Global Poverty

[xmasdale]

Remember the Gleneagles G8 summit 2005 - how it was really going to make poverty history, or so we were promised, and in the middle of it bombs went off on the London transport system (neatly the day after London had won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games) ? Then suddenly the media attention, in Britain at least, turned a corner and shifted from global poverty to the need to defeat these "darstardly Islamic terrorists who kill people because they hate freedom".

We had a team of 9/11 truth campaigners (from Scotland, England, the Basque country and Ireland) demonstrating and spreading the word in central Scotland. One of our people was arrested for peaceful demonstration; another had his car impounded by the police; a third was followed by the police all the way from Gleneagles to Manchester.

If you have not forgottten what it is really all about - building a peaceful world in which people can prosper and flourish, a world of opportunity, co-operation and sharing, of knowledge and mutual human empathy - please look at the letter below and respond as you feel appropriate.

Dear Avaaz member,

This Friday, in a letter to the G8 finance ministers, we're calling on rich countries to keep their promises of aid to the world's poor. Click here to join Desmond Tutu in signing the letter:
Sign the letter now
This Friday, the finance ministers from the world's eight richest countries will meet to plan the G8 summit. That morning, we will send them an urgent letter on global poverty, signed by key global figures: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson--and, we hope, you.

Our message: keep your promise to provide 0.7% of national income in effective aid to relieve extreme poverty. Millions of lives are at stake. The more people sign the letter, the more powerful our demand becomes. Click here to sign:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_poverty_letter

The statistics of global poverty are shocking. Each day, 20,000 children die preventable deaths in poor countries. That's why the broken promises of rich countries are so infuriating.

The world's rich countries have pledged 0.7% of their national income to development aid. But these promises have not been kept. In fact, outrageously, the G8 countries gave less in 2006 than in 2005.

At the same time, the last few years have seen an unprecedented groundswell against global poverty--which has led to new promises and, in some countries, real change. These fights can be won. That's why we are working with our friends at the Global Call to Action Against Poverty to assemble citizens and celebrities behind a single call--for world leaders to keep their word on global poverty.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Together you represent the world's economic powerhouses. We write to ask that you also strive to represent the millions of people whose lives are blighted by extreme poverty.

Aid is not a panacea. But Marshall Plan aid from the US kick-started the rebuilding of a Europe shattered by war and delivered real benefits to the US in terms of new markets for its goods. Aid to East Asia helped catalyse the economic miracles that have lifted millions of people out of poverty. Today many African governments are using aid to underwrite growth and provide essential schools, health services and water supplies for their people. The poorest countries in the world need you to honour these aid pledges if they are to meet the Millennium Development Goals and end poverty. Please seize that chance today.

The letter will be delivered Friday with a full-page ad in the Financial Times, just in time for the G8 finance minister's meeting. Click here to join Desmond Tutu by signing on:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_poverty_letter

With hope,

Ben, Ricken, Galit, Iain, Graziela, Paul, and the Avaaz team

PS Once you've signed, please pass this email along to ten friends. It's hard to think of anything more urgently important--and, at the same time, so achievable, than the fight against global poverty. Let's show these finance ministers how much we value human life.



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