Mandela to speak in London

Thursday, 3 February 2005 12:00 AM

Nelson Mandela will address thousands of people at the Make Poverty History rally at Trafalgar Square today.

The former president of South Africa is in London ahead of talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and the meeting of finance ministers from the G7 of leading industrial nations held at the Treasury on Friday and Saturday.

The 86-year-old Nobel Peace laureate will press for rich nations to honour commitments to ease the debt burden of the world's poorest countries and increase development aid to Africa.

The United Nations-backed Millennium agreement pledged to end third world poverty and starvation by 2015.

Chancellor Gordon Brown recently returned from a sub-Saharan Africa where he pushed his brainchild, the "international finance facility", which envisages the doubling of aid to $100 billion per year from floating bonds on financial markets.

Mr Brown invited Mr Mandela to address the G7 in London to pressure fellow ministers to support the development plans.

Britain holds the presidencies of the G8 and European Union in 2005, a year described by Mr Brown as "the make or break" year in the fight against global poverty.

He has said debt relief is vital if developing countries are to spend money on education and health.

Britain has also agreed to cover ten per cent of the £10.75 billion owed by the world's 70 poorest countries to multinational agencies such as the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank between now and 2015.

Make Poverty History is a coalition of more than 200 charities.

Adrian Lovett, campaigns director of Oxfam, said: "The excitement about Mr Mandela's visit is growing all the time. We've been overwhelmed by the numbers of people saying they want to see him at Trafalgar Square.

"When he delivers his tough message to the world's most powerful decision-makers, thousands of voices will be cheering him on".

The G7 is comprised of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US. Russia makes up the G8.

The Government has also invited India, Brazil, South Africa, and China, to attend the summit.

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