Working to halt poverty
I IMAGINE, like me, many of your readers will have been shocked by the appalling news of suffering coming out of Congo recently. We have so many resources in our world today that hunger and extreme poverty should surely be a thing of the past. What is still lacking is political will.
Your readers might be interested to know about Results, a campaigning charity which aims to help create the political will to end global poverty. It has been very effective in bringing about change by encouraging ordinary people to take a targeted action each month, such as writing to their MP.
We are hoping to start a local Results group in Ammanford and are holding an introductory event on Thursday, December 11, at the 2Activ8 Centre from 2pm to 4pm.
The event will include a talk on Microcredit, a scheme where people in poor communities are given loans to start their own businesses. As Gandhi said: "You must be the change you want to see in the world."
Chris Dean
Llwyncelyn Close, Capel Hendre, Ammanford
Comments
by Bob Hinton, Kidwelly
Wednesday, December 03 2008, 10:28AM
“It may be political will that¿s lacking, but whose political will? All of the countries who are going through disasters like this used to be colonies of European powers. They wanted independence and murdered and slaughtered thousands of Europeans to get it. Well now they¿ve got it, it¿s up to them to make it work. They cannot keep coming back to the people they threw out with a begging bowl.
The first conflict I became aware of was the uprising in the Congo in the mid sixties, today 44 years later nothing has changed.
The ambition to make ¿poverty history¿ is laughable. How do you define poverty? It¿s strange that the very same people who are demanding we do something about the Cong et al, are the very same people who condemned us for going into Iraq.”