| About the issues
The gap between the world’s rich and poor has never been wider. But poverty isn’t natural; it’s man-made and sustained by an unfair global trade system, enormous financial debts that can’t be repaid, and insufficient and ineffective aid. For these reasons, trade, aid and debt were the three key demands of the Make Poverty History campaign.
Click the buttons below to find out more about the issues. They include a simplified version of the G8 Summit’s main outcomes, Make Poverty History's analysis of the impact that these outcomes will have on poor countries, and information about the UN's eight Millennium Development Goals.
Trade Justice
Global trade rules are stacked in favour of prosperous countries. Many poor countries have the resources but are unable to compete in global markets because the system is unfair. Richer countries impose trading conditions on poorer countries, plus richer countries are able to pay subsidies to their own producers.
Many schools in the UK will have already done work on Fair Trade, perhaps thinking about chocolate, coffee or bananas and the importance of paying producers in developing countries a fair proportion of the money we spend on goods in the UK. But while world trade rules continue to protect richer economies, Fair Trade schemes - while useful - only scratch the surface of the problem. When teaching about this issue, it may make sense to start by talking about Fair Trade and then move on to wider global trade issues. These links provide useful background material for exploring trade in your classroom.
> Download the Trade and Education fact sheet (125 KB pdf)
> Test your own knowledge with the Trade Quiz on Oxfam's Generation Why website for young people
> Read more about trade justice on the official Make Poverty History website (external link)
> Read more about trade justice on the Oxfam GB website
> Visit the Make Trade Fair campaign site for many illustrated case studies (external link)
> Get teaching about Make Poverty History |
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