Can St Bob really Make Poverty History?
BST 07/06/2005 Rosie Murray-West assesses the likely impact of the high-profile campaign by Geldof and his celebrity friends Click, click, click. Everyone from Nelson Mandela to Kate Moss is doing it, but is the Make Poverty History campaign anything more than an excuse to wear a trendy wristband and feel good about yourself? If you’ve sat down and watched television even once in the last six months you’ll know that every click of the fingers is supposed to represent a child dying from poverty. That happens every three seconds, according to statistics garnered by the coalition of 450 non-governmental organisations that make up MPH. Click, click, click. It’s a shocking statistic, but not everyone is convinced that MPH has the answer, and even if it does it might be better named Make Poverty Slightly Better than It is Now. That wouldn’t fit on the wristband, but MPH’s aims aren’t as broad as you might think from the groundswell of popular opinion behind it. The coalition wants to make su
