Chiswick gets active for trade justice

Feargal Keane to talk about his new book at Christ Church, Turnham Green

The parishes in Chiswick Churches for Trade Justice, who organised the series of talks in October and November last year on trade justice issues, are taking the lead in a local response to the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, mobilised in the UK by the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Campaign, by initiating a series of events.

The latest takes place at 8pm on Saturday 19 March at Christ Church on Turnham Green, next to Chiswick Town Hall (Entrance free), the BBC television journalist and writer, and long time Chiswick resident, Fergal Keane OBE, will talk about his new book “All of these People”. The theme will be human justice and the claims of humanity as well as the impact of the injustices of the present globalised trading system. The book will be published in early March and signed copies will be on sale that evening.

The nationwide MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Campaign, spearheaded by charities including Christian Aid, CAFOD, The Fairtrade Foundation and OXFAM, is already rolling, with a three-pronged focus on

• Trade Justice,
• Drop the Debt and
• a policy for more and better-targeted aid to poor countries.

The campaign has received the backing of local MP Ann Keen who recently attended a meeting with campaigners outside Lancaster House during the meeting of the G7 Finance Ministers. At this crucial meeting the Government and member states reaffirmed their commitment to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Ann Keen said, “As we prepare for decisions at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles later this year the work of campaigners locally is vital if we are to reduce the debt of countries and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone locally from the churches to local action groups for the work they do in raising this important issues."

March 10, 2005