common cause - ActionAid

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CONTENTS 03 ✃ Please send me further information about Will Aid and details of participating solicitors in my area Name (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms) Address You may contact me by email. My address is Tel (day) Supporter reference no. When you make your Will, you have a unique opportunity to protect your loved ones for the future – and remember the causes that are close to your heart, like ActionAid. This November, take advantage of Will Aid and have a basic Will drawn up by a Solicitor for free. You can choose to make a donation to the Will Aid charities which include ActionAid. Since it began in 1998, Will Aid has raised over £4 million for charity. To find your nearest participating solicitor, call 0870 6060 239, visit www.willaid.org.uk or return the coupon below. ActionAid • British Red Cross • Christian Aid • Help the Aged • NSPCC • Save the Children • SCIAF • Sight Savers International • Trócaire Postcode Tel (eve) Will Aid will not pass your details on to any other organisation. ActionAid is a registered charity, No. 274467 AROUND THE WORLD Ethiopian radio is a winner An ActionAid-supported Ethiopian radio programme, Yibekal (meaning ‘it is enough’ in Amharic), has been announced as a winner of the World Bank’s Development Marketplace Global Competition, an initiative designed to find innovative new ways to fight HIV/AIDS. The competition attracted more than 2,700 submissions, of which less than 50 won awards. Yibekal broadcasts information and practical advice on HIV/AIDS three times a week. It is the only programme in Ethiopia to consistently deal with the epidemic, and has proved extremely popular. One slot, towards marriage, helps people living with the virus meet others. Last year alone towards marriage received over 4,000 letters of thanks and satisfaction. The World Bank award, which included a grant of US$90,000, means that the programme can expand from FM to shortwave. As a result, Yibekal can now broadcast to the entire country, giving thousands more people access to information and services they would otherwise miss out on. Lessons learned in Pakistan ActionAid Pakistan recently successfully campaigned to get schools reopened in the remote area of Johi. All local schools were closed more than seven years ago through lack of funds, and most had been converted for other uses over time. Children were left with nowhere to learn, and most ended up working in the fields or in menial jobs such as rope-making. When the campaign began, many young people immediately came forward as volunteer teachers. The community donated space, often one-room straw huts, to use as classrooms. Along with our partners, we lobbied local government to repossess the original school buildings. It was decided that, together with the community, we would help run the schools and provide for their maintenance, teachers’ salaries and text books. The education department took over the supervision of the schools, and is providing funding for exams and scholarships. The partnership has been a great success, and by February this year 27 schools had been reopened, allowing over 1,000 children a renewed chance of education. A successful campaign by ActionAid means that children in a remote area of Pakistan now have renewed access to education. JENNY MATTHEWS/NETWORK/ACTIONAID UK 04 news A licence to kill… poverty The bigger picture: demanding fair aid New funding for £1 million education programme Mark Thomas: how important is campaigning? 08 special report A helping hand for India’s homeless 10 cover story Afghanistan: building bridges and mending lives 14 first person Meeting the community I support 15 lick child poverty 16 fundraising 18 global links Brand new free website for kids and teachers 19 miscellaneous common cause Chataway House Leach Road Chard Somerset TA20 1FR United Kingdom Tel: 01460 23 8000 Fax: 01460 67191 email: commoncause@actionaid.org.uk website: www.actionaid.org.uk No. 40 2004 ISSN 0967 0130 common cause is a trademark of ActionAid ActionAid is a registered charity (number 274467) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (number 1295174). Edited by Stephanie Ross Produced by ActionAid’s Design and Publications Department Designed by www.wave.coop Printed by Avenue Printing Next issue: Autumn 2004 Advertising enquiries: Imelda McGuigan 020 7561 7561 The views expressed in common cause are not necessarily those of ActionAid. common cause is printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable based inks. Cover photo: Jenny Matthews/Network/ActionAid UK To join the fight against poverty, please return the completed coupon to: Will Aid, FREEPOST SWB11047, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 7ZB LG137 www.actionaid.org.uk common cause SUMMER 2004
