A 'cheque for the future': Prime Minister Berlusconi hears the demand for an end to poverty

Farida Bena, the Head of Oxfam International and Ucodep Campaign office in Italy, reports on yesterday’s very special meeting with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

On July 2, just days before the G8 Summit starts, Oxfam, UCODEP and GCAP Italy took the voices of 1.5 million people from around the world to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – and demanded action against poverty.

Getting the meeting was no easy task, but with fierce determination we finally secured our first meeting with Prime Minister Berlusconi to tell him urgent action is needed at this year’s G8 summit.

We tried to impress upon the Prime Minister that in a time of crisis, real action is what is needed, and that the G8 can be a real opportunity to give a huge blow to poverty. G8 leaders cannot hide behind the economic crisis as an excuse not to keep the promises and commitments they made years ago to poorer countries. Now more than ever, civil society is looking to world leaders, and to Mr. Berlusconi in particular, as the Host President of the G8, to take bold steps against poverty and bring change.

We made sure he heard this message when we handed to him a huge ‘cheque for the future’, which ‘amounts to’ more than 1.5 million signatures collected by Oxfam International and Ucodep, GCAP Italy, Make Poverty History Canada and many other civil society organizations and networks all over the world. This ‘cheque’ represents the collective voice of over 1.5 million people who want an end to poverty and are already working together so that North and South can come out of the crisis together – a real investment for the future.

Sadly Mr. Berlusconi didn’t seem to be too hopeful about the results of this G8 Summit, or about the commitments that G8 leaders will be able to keep because of the difficult global economic situation. But this isn’t good enough for the 1 billion people in poverty, nor the 1.5 million people who had a message for Mr. Berlusconi. We reminded him that it is only fighting together against poverty that we can come out of the economic crisis and create a fairer and more equal world.

Why the urgent need to act now?

• The lives of millions are at risk because of climate change;
• the food crisis has brought the number of people who are hungry to over 1 billion;
• 6 million health workers and teachers are missing globally;
• one sixth of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

In a world where G8 leaders don’t hesitate to bail out financial institutions with billions of dollars, universal access to health and education, clean water and sanitation, are only a dream for some.

In just a few days the G8 will discuss the future of our world in L'Aquila, Italy. And 1.5 million people around the world are demanding change. Now.

Oxfam International and Ucodep are campaigning together in Italy to ensure that everyone can access health, water and education For All. Ucodep is a member of GCAP Italy, the Italian Coalition against poverty, a network of over 70 Italian organizations fighting to end poverty.