"ASPIRING TO MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY"

An alliance of development organisations, trade unions and campaigning organisations is launching the Irish section of the worldwide campaign against poverty, called MakePovertyHistory.

On Wednesday the 23rd of February the Spire of Dublin will be wearing the white band symbol of the MakePovertyHistory Irish Campaign to highlight the international drive for more and better aid, trade justice and debt cancellation. This event will be the beginning of a campaign in 2005 to ensure that Ireland contributes to the goals set by the international community to eradicate extreme poverty - the so-called Millennium Development Goals.

"The year 2005 is a key year in the global fight against global injustice, presenting a historic opportunity to eradicate extreme poverty. Irish Development NGOs, trade unions and campaigning groups have come together to work for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid", said Hans Zomer, Director of Dóchas, an umbrella group of 33 Development NGOs.

The campaign will be asking people throughout Ireland to wear the white band as part of the global campaign against poverty.

David Begg of ICTU says: "This should be the year in which the international community keeps its promises and responds to the needs of more than one billion people who are living in absolute poverty. Their demands for justice must be met. Achieving more and better jobs for workers, with full respect for their basic rights, is the most important single means of increasing poor peoples' incomes and cutting poverty. Fairer world trade rules are essential for this to happen".

"Desperately needed resources are draining out of the world's poorest countries in debt repayments to rich creditors. At the same time these countries are expected to tackle poverty. This is impossible until the debt is wiped out. 2005 is the year creditors must act decisively. We've had enough of half promises followed by little action." said Jean Somers of Debt and Development Coalition Ireland

Visit the Irish campaign website:

www.MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.ie

MAKEPOVERTYHHISTORY - MANIFESTO click to read

Make Poverty History - From January 2005, Trócaire will run a joint postcard campaign with NGOs from across Europe and North America, to demand that urgent action is taken to eradicate world hunger and poverty.

White bands can be purchased from Trócaire

'So please join us in sending a strong message to world leaders at the July G8 Summit that they must keep their word on the Millennium Development Goals and help to make poverty history.'

Visit the site www.trocaire.org


Worldwide campaign :

The Global Call to Action against Poverty is a world-wide alliance committed to forcing world leaders to live up to their promises, and to make a breakthrough on poverty in 2005.

'You can be part of this global movement by wearing the white band in 2005.'

Visit the site www.whiteband.org

Make Poverty History is the UK coalition to end extreme poverty; organizing the white band campaign in the UK.


White bands can be purchased online from this site.

'Over the next 12 months a series of landmark meetings are taking place where world leaders can finally stop 30,000 people dying needlessly every day, just because they’re poor.'

Visit the UK site www.makepovertyhistory.org/