poverty protest
225,000 people protested in Edinburgh to demand an end to poverty. The protesters wore white, held hands, and didn’t say anything for two minutes at 3 pm.
Thirty thousand children die every day as a result of extreme poverty,” said Richard Bennett, the chairman of the Make Poverty History campaign, the work of a coalition of 500 groups in Britain. “That is one every three seconds. It’s totally avoidable, and the fact that it is avoidable makes it unacceptable.”
The activists and demonstrators want the wealthy of the world to do more for the wretched of the world, most notably in Africa. Specifically, they say, the world’s richest countries should forgive the debts of the poorest countries, with no strings attached, equalize trade and put an end to harmful export subsidies and increase aid to poor countries while ensuring it gets funneled to the right people. The aid, activists say, should not come attached to cumbersome, unworkable requirements.
nytimes