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On
2nd July, as the leaders of the world's richest countries
gather in Scotland for the G8 Summit, tens of thousands of
people will assemble in Edinburgh demanding trade justice,
debt cancellation, and more and better aid for the world's
poorest countries.
Livelihoods Connect’s Kath Pasteur will be at the rally
in Edinburgh and reporting back to us, sharing insights and
progress of the campaign. Watch this space!
The Make Poverty History
campaign is asking for changes in three main areas:
Trade
Justice
•
Trade rules that ensure governments can choose the best solutions
to end poverty.
• An end to export subsidies that damage the livelihoods
of poor communities around the world.
• Laws to stop big business profiting at the expense of
people and the environment.
Debt Cancellation
• Full cancellation of the un-payable debts of the world's
poorest countries, without harming aid budgets to meet any costs.
• A stop to forcing poor countries to follow particular
policies in return for debt cancellation.
• Agreement to a just and transparent system for handling
debt problems, which takes account of poor countries' needs
and views, and not just those of the creditors.
More and Better Aid
•
A binding deadline for spending 0.7 per cent of national income
on aid.
• That aid supports poor communities' own plans for fighting
poverty. It shouldn't come with conditions attached that require
countries to adopt particular policies, such as opening their
markets to imports and privatising vital services, such as water.
• At least 70 per cent of aid goes to the very poorest
countries by 2010.
• A commitment to giving a certain amount of aid over
a set period of time, so that countries can make long-term plans.
• A stop to tying aid to the purchase of goods and services
from donor countries. Find
out about the aims of Make Poverty
History by reading the manifesto at www.makepovertyhistory.org
Learn
more about 2nd July and visiting Edinburgh: www.makepovertyhistory.org/edinburgh/
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