CHRISTIAN AID NEWS

Christian Aid campaigners with
Rev Suzanne Matale (centre)
from Zambia, outside the
Tax Justice Bus at Greenbelt
is desperately missed. It’s money that is
needed to provide essential services
such as schools and hospitals, or to
invest in infrastructure such as roads,
electricity and water for communities
that have none.
Receiving the revenue from taxes that
they are rightfully owed would provide
governments with a sustainable and
long-term source of income that would
reduce poor countries’ dependency on
international aid.
Over the past four years, thousands
of you have called on accountancy
firms, businesses and politicians alike
to take steps to tackle tax dodging by
making the financial system more
transparent. Thank you! The cam paign
is making good progress and we want
to build on the energy for change that
has already been generated.
WHY TAX MATTERS
TO ZAMBIA
WE’RE REALLY EXCITED that the
Rev Suzanne Matale, general
secretary of the Council of Churches
in Zambia, came to Greenbelt
Festival this summer to launch our
Tax Justice Bus!
Rev Matale has been involved with
Christian Aid’s tax campaign for
many years and is joining us in
taking our tax justice message
around Britain and Ireland. Here she
explains why tax is such a vital issue
in Zambia.
‘Tax dodging in Zambia is a serious
problem. It is strongly linked to our
poverty levels. We have very rich
minerals in our ground, we know the
price of copper is at an all-time high
and we also know the investors who
have come are not paying the full
value of tax to go to Zambians.
‘We believe the G20 countries and
parliamentarians in the West have a
duty to ensure the investors from
their countries are actually giving
Zambia a fair deal. It is our role as
the churches, and we are mandated
by our faith, to bring out the voice of
the voiceless. Our message from the
Church in Zambia to the Church in
the West and to Christian Aid is not
to relent.’
Over 53 days, the tax bus will visit
every region and nation. From Norwich
to Chelmsford, Belfast to Bangor, the
bus will be coming to a town near you!
We will also be joined on the bus tour
by our partner Church Action on
Poverty. It brings a unique perspective
on how tax dodging by companies in
Britain affects those living in poverty
here on our doorsteps. We hope that
this collaboration will give churches the
chance to come together and campaign
on a crucial issue that affects people
living in poverty both here and around
the world.
• We look forward to welcoming you
aboard and taking you on an inspiring
journey to help us end global poverty.
To find out when the bus will be in
your area, see pages 24-25 or visit
christianaid.org.uk/tax-bus
POWER
TO YOU!
OUR TRACE THE TAX campaign has
had a huge impact on how UK-listed
companies view tax, and has opened
doors that were previously closed to
organisations such as Christian Aid.
When we started the campaign, who
would have thought companies such
as Unilever, Vodafone, TUI Travel and
Intercontinental Hotels Group would
sit down with Christian Aid to talk
about how they can help the
movement for global tax justice?
But that’s what they have been
doing, and it’s all thanks to your
support. It’s taken four years, dozens
of meetings, hundreds of actions and
thousands of postcards, but we’ve
persuaded these four UK top
companies to engage with us on tax
justice. While we will now take a break
from our public campaigning to the
four companies, the dialogue with
them and with other companie s
continues. Tax as a development issue
is firmly on the agenda, and your
perseverance has been crucial in
achieving this.
The Tax Justice Bus marks the
launch of the next phase of our tax
justice campaign. We’re taking the
tax justice message across Britain and
Ireland to build a movement that will
turn the public anger at tax dodging
into real change for the world’s
poorest people.
Christian Aid
Actions such as this
protest in London
raised the profile of
our tax message
Christian Aid News 13