MPH.what was mph
- What was MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
- Why 2005?
- Who was leading MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
- Why was World Vision involved?
- What was the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign calling for?
- What were the aims of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
- Why trade, debt and aid?
- Hasn't the UK government already done a lot?
- Were other countries involved in MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
- Why do we need to force governments to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
what was MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY brought together more than 400 organisations including development agencies like World Vision.
Together, we organised a range of events throughout 2005 to get the message through to the Prime Minister, Chancellor and others that 2005 is the year to make real change.
why 2005?
2005 was a particularly important year because a number of events come together which allowed the UK government to put pressure on other governments in the rich world.
The G8: the most powerful leaders in the world came to the UK for the 30th annual meeting of the G8 in Gleneagles in Scotland from 6 – 8 July 2005.
The EU Presidency: In the second half of 2005 the UK held the chair of the European Union.
20th Anniversary of Live Aid: took place on 13 July and drew the public's attention back to issues of poverty in Africa and encouraged western governments to take urgent action.
UN General Assembly Special Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): took place in September 2005 to review the progress since the 2000 Millennium Declaration of the MDGs to halve the proportion of people living in poverty by 2015.
The Commission for Africa: launched by Tony Blair on 26th February 2004 to help generate action for a strong and prosperous Africa. Its report formed the key focal point of the British Chairmanship of the G8 in 2005.
The World Trade Organisation Ministerial: took place in Hong Kong 13 - 17 December 2005. This was the best opportunity to influence the development of international trade rules as the Doha Development Round of discussions concluded.
who was leading MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
No one organisation or individual. The strength of the coalition was its breadth and diversity.
We all shared and continue to share a common belief that urgent action is needed to eliminate world poverty, that one of the key moments was in 2005 and that the UK government had a crucial role in making this happen.
why was World Vision involved?
We believe in campaigning to put an end to the root causes of global poverty and our supporters can make a real difference to the actions and decision of world leaders.
Working directly with children, their families and communities is our top priority - but we must also take steps to overcome the root causes of poverty.
For all the direct work we do with sponsored children, the future will remain very difficult if other children can't go to school, or die of preventable diseases like HIV, Malaria and TB - because money that could have been spent on education and healthcare goes on debt repayments.
what was the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign calling for?
Make Poverty History was calling on world leaders to take three major steps to end world poverty:
Change the rules of international trade, so that we have fair trade not free trade;
Cancel all the unpayable debts of the poorest countries;
Deliver more and better aid: rich countries must make good on their commitment to provide 0.7% of national wealth, and they must reform how aid is delivered.
what were the aims of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
The ultimate aim of the campaign was real and lasting change: making poverty history in poor countries. This could only happen if world leaders took decisive action on trade, debt and aid.
You can find full details of the policy change demands in the manifesto.
They could be summed up as: Trade Justice. Drop the Debt. More and Better Aid.
why trade, debt and aid?
We believe that trade, debt and aid are key to enabling poor countries to break out of the poverty cycle that consigns people to live, and die, in poverty.
Across the world, poverty is responsible for between 30,000 and 50,000 deaths every day and this poverty is founded on unfair international trade rules, crippling levels of debt for poor countries and aid from rich countries that is inadequate in quantity and quality.
hasn't the UK government already done a lot?
While the UK government has taken steps to increase its aid budget and to take action on some debts, this is not enough. The additional £1 billion a year recently promised for aid will hardly dent the £27 billion a year that is needed to properly tackle poverty. On debt, the recent announcement to write off the UK's share of debts owed by 32 of the world's poorest countries to the World Bank and other development banks is still just a proposal. There must be concrete action.
The unpayable debts of the world's poorest countries should be cancelled in full, by fair and transparent means. Current trade rules are not oriented towards ending poverty or protecting the environment and there is a long way to go.
There needs to be an end to the export subsidies that damage the livelihoods of poor communities around the world, and laws to rein in the damaging actions of big business.
Most importantly however, the UK needs to use its influence to get other rich countries to make similar commitments.
were other countries involved in MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
Yes. People all over the world were campaigning for the same measures, to end poverty once and for all. The global campaign is called the Global Call to Action Against Poverty.
More information is available at http://www.whiteband.org/
why do we need to force governments to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY?
Because 30,000 children die every day due to preventable poverty, disease and hunger.
While World Vision and other organisations like us are working on the ground, helping people to pull themselves out of poverty, injustices at an international level mean that our work is not as effective as it should be.
People are kept in poverty because of a combination of factors: injustice in global trade; the huge burden of debt; insufficient and ineffective aid.
World leaders can make decisions which change this. And public opinion can force leaders to make these decisions. That's why we need you to be involved.