The 'Make Poverty History' campaign is an alliance of more than 200 charities and Christian organisations, who have banded together to press for action on several fronts - summed up on their excellent website in 9 words:

TRADE JUSTICE. DROP THE DEBT. MORE AND BETTER AID.

Prescript (as opposed to a postcript!) Roy has sent me this extra bit of info for this page. Details of the Make Poverty History campaign follow on further down...

Join Roy Searle, Jeff and Jill Sutheran, Edward and Sarah Pillar and many others from the Community and beyond on Saturday July 2nd in Edinburgh and come to a Special Make Poverty History Service at which Roy will be speaking at Bristol Baptist Church in Edinburgh on Sunday July 3rd at 11.00.

Bring a packed lunch for after the service.

(Full article written by Roy is at the bottom of this page click here)

Please put the dates in your diary, and for further resources and news on what will be happening in the UK have a look here.

The Prime Minister has said that he wants to make 2005 the year the UK leads the rich world in a new struggle against global poverty. But that must mean more than business as usual. Without a radical change in the way the world trades, simply increasing aid and debt cancellation will not break the cycle of poverty. If he wants to make a real difference he needs to get the trade justice message.

Send a letter to Tony Blair now. For a suggested text, go here.

Here's an excerpt from the MPH site:

"The gap between the worlds’s rich and poor has never been wider. Malnutrition, AIDS, conflict and illiteracy are a daily reality for millions.

But it isn’t chance or bad luck that keeps people trapped in bitter, unrelenting poverty. It’s man-made factors like a glaringly unjust global trade system, a debt burden so great that it suffocates any chance of recovery and insufficient and ineffective aid .

It doesn’t have to be this way though.

In fact, back in 2001 the governments of the eight wealthiest nations on the planet said that they were going to do something about it - in what was seen as a breakthrough, they promised to halve world poverty by 2015.

Four years later the world is failing dismally to reach those targets.

But we have been given another, maybe even a final chance – 2005.

This year offers a truly exceptional set of opportunities for the UK to take a lead internationally and say that enough is enough.

With the UK hosting the G7 Finance Ministers meeting in February and the G8 gathering of powerful world leaders as well as holding the presidency of the European Union (EU), our Government and particularly Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, will be influential players on the world stage – we must make sure they play their part.

They have the power and we can make them use it".

Leading Christian relief and development agencies have united to urge the Government to make the eradication of poverty a priority in 2005, through trade justice, debt cancellation and more - and better - aid. The political landscape, and Britain's place in it this year, makes 2005 a 'never to be repeated' opportunity.
Tearfund, CAFOD, Christian Aid and World Vision have come together with a wider coalition of more than 100 aid agencies, campaign groups, churches and trade unions known as Make Poverty History, to call on the Government to take the lead.
“Christians have a duty to defend the helpless and to cry out against injustice,” said World Vision’s Director of Advocacy, Communications and Education, Rudo Kwaramba.

Make Poverty History

Over 500 children will die of preventable diseases during the time it takes you to read this article. This year 10 million will die of hunger and a further 600 million will live in abject poverty. 18 million people a year, over one third of deaths in the world today are caused by poverty.

Imagine thousands of people dying in London today, a thousands more in Bristol tomorrow, and yet more the following day in Manchester. It would be a national, if not international disaster. Every effort would be made to address the crisis and focus on finding a solution to the causes.

Well people are not dying in our cities but people are dying, a child every three seconds from poverty in our world today. In January we responded to the Tsunami disaster which claimed the lives of over a quarter of a million people. Yet every single week witnesses more than that number die of poverty and preventable diseases. Like the characters in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, we pass the plight of the hungry and dying by on the other side. Self-interest, consumerism and ignorance of the facts keep us from seeing the reality of poverty, injustice, death and disease or hearing the heartcry of the hungry throughout the world.

The inertia that has prevented us from thinking we could do anything about such issues is no longer an excuse for inaction. I am encouraged that we are getting involved and taking action. Individuals and groups, Churches and Associations, the Baptist Union and BMS are committed to the cause. Not just passing resolutions but actually engaging in something that could make a difference to the lives of millions.

2005, provides an incredible opportunity. A year in which Britain and the other G8 nations can take decisions that could begin the process of eradicating poverty. Twenty years after ‘Live Aid’ brought the plight of Africa before a watching world, Britain under the leadership of Tony Blair, and his Chancellor, Gordon Brown, stand on the brink of an agreement that could rival the historic abolition of slavery and the extinction of apartheid. In July, Britain hosts the G8 summit in Scotland and assumes the Presidency of the European Union. In September, the G8 leaders meet with others in New York for the Millennium Development Goals Summit and in December, the World Trade Organisation meets.

