From: Ben Wikler - Avaaz.org <avaaz@avaaz.org>
Date: May 15, 2007 5:53 PM
Subject: 72 hours to join Desmond Tutu against poverty

This Friday, the finance ministers from the world's eight richest
countries will meet to plan the G8 summit. That morning, we
will send them an urgent letter on global poverty, signed by key
global figures: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson--and, we hope,
you.

Our message: keep your promise to provide 0.7% of national
income in effective aid to relieve extreme poverty. Millions of
lives are at stake. The more people sign the letter, the more
powerful our demand becomes. Click here to sign:


http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_poverty_letter

The statistics of global poverty are shocking. Each day, 20,000
children die preventable deaths in poor countries. That's why
the broken promises of rich countries are so infuriating.

The world's rich countries have pledged 0.7% of their national
income to development aid. But these promises have not been
kept. In fact, outrageously, the G8 countries gave less in 2006
than in 2005.

At the same time, the last few years have seen an
unprecedented groundswell against global poverty--which has
led to new promises and, in some countries, real change. These
fights can be won. That's why we are working with our friends
at the Global Call to Action Against Poverty to assemble citizens
and celebrities behind a single call--for world leaders to keep
their word on global poverty.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Together you represent the world's economic powerhouses.
We write to ask that you also strive to represent the millions of
people whose lives are blighted by extreme poverty.

Aid is not a panacea. But Marshall Plan aid from the US
kick-started the rebuilding of a Europe shattered by war and
delivered real benefits to the US in terms of new markets for its
goods. Aid to East Asia helped catalyse the economic miracles
that have lifted millions of people out of poverty. Today many
African governments are using aid to underwrite growth and
provide essential schools, health services and water supplies
for their people. The poorest countries in the world need you to
honour these aid pledges if they are to meet the Millennium
Development Goals and end poverty. Please seize that chance
today.

The letter will be delivered Friday with big ads in the Financial
Times and German press, just in time for the G8 finance
ministers' meeting. Click here to join Desmond Tutu by signing
on:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_poverty_letter

With hope,

Ben, Ricken, Galit, Iain, Graziela, Paul, and the Avaaz team
Bert and the weitweitweg productions team

PS Once you've signed, please pass this email along to ten
friends. It's hard to think of anything more urgently
important--and, at the same time, so achievable, than the fight
against global poverty. Let's show these finance ministers how
much we value human life.