'Thank you for your campaigning.'

Your campaigning put global poverty at the top of the agenda at this year’s G8 summit.

Whether you wore a white band, sent an email or if you were one of the 225,00 people who came to Edinburgh to make their voices heard, the fact that global poverty was at the top of this year's G8 agenda is thanks to you and thousands like you.

In the event, the G8 leaders failed to respond fully to the challenge that this historic movement of people placed before them.

It is imperative that world leaders do more – and we need your help to keep the pressure up when they meet in September to discus the Millennium Development Goals, in December for trade talks at the World Trade Organisation and on into 2006.

All the great movements in history, whether it was the anti-apartheid movement, the civil rights movement or the women’s emancipation movement, took some time to achieve their goals but ultimately succeeded.

What was agreed at the G8?

Thank you for your campaigning – the G8 made an important step forward, but there’s still more to do.

The G8 leaders’ announcement last week showed the impact of the Make Poverty History campaign with small but significant steps forward on the issues of trade, debt, aid and HIV/AIDS.

We should not be discouraged, 2005 is far from over and there are plenty more opportunities to take action in the coming months. In November, we are planning a mass lobby of Parliament ahead of the crucial world trade talks in December.

Here's a quick look at what’s been agreed and how it measures up to Christian Aid’s demands:

Debt

Eighteen of the world’s poorest countries will receive significantly more debt cancellation and others may qualify in the coming months and years. However, this pledge only confirms the deal announced by the G7 finance ministers in June.

However this is not the 100% cancellation of debts that we were calling for and countries will still have to fulfil damaging conditions in order to qualify. We are looking to world leaders to deliver more on debt.

Trade

The G8 delivered least on the issue of trade.
The communiqué included a welcome statement that poor countries should be able to choose their own economic policies. This suggests an end to the policy conditions attached to aid and debt cancellation however no specific action plan was included. We will continue to push for words to be put into action.

The G8 also failed to set an earlier date to end export subsidies, which damage the livelihoods of poor rural communities around the world.

Christian Aid calls on the G8 and other world leaders to work harder on trade justice at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in September and at the WTO trade talks in December.

Aid

Aid to Africa will increase by $25 billion over the next few years, more than doubling the amount of aid given to Africa in 2004. This is a positive move.

However, Christian Aid believes that much of the aid promised is not new money. The G8 have recycled old announcements to reach the $25 billion. The deal on debt falls far short of what is needed to reduce poverty. We are also concerned that conditions are not tied to aid.

HIV/AIDS

Christian Aid welcomes the promise by G8 leaders to provide access to anti-retroviral drugs for all people living with HIV/AIDS by 2010. However, the G8 needs to allocate more financial resources to tackling HIV/AIDS and none of these details have been given. We must keep up the pressure on the G8 leaders to ensure that their promise is turned into reality.

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