneur Deirdre Bounds spoke passionately of the need for the general public to have greater understanding and education of the underlying causes of poverty.

24 September 2007