2005 was a year that saw global protest against poverty, injustice and inequality. It was the year in which powerful nations met to decide global policies on Debt, Trade and Aid. In Ireland, 46 groups – including international NGOs, trade unions and community groups – came together to form MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Irish Campaign. 

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY, which was part of a worldwide campaign known as the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, united under three key demands:

Drop the Debt   -   Trade Justice  -  More and Better Aid
 

The demands were brought to the G8 Summit in Edinburgh in July, to the UN Summit in New York in September and to the World Trade Organisation Ministerial in Hong Kong in December. Support for MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY came from all quarters – from student and campaign groups to religious groups, trade unions to the general public, school children to musicians. Using the symbol of the white band, campaigners came together on three occasions to demand an end to poverty and injustice:

> June 2005 – 20,000 people attended the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY rally in Dublin, gathering outside Dáil Eireann to call for action on Overseas Aid.

 

> MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Irish Campaign also attended the G8 demonstration in Edinburgh, where 250,000 took to the streets.

 

> September 2005 – An overnight sit-out was held outside the Dáil to increase pressure on the government to commit to the UN target on Overseas Aid.

 

> December 2005 – Thousands of Christmas cards were sent to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD< calling for him to support Trade Justice at the WTO meeting.

Although the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign only ran for the year 2005, the campaigning continues. The organisations that were members of the campaign last year continue to lobby for change and still need your help. If you would like to continue campaigning on the issues MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY sought to challenge, you will find links to members on the right. 

For information on the ongoing global campaign,

check out http://www.whiteband.org/

to see what the Global Call to Action Against Poverty is doing.

The campaigning didn’t end when 2005 did – stay with us!