Bristol and the G8

TRADE JUSTICEDROP THE DEBTMORE AND BETTER AID2005

Please note: this page is now archive.

Bristol's letter to the G8

Launched on 11 June 2005

It’s really important to pressurise the UK government on the key MPH issues. But’s it’s equally important to target the other G8 leaders too.

To do this we’ve written a letter from Bristol to the G8. This includes the same demand to end world poverty as we’re making of the UK government. We’ll be sending our letter to all the G8 leaders at key moments throughout the year. We want to get as many Bristolians and friends of Bristol, both here and abroad, to sign those letters, or send their own.

We’ll be copying our letters to our twin-town colleagues in Bordeaux, Hannover, Beira and elsewhere. And to the MPs and MEPs in those regions. And we’ll be linking up with the MPH equivalents in other G8 countries.

Then a few months later, we’ll send another letter to those G8 leaders, telling them how many more people have signed “Bristol’s letter to the G8” since we last wrote to them. And we’ll be asking them what they’ve done to end world poverty since our last letter.

And so it will grow….

Here's our letter:

To the leaders of the G8 countries

I’m writing to you as a resident / friend of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

I’m writing because I want you to stop the tragedy that sees 30,000 people in the world’s poorest countries die every day from preventable poverty.

You are well aware of the problems and have made concrete plans to overcome them – the Millennium Development Goals. But these goals are way behind schedule. To quote one example: the target of eliminating avoidable infant deaths worldwide by 2015. At present progress, this target will be reached in sub Saharan Africa in 2165 – 150 years too late.

You can stop this daily tragedy of 30,000 preventable deaths:

1. Cancel the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries, by fair and transparent means.

2. Commit to spending 0.7% of your country’s national income on aid to developing countries.

3. Stop the scandal of subsidies to farmers in the rich West, who then dump their produce on developing countries at prices local farmers cannot match.

4. Ensure that developing countries are not forced into trade liberalisation against their wishes.

Please do this now. 30,000 people every day cannot afford delays.

Yours sincerely,

....and here's who's signed so far

If you’d like your name to be added to our letter, send your details to us at G8@bristolmph.org.uk

Please include your name and something to identify the part of the world you live in - we don't need your full address. We'll be displaying the details you give us here on the web site.

You can also download the letter in petition format, and get others to sign it too!

And if you have time...

It would be great if you could send your own letter to the G8 leaders too. You can download the above letter to personalise here. The postal addresses of the G8 leaders are:

Country	Prime Minister / President
UK	The Prime Minister Rt Hon Tony Blair MP 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA
France	Jacques Chirac Monsieur le Président de la République Palais de l'Elysée 55, rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris France
Germany	Gerhard Schröder Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Federal Chancellery Willy-Brandt Str. 1 10557 Berlin Germany
Italy	Silvio Berlusconi Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri Palazzo Chigi Piazza Colonna 370 00186 Roma Italy
Russia	Vladimir Putin President of Russia 4, Staraya Square, Moscow, 103132 Russia
USA	President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20500 USA
Canada	Prime Minister Paul Martin House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A OA6 Canada
Japan	Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Prime Minister's Office 2-3-1 Nagata-cho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0014 Japan
EU (which is invited to G8 meetings)	Jose Manuel Barroso President of The European Commisssion The European Commission 1049 Brussels (Belgium)