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Mandela coming to London to make poverty history


This Thursday, 3 February, Nelson Mandela will be coming to London at the invitation of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY coalition to endorse the biggest anti-poverty campaign ever and meet with the finance ministers of the world's richest countries. He will be addressing a crowd of thousands in Trafalgar Square in London, at 12pm, urging them to put pressure on world leaders to make good on their promises to increase and improve aid for the poor, deliver trade justice and provide further debt relief. He will also call on the public to join the campaign and take action. One supporter determined to be there is Phil Garvey McGovern of Whitton, Middlesex, who is a school volunteer for CAFOD. She is planning to take her two boys, Dominic, 9 and Frankie, 5, out of school so that they can see Mandela, whom she describes as: " an icon of the 20th and 21st century." Mr Mandela will arrive on the eve of the G7 (Group of 7 industrialised Countries) Finance Ministers meeting in London where it is hoped that rich countries will make significant steps in cutting dropping the debts of developing countries which currently costs them $39 billion a year. White bands, the symbol of the campaign, will adorn the square, Nelson's Column and will be worn by members of the public. Alison Fenney, CAFOD's director of advocacy and communications said: "Nelson Mandela 's visit to Britain to launch the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign, lends it the support of one of the world's greatest statesmen, illustrating the importance of this campaign. "When he comes to London, he will add his voice to the rallying cry for everyone to get involved and for the richer nations to take action in those areas which perpetuate inequality. "This means they should increase their aid budgets, reforming trade rules and bringing an end to the burden of debt on poor countries, so that people have a real chance to develop sustainable livelihoods and to climb out of poverty." The MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY coalition is calling on the public to do three things: 1. Come to Trafalgar Square to hear Nelson Mandela's rallying call at midday on Thursday 3 February. 2. Show their support for the campaign by wearing the white band, available online at www.makepovertyhistory.org 3. Tell Tony Blair to do all in his power to make poverty history in 2005 by emailing him through www.makepovertyhistory.org

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