City of Stoke On Trent Branch - International Relations Officer
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Tony Stoker Pollution Control, Housing & Consumer Protection Tel: 01782 236752 |
The role is to:
Big push in 2005 to tackle third world debt(14/9/04) A super group of UK charities and campaigning organisations is to pressure the government to end third-world poverty. The focus of their efforts is to be a high-profile demonstration immediately prior to the G8 summit in Scotland next year.The likes of Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children and Comic Relief - along with UNISON - will be campaigning throughout 2005 under the banner 'Make Poverty History'. These groups are among 50 who want the UK government to play its part and honour various commitments it has already made to cancel third-world debt and improve the economic and trading conditions that hold back the world's poorest countries. They have chosen 2005, which marks the 20th anniversary of the Live Aid concert, because it is a year when the UK will be in the international spotlight. The country not only holds the presidency of the EU next year, but will also host the G8 summit and a summit of world leaders to discuss the UN's development goals - which to include world poverty."By convincing our own government that rich countries have a moral obligation to help eradicate poverty," the campaign manifesto states, "we are taking advantage of a remarkable opportunity to have them influence some of the most powerful institutions in the world." UNISON is the only individual union to be involved. "We actively went out to ensure that trade union movement was part of this campaign," said UNISON assistant international officer Polly Jones. "We encouraged the TUC to join. And we will be encouraging our branches and regions to get fully involved." The campaign will urge the UK government to commit to:
"The most exciting thing about the campaign, in a way, is the involvement of Comic Relief," said Jones. "For the general public, Comic Relief is one of the main focuses for international issues." "Obviously, Comic Relief is fundamentally about making money for particular projects. So their getting involved highlights the point that we need to make a political statement in order to properly tackle these problems". Comic relief presenters will call on viewers to take action by, for example, writing to their MPs or signing petitions. (6/7/04) The number of people living with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, has risen in every region in the world and last year five million people became newly infected with HIV, warned the 2004 UNAids report. The findings were released in advance of the 15th International Aids conference to be held in Bangkok from 11-16 July 2004. The report states that despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding access to HIV treatment, the Aids epidemic continues to outpace the global response. Rates of infection are still on the rise in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2003 alone, an estimated 3 million people in the region became newly infected. Although just over 10% of the world’s population live in sub-Saharan Africa it is home to two thirds of all people living with HIV. Young people, 15-24 year olds, account for nearly half of all new HIV infections worldwide. Eastern Europe and Asia are experiencing the fastest-growing epidemics in the world mainly due to injecting drug use. On a global level, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow from 35 million in 2001 to 38 million in 2003. In the same year, almost three million were killed by Aids; over 20 million have died since the first cases of Aids were identified in 1981. Although global spending on Aids has increased 15-fold to just under US$5 billion in 2003, it is less than half of what will be needed by 2005 in developing countries, the report said. It estimates that US$12 billion will be needed by 2005. Even though financial resources are rising, in many heavily affected countries serious bottlenecks prevent effective spending of the money. The report warns that access to antiretroviral treatment and other HIV-related disease care remains low. The World Health Organisation estimates that nine out of ten people who urgently need HIV treatment are not being reached. Around five to six million people in developing countries will die in the next two years if they do not receive antiretroviral treatment.
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