The Make Poverty History campaign is a British and  coalition of charities, religious groups, trade unions, campaigning groups and celebrities who are mobilizing around the UK's prominence in world politics in 2005 to increase awareness and pressure governments into taking actions towards relieving absolute poverty. The symbol of the campaign is a white wristband made of cotton or silicone. A 'virtual' white band is also available to be displayed on websites.

The three demands of the campaign are:

• "Trade justice"

• Drop the debt

• More and "better" aid

It should be noted that none of these aims are new (there have been many attempts over the last few decades to promote them), but the scale of the 2005 campaign dwarfs previous efforts.

Events

Make Poverty History sets out a timescale revolving around the 31st G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland on July 6, 2005.

The campaign was given a high profile launch on British television on New Year's Day 2005 in a special edition of the Vicar of Dibley, written by Richard Curtis, who has pledged support for the campaign during 2005.

• The UK assumed presidency of the G8 on January 1, 2005 and is hosting the summit with poverty in Africa being a major topic for discussion.

• The Commission for Africa, launched by Tony Blair in February 2004 after a suggestion from Bob Geldof to use the UK's presidency of the G8 to make a real difference to the lives of millions of Africans, had the aims to create a strong and prosperous Africa. Their report published in March 2005 is a focal point for the UK presidency of the G8.

• Around 225,000 protestors demonstrated on July 2 in Edinburgh to promote their demands.

• In the second half of 2005, the UK held the presidency of the European Union.

• The 20th anniversary of Live Aid was on July 13, 2005. A series of concerts called Live 8 took place before the G8 summit to encourage activism and debate within the G8's member countries, with the aim of increasing political pressure on the leaders.

• The United Nations General Assembly Special Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, September 2005. This is a summit to review the progress since 2000 of the Millennium Development Goals, including halving the proportion of people living in poverty by 2015.

• July 1, September 10 and December 10 are global "White Band Days".

• July 2 - The Live 8 concerts rock all over the world from Hyde Park to Tokyo..

• July 6 - The final Live 8 concert, named Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push rocks Edinburgh in the final strike to persuade G8 Leaders to double aid in Africa.

Organisations

The UK campaign has over 500 member organisations including many faith groups, trade unions and charities. 

Whilst the anti-war group CND is a member, the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) requested to join but was refused. There is some speculation that this is because the organisers want to minimise criticism of the Labour government over the Iraq war. StWC independently organised for people to join the July 2nd demo in Edinburgh, with many local groups working together, and managed to negociage the right to have a stage at the rally at its end.

The Canadian campaign

The Canadian Make Poverty History campaign was launched in February of 2005 by a coalition coordinated by Gerry Barr, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. The campaign is supported by a coalition of charities, trade unions, faith groups, students, academics, literary, artistic and sports leaders such as actor Mary Walsh, musician Tom Cochrane, Canadian Olympian Anna van der Kamp, and United Nations special envoy Stephen Lewis.

Make Poverty History has four main objectives in Canada:

• More and better foreign aid

• Trade justice

• Cancellation of all debts owed by poor countries to developed countries like Canada

• Elimination of child poverty in Canada

The US "ONE" Campaign

In April 2005, a commercial began airing in the United States with several celebrities in black and white stating the pledge of the American ONE Campaign, their version of Make Poverty History. The commercial featured 33 celebrities and personalities; names as diverse as religious leaders Pat Robertson and Frank Griswold; singers including Bono, P. Diddy, Mos Def and Jewel; and various actors including Brad Pitt, Susan Sarandon, Al Pacino and Antonio Banderas. At the end, Tom Hanks states, "We're not asking for your money. We're asking for your voice."

The general goals of the ONE campaign in the United States are to end extreme poverty, hunger and AIDS. A more specific goal is to get President George W. Bush to commit at least 0.3% of the national budget, around US$30 billion, to foreign aid, and increase it further to the UN goal of 0.7% of GDP, around US$73 billion as of 2004, over the next several years. In 2004, the United States Government spent US$7 billion on foreign aid.

The founding sponsors of ONE are Bread for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children US, World Concern, and World Vision. They have strong ties with the NBA, MTV's Rock the Vote, and the Millennium Campaign.

Links

Make Poverty History Website

The ONE Campaign

Click - Make Poverty History Video