How Far Have We Come?

It’s nearing the end of 2005 and this year was bookmarked as the year where we had a chance to make poverty history. So how far have we come?

Well, sadly not as far as we had hoped. The recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks brought about little change. Although that didn’t surprise me. Getting the west to open up markets isn’t going to be an easy task. However, we can end the year on a positive.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to cancel the debt of the 19 poorest countries. A promise made (and now upheld) by the G8 leaders in Gleneagles this summer.

The other success of the year comes in the form of purely highlighting the campaign and its issues.

Live 8 was a huge success globally and brought the issue of poverty, debt and trade issues into homes around the western world. For a few weeks during the summer, it seemed that everyone was uniting over this matter and the public outcry for change was becoming stronger. Then, a day after the G8 Summit began, London was faced by several bombings. This seemed to put a quick end to all the pressure put onto the G8 leaders as the focus was now on the terrorist attacks and the unfortunate people caught up in the tragedy. I can now only speculate what would have happened if the attacks hadn’t taken place……and my mind wonders about the timing of the attacks (but I’m not going to discuss that now).

Looking ahead to the new year, there are new campaigns being formed (such as Oxfam’s ‘I’m In’) and previous campaigns will continue.

It is important not just to view this year as ‘the year we tried to make poverty history’ but as the start of making poverty history. This year has shown us that there are many of us who care about such issues and are willing to campaign, lobby politicians and have our voice heard.

Any levelled-headed person can tell that we can’t solve all these problems in one year, but at least we have made a start. If we continue in the way which we have shown this year, then there is a very real chance that in our lifetime we can make poverty history.