04 NEWS NEWS 05 ActionAid demands licence to kill… poverty ActionAid is continuing to put pressure on the UK government to fulfil its 30-year-old promise to spend 0.7% of the UK’s wealth on overseas aid by 2008. Currently, the UK has pledged to spend only 0.4% by 2006, less than many other countries with smaller national incomes. Two hundred and ninety British charities, with three million supporters among them, are backing the campaign. If successful, it is estimated that an extra one and a half million people would escape poverty in the year 2008 alone. You can help put pressure on the government by emailing Gordon Brown – visit www.actionaid.org.uk/007 to find out more. £1 million funding for ActionAid to educate KATE STANWORTH/BOND 0.7 CAMPAIGN The latest campaign was launched on 30 March with a definitive James Bond theme. Our very own 007s, sporting Gordon Brown masks, handed over their ‘Licence to kill poverty’ manifesto outside the Treasury in London, along with demands that Gordon Brown announce a timetable to reach 0.7% by 2008. SOPHIA EVANS/ACTIONAID UK ActionAid is set to launch education projects worth £1 million in eight countries, after winning a European Community grant to cover two-thirds of the cost. The remainder of the money will be raised from private sources including child sponsorship. The EC’s commitment of £686,000 is a resounding endorsement of our distinctive approach to education, which regards community involvement as the key to success. David Archer, ActionAid’s head of international education, said: “All the projects will enable poor people to have a greater say in what happens in their schools and the kind of education their children get.” In Brazil, Ethiopia and Guatemala, we will use the new funding to support alliances of local organisations that are driving education reform. Projects in Nepal and Burundi will work to make schools more accountable to the communities they serve. In Laos, Vietnam and Liberia, the focus will be on adult education and empowerment, using the award-winning Reflect approach. Young and talented? We are currently looking for up-and-coming writers to provide us with inspired and passionate articles on a variety of subjects. Our young journalists have been quoted by the Guardian and the BBC, and have reported on a huge range of issues, from unfair trade rules, to broken government promises on HIV/AIDS spending, to the power of protest at Reading festival. If you are (or you know) someone aged 16-24, who wants to take advantage of a fantastic offer to gain valuable experience, please email us on actionzone@actionaid.org.uk, quoting reference ‘CCAZ writers’. You never know, your article could be in the next issue of Common Cause! A helping hand Join us in our fight to help some of the world’s poorest children by giving up a little of your time this autumn. As part of Lick child poverty ActionAid Week, we are running house-to-house collections from September 17 to October 3, giving you plenty of time to get involved. House-to-house remains an excellent way to help out on your own terms – you choose how much time you put in and how much money you want to raise. We will send you everything you need to organise your collection, so it couldn’t be simpler, and the vital income raised will make a huge difference to the children we work with across the world. To be part of our nationwide collections, please call 01460 238000 or email lcp@actionaid.org.uk. For more information and ideas about getting involved in our Lick child poverty ActionAid Week, please see page 15. MARK HENLEY/PANOS PICTURES The bigger picture Demanding fair aid ActionAid is launching a brand new campaign focusing on the unfair conditions that often accompany financial aid to poor countries. Controversially, institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund often attach demands for privatisation of services like water and electricity in return for financial assistance. In many cases this leads to massive social unrest. These conditions were originally devised as a way to ensure donor money was being used effectively. But over time they have become more and more prescriptive, and often go against the wishes and needs of the country receiving the aid. In Ghana, for example, massive public opposition has held up World Bank plans for the privatisation of the urban water system, resulting in the Bank and other donors withholding US$100 million of funds. In India, donor conditions have been crucial in driving electricity privatisation in the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. In both cases, the government had to agree to privatisation before they could access loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A new report by ActionAid, Money talks, uncovers many more examples of poor countries being pressured into accepting conditions tied to loans that often do more harm than good. To read the report, or for more information on the accompanying campaign, please visit www.actionaid.org.uk/moneytalks. ACTIONAID UK common cause SUMMER 2004 www.actionaid.org.uk www.actionaid.org.uk common cause SUMMER 2004
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