Oxfam International (Oxford)
3 July 2008
press release
Global leaders will travel to the G8 summit in Japan next week knowing that the promises they have made to help end global poverty are
threatening to amount to nothing more than a brief footnote in the history books.
Without urgent action, the great tidal wave of optimism
that was generated the last time the meeting was hosted by the Japanese in 2000 is in danger of dying away.
Through our work with Oxfam, each of us has been involved in the ongoing fight to end extreme poverty. Whether in classrooms in India,
orphanages in South Africa, camps in Chad, farms in Ethiopia or health clinics in Tanzania, many of us have witnessed at first hand that aid
works; that ordinary people achieve remarkable things every day but also that there is a great deal more that needs to be done.
The Millennium Development Goals that were set out in 2000 were chosen because they were ambitious, but also because they were
realistic and achievable. The same is true of the promise made by G8 leaders at Gleneagles in 2005 to boost aid levels by US$50 billion by
2010. The current delays in meeting these commitments are a disgrace. They are not only a let down to the people who campaigned for them but
they are a potentially fatal blow to the millions of people who live in poverty simply because of where they were born.
The food and climate change crises should have persuaded the G8 that they must raise their game. It is the world's poor who are most
vulnerable to increased food prices and it is these same people who are affected worst by the impacts of climate change. Failure to address
these issues risks undermining much of the progress that has been made since Japan's Presidency of the G8 in 2000.
We look to the G8 to address the global economic uncertainty, but they must also look beyond their own borders and not turn their backs
on the world's poorest people. Only then will the G8 lead the way to a more prosperous and safer future for us all.
We expect nothing less of them.
Angelique Kidjo - Singer, Benin
Annie Lennox - Singer, songwriter, UK
Bill Nighy - Actor, UK
Colin Firth - Actor, UK
Djimon Hounsou - Actor, Benin
Emmanuel Jal - Singer, Sudan
Gael Garcia Bernal - Actor, Mexico
Kristin Davis - Actress, USA
Miguel Bose - Singer, Spain
Minnie Driver - Actress, Singer, UK
Rahul Bose- Actor, India
Scarlett Johansson - Actress, USA
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Oxfam International. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
