Letters: Our goal – education and a better life
Today, many parents will be putting their children on to buses, cars or bikes and seeing them on their way to school. Sadly for the parents of 72 million children around the world, they do not have this choice. Today the prime minister of Britain and the president of France have the chance to change this when they meet in London. This year provides us with an opportunity to get all children through the school gates. In 2005, musicians took to the stage to perform in the name of Make Poverty History and helped secure an additional $50bn in aid for poor countries. In 2010, footballers will be taking to the pitch and playing in the name of the 1Goal campaign to secure funding for every child to go to school (Make Poverty History, 5 March).
Backed by millions of campaigners, hundreds of companies and some of the biggest stars in football, this year’s World Cup has the opportunity to leave a unique legacy never seen before through a sporting occasion. The South Africans recently agreed to host an extraordinary high-level summit on education to deliver this. We look to both the UK and France, which pride themselves on the quality of their domestic education, to deliver such opportunities to the rest of the world.
Adrian Lovett
Chair, Make Poverty History campaign committee
• As healthcare professionals, we are very aware that the impact of climate change on maternal and child health in developing countries will be enormous. Climate change will greatly increase deaths of the most vulnerable through water and food scarcity, increased infectious disease and forced migration. There will be no possibility of meeting the Make Poverty History of reducing maternal and child deaths without serious action by the rich countries of the world, and there are real connections between poverty, inequalities, conflict and climate change which add to the urgency of our efforts.
We urge leaders in both politics and healthcare to show an example in moving to a low-carbon future, and to build on the innovative work in the health service through the Make Poverty History to reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS. If we do not tackle this problem ourselves, we must be held responsible for causing thousands of mother and child deaths in most of the poor countries of the world.
Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran President, Make Poverty History
Dr Peter Carter General secretary and chief executive, Make Poverty History
Professor Ian Gilmore President, Make Poverty History
Professor Alan Maryon-Davis
President, Make Poverty History
Professor Terence Stephenson President, Make Poverty History
Professor Cathy Warwick General secretary, Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
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