Mandela backs anti-poverty fight
Press Association
Thursday January 27, 2005 8:23 AM

Former South African president Nelson Mandela will back the largest ever campaign to eradicate poverty, on a visit to London, it was announced.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner will endorse the Make Poverty History coalition ahead of his address to finance ministers of the world's richest countries at the G7 summit in the capital next month.

At midday on Thursday February 3, surrounded by symbolic white bands, he will speak to an expected crowd of thousands at a rally in Trafalgar Square in a bid to encourage public participation in the anti-poverty blitz.

The move is also designed to pressurise world leaders into fulfilling their pledges to increase and improve aid for the poor, deliver trade justice and provide further debt relief, the organisation says.

Adrian Lovett of Oxfam, a member of the Make Poverty History coalition, said: "Nelson Mandela's presence in London sends a clear signal from one of the world's greatest heroes that 2005 is the year when we strike a huge blow against world poverty.

"His presence is not only a rallying cry to the public to get involved, but serves notice to rich countries that the world will not put up with false promises, delays and hollow sound bites.

"This has to be the year that rich countries take action and increase their aid budgets, reform the rules of trade and finally end the debt burden that is destroying the livelihoods of millions of people."

A spokeswoman for the group said it was hoped the G7 meeting would make "significant steps" in cutting the debts of developing countries which currently costs them £21 billion a year.

Make Poverty History is a coalition of charities, faith groups, campaigns, trade unions, and celebrities, garnering backing from stars including Coldplay singer Chris Martin, Bono, Claudia Schiffer, Scarlett Johansson, Jamelia, Fran Healey from Travis, Busted, the Sugababes, Graham Norton and Stephen Fry.

The campaign says abject poverty kills 30,000 children every day, and they are calling on the public to show their support by going to Trafalgar Square, wearing the white band - available at www.makepovertyhistory.org or from Oxfam shops - and telling Tony Blair to do all in his power to make poverty history in 2005 by emailing him through www.makepovertyhistory.org.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.




---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 The all-new My Yahoo! – Get yours free!

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