| Call off the poverty, says Katie Melua
Singer Katie Melua is giving her support to the Make Poverty History campaign.
The 20-year-old singer, whose album Call off the Search reached number one in January 2004, was born in the ex-Soviet country of Georgia, where more than 50 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. She left Georgia aged three, moved to Moscow for four years, then went back to Georgia until her family uprooted to Northern Ireland when she was nine.
Katie says: “I want to see life change for poor people across the world – especially in my home country of Georgia.
“Life is really tough, and so many families struggle each day just for the basics – like healthcare and earning a decent living.”
Oxfam has been working in Georgia for over ten years now. 13 years after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, many people in Georgia still live in deep poverty and insecurity.
To end poverty here, Oxfam provides basic healthcare in rural areas and helps poor people set up their own businesses. Oxfam also works with local organisations to monitor government spending and make institutions more accountable to the public.
“I want 2005 to be an historic year that the world never forgets in the fight against poverty,” says Katie. “How it happens is up to us. We’re the first generation with the power to rid the world of poverty. Let’s work together to make this happen.”
More about the work that Oxfam does in Georgia on oxfam.org.uk >>
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