SCOTLAND SAYS MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: ONE CHILD DIES EVERY 3 SECONDS

Debt EIGHTEEN of the poorest countries will have their debt to written off. But that is not new - the deal was made last month. The move will scrap £22billion of debt for Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Another £6billion could be cancelled out for nine others within 18 months.

Make Poverty History say it is a start, but still an inadequate response to the crisis, which needs around £6billion a year of debt cancellation.

For the children in Kamuronko, in Uganda, cancellation of the country's debts will mean new books and extra teachers. And thousands of Ugandans will get schooling for the first time G8 rating: 2/5# Trade Justice THE G8 have let African countries down most on trade by failing to set a date for ending export subsidies which put poor rural communities at a disadvantage.

That means the Luabo sugar mill on the banks of the Zambezi in Mozambique is still up against much cheaper sugar produced in Europe.

Tony Blair says he has a commitment from his fellow leaders that they will work towards setting that date. As far as Make Poverty History are concerned, the G8 have come up with lukewarm words on trade justice - and zero action.

This inaction at Gleneagles allows the richest countries to continue to pay their farmers and companies subsidies to export food, which in turn destroys poor farmers in Africa's chances of making a living G8 rating: 0/5


Scandal of the pitiful

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