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"MORE AND BETTER AID. TRADE JUSTICE. CANCEL THE DEBT. END CHILD POVERTY IN CANADA."

It is pretty simple in my mind. Watching Live 8 today, I think that basically everything that can be said on the topic has been is already said. Check Technorati if you don't believe me on that one!

I'm guessing that everyone who happens to read this has already signed onto the Live 8 campain. However, if you haven't already, go and voice your support on the Live 8 and Make Povery History websites and with everyone that you know and meet. I like Manifestos, so below is Make Poverty History Canada's take on the situation:

At the start of the 21st century 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty. More than 800 million people go to bed hungry and 50,000 people die every day from poverty-related causes.

Poverty exists because of the choices we make. It exists because we have:

insufficient and ineffective aid
an unjust global trade system
a debt burden for poor countries that is so great that it suffocates any chance of recovery
an unwillingness to invest enough in social development
It doesn't have to be this way. If we choose - if we have the will to act - we can make poverty history.

Nearly five years ago, all members of the United Nations committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to meet minimum targets to reduce poverty, hunger, illiteracy, discrimination against women, and environmental degradation by 2015.

But the pace of action is too slow. The world is failing dismally to reach those targets. And the poor will pay the price.

It's time for real action. In 2005, campaigns to end poverty have been launched world wide. If everyone who wants to end poverty speaks at the same time, world leaders will be forced to listen.

This year also offers a truly exceptional set of opportunities for the Canada to play a leadership role on the international stage.

In January, Prime Minister Paul Martin said "the number of people who live on a dollar a day in this world is just unacceptable. I'm not going to leave that to my children and my grandchildren nor to yours."

In 2004, Canada produced a surplus of $9.1 billion - its seventh consecutive. Money is available for these urgent issues.

The International Policy Review will lead to a new approach to foreign policy. The government will be listening to the voices of citizens - we must tell them what we want.

Canada can also advance the Make Poverty History objectives at the G8 meeting in July, the UN Millennium Summit in September, and the World Trade Organization meetings in December.

Prime Minister Martin can be an influential player on the world stage - we must make sure that he plays his part to help make poverty history.

Technorati Tag:live8