The decisions taken at these meetings and could realise a defining moment in the lives of Africa’s 800 million people, trapped in unrelenting poverty, an unjust global trade system which favours the most powerful and discriminates against the poorest, and subjects them to servicing old debts. This allied to insufficient aid cripples and kills millions each year.

Make Poverty History is the largest ever coalition in Britain assembled to fight against global poverty, to campaign for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid to the world’s poorest countries. It is a movement which is gaining momentum, strength and impact by the power of people willing to express their concern for the plight of the world’s poor.

Standing together and speaking out can make a real difference.

In 1998, 70,000 people formed a human chain encircling Birmingham, calling on the G8 to drop the debt of the world’s poorest countries. These campaigners put debt relief on Government agendas and led to pledges of debt cancellation. A trickle of response has begun, led by our Government but the power and responsibility they and other G8 leaders wield when they meet in July gives them the opportunity to cancel the debt that the poorest countries are repaying, to bring about trade justice and to increase and improve aid. Make Poverty History is calling them to have the courage and compassion to make the decisions and to deliver on their promises to tackle poverty in a rich world.

A Dream

There is a scripture which talks about the young having visions and the old dreaming dreams. I have a dream that in 40 years time when I’m shuffling along on my solar powered zimmer frame accompanying my grandchildren as we visit a new museum which is dedicated to telling the story of how extreme poverty was eradicated. The displays, exhibits, video imaging and bank of plasma screens tell the stories of how the year 2005 marked a turning point in the world’s history:-

• How the British government led by example and brought other major economic powers on board and took the courageous but groundbreaking steps in cancelling international debt and how by the year 2015, world poverty as promised back in 2001 by the G8 nations was fulfilled.

• How trade justice was realised in such a way that gave the developing nations of the world an equal opportunity to trade within a just global system and has brought a more peaceful, stable and economically prosperous culture to the continents of Asia, Africa and South America. How the token aid offered in the 20 th century paled into insignificance compared with the phenomenal monies and resources that have changed the world for the better.

• No longer does a child die needlessly every three seconds from preventable diseases, no longer do 50,000 people die every day from poverty related issues.

• Nor does the continent of Africa any long suffer from the horrors of HIV/Aids that was eradicated and isn’t it brilliant how every child up to the age of 16 receives a good education in Africa.

I will totter around the museum with a sense of pride as I tell my grandchildren that I was part of a generation that made history by making poverty history.

I have a dream!

I wouldn’t bother writing this article if we didn’t think that such a dream could be achieved. If I didn’t believe that we are at a carpe diem – seize the day – moment in history.

Movements have changed the world and we are part of a movement. We are like a stream that together with others are flowing into and producing a river that is working for change in the world today. A movement of people, representing churches throughout the length and breadth of Britain but who are joined by Christians across the globe, united under the commitment and call to end poverty. We are joined by other faith communities and hundreds of non-government organisations committed to the cause.

The Rally on July 2 nd being organised in Edinburgh is not a church outing like a picnic in the park. It is a serious campaign where we are speaking out for those whose voice is rarely heard, affirming God’s heart for the poor, demanding a just and better deal for the developing nations. We are here to make a difference and in the words of Sir Bob Geldoff, Chairman for the Commission for Africa, We are not going away.

So I encourage and challenge you to come and help make history on Saturday, July 2 nd in Edinburgh. March, speak out prophetically and make it clear to the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations that issues of justice, mercy and righteousness matter and that you want to make poverty history. Join me and thousands of others in Edinburgh to form a human, white band around the city and call for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid to the world’s poorest countries.

This is not about asking for donations or collecting money. It’s not about charity. Everyone who gets involved in Make Poverty History will make a small difference. As a leader in the Observer put it, All those small differences can come together in July and bring about a fundamental change.

Let us seize the day by Making Poverty History.

When anyone asks, ‘I don’t know what I should be doing, I wonder what my ministry should be’? Look again at the book of the prophet Micah chapter 6, v8. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” That would be a great and godly characteristic of any believer, church and denomination. Let’s do it!

Let your greatness blossom. Of course, the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity to rise up. Make poverty history in 2005. Make history in 2005. Then we can all stand with our heads held high. Nelson Mandela

Join Roy Searle, Jeff and Jill Sutheran, Edward and Sarah Pillar and many others from the Community and beyond on Saturday July 2 nd in Edinburgh and come to a Special Make Poverty History Service at which Roy will be speaking at Bristo Baptist Church in Edinburgh on Sunday July 3 rd at 11.00.

Bring a packed lunch for after the service.

What You Can Do

Sign up to the Make Poverty History campaign www.makepovertyhistory.org.