Make Poverty History: Two years on

In July 2005, 36 million people in over 70 countries united under the Global Call to Action against Poverty, and demanded that the world’s leaders act to overcome the injustice of global poverty.

In the UK, a quarter of a million people marched across Edinburgh demanding that the G8 take action, and across the world 2 billion people tuned in to watch Live 8. They demanded that leaders deliver debt cancellation, more and better aid, and trade justice. They set a new goal for this generation – to make poverty history.

The G8 leaders responded by agreeing to cancel the debts owed by 40 of the world’s poorest countries. They promised to increase aid to poor countries by $50 billion by 2010, with half of this going to Africa. They promised to increase humanitarian aid and to support peace-keeping and arms control, and they called for a world trade deal that favours poor nations. Finally, they agreed to tackle climate change. They didn't promise everything the campaign wanted, but they did promise a lot.

So did they keep their promises?
> Get an evaluation of each G8 country's progress towards delivering what was promised in 2005

In 2006, Oxfam produced a report tracking the progress made by each country in the year after their promises were made.

> Download a PDF copy of the report: The View from the Summit – Gleneagles G8 one year on (126KB).

> Watch a video with Max Lawson, an Oxfam policy advisor, about whether the G8 leaders have actually made a difference.

What happens now?
> Find out about the latest G8 meeting in Germany in 2007, and whether world leaders keep poverty on the agenda.

> Add your voice against poverty and join the movement that's picking up from where Make Poverty History left off.

> Find out the latest about Britain's progress towards delivering what was promised, from the government's website.