Celebrities stand side by side
with the public to protest at how rich countries spend billions to tie
up global trade. Let's end this fundamental cause of poverty
Trade Justice Week
This Friday (15 April) Ronan Keating, Vanessa Redgrave and Radiohead
frontman Thom Yorke are leading an all-night vigil at Westminster Abbey
to get the world to wake up to trade justice.
At midnight they’ll be joined by many others – celebrities
as well as ordinary members of the public – at a candlelit vigil
outside 10 Downing St as they press Prime Minister Tony Blair to listen
to their concerns.
They won’t be alone. Leading musicians including REM’s Michael
Stipe, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the Finn brothers from Crowded House,
Jamelia, and actors including Antonio Banderas and Colin Firth have all
signed up to help get an important message over.
The message: unfair trade rules are fixed in favour of rich nations and
which are keeping the developing world poor.
"The vigil outside Downing Street will be the biggest this country
has ever seen,” says Ronan Keating, who’ll be part of the
vigil. “So come and be part of making history that night."
Adds Radiohead’s Yorke: "It's an overnight 'happening' –
and it’s happening at the same time as many events all around the
world. I'm going with a sleeping bag and a paint brush, and maybe even
a guitar if I can get it in the suitcase."
Meanwhile actor Firth has handed in a big petition from Oxfam’s
Big Noise campaign to World Trade Organisation director general Supachai
Panitchpakdi in Geneva. Other events include rallies and meetings at the
Dutch parliament, the European parliament in Strasbourg, and debates about
the rice trade in Jakarta and a procession of farmers and activists in
Ghana.
Welcome to Trade Justice Week, running from April 11 to 17 – a mass
effort by campaigners, trade unions and celebrities to demand that world
leaders honour their promises to finally make the rules of world trade
fair.
All in all millions of people in 70 countries have participated in over
thousand of events organised from Quebec to Sydney and back - apart from
the Westminster Abbey events there are dozens of events, an arts festival
in Indonesia, music concerts in Madrid and many others.
They all had the same focus: showing solidarity with farmers in the world’s
poor countries. The central issue is how rich countries spend billions
maintaining high trade barriers and tariffs that don’t let poor
countries compete.
They also, say campaigners, force poor countries to open their markets
and then dump excess crops on them, destroying farming communities, threatening
food security and plunging millions into even deeper poverty.
The billions spend on trade barriers is around twice the amount rich countries
spend on aid to the Third World.
As the Trade Justice Movement, the umbrella organisation behind the Week,
says, “Everyone has the right to feed their families, make a decent
living and protect their environment. But the rich and powerful are pursuing
trade policies that put profits before the needs of people and the planet.
“To end poverty and protect the environment we need Trade Justice
- not free trade.”
The Trade Justice Movement is a coalition of over 60 organisations including
aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fairtrade bodies,
trade unions, faith and consumer groups. The movement’s member organisations
represent over 9 million British voters.
The event is another example of a groundswell of international activism
focusing on the crisis in trade and development. In the focus for these
initiatives in the Make Poverty History Trade Justice is one of the core
demands of the Make Poverty History (www.makepovertyhistory.org) campaign,
reportedly the largest mobilization against global poverty Britain has
ever experienced. It is supported by more than 300 campaign groups, faith
groups, trade unions and humanitarian aid agencies.
UNISON is a major backer of both the Make Poverty History campaign and
the Trade Justice Week project, says Nick Sigler, UNISON head of international
relations.
“We believe that trade justice - not free trade - is the way to
ensure increased prosperity for working people and their families in the
developing world. Trade justice which respects core labour standards is
the way forward.”
Even if you can’t make it tomorrow find out more about this important
campaign – and really do your bit to make trade fair at last.
Story by Gary Flood
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