Scottish Campaigners Keep Up Anti-Poverty Pressure on G8 (September 19, 2006)
The issues of multilateral trade and debt relief topped the agenda at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, with leaders of the richest nations also pledging to substantially increase aid to the poorest countries. But since the topics received very little attention at the 2006 meeting in Russia, several Scottish NGOs have started a campaign to firmly reinstate poverty on the 2007 G8 program. The groups hope to push the world leaders to follow through with their commitments to end poverty and tackle its root causes. (Ekklesia)
Scotland: G8 Protesters Defy Intimidation, Fight for Justice (July 13, 2005)
Green Left Weekly considers the G8 protests a success. Despite authorities' repeated attempts to block demonstrations, activists convened at the gates of the G8 meeting in Gleneagles to demand increased international aid, debt relief and trade justice in the biggest protest march Scotland has ever seen.
A Wristband and a Concert Aren't Enough, Say Activists (July 4, 2005)
This article suggests that the Live 8 concerts aimed at pressuring the G8 leaders to work towards social and economic justice are "hijacking" the momentum of social justice activists to forward a "very simple and naí¯ve message." While the concerts may add pressure to the global social justice movement, activists hope that people won't buy the simple answers to poverty that Live 8 is presenting. (Inter Press Service)
Thousands Flock to Poverty March (July 2, 2005)
Prior to the G8 summit in Gleneagles, hundreds of thousands of protesters took part in a Make Poverty History march in Scotland, urging world leaders to commit to tackling poverty in Africa. While the atmosphere was generally peaceful, many activists complain that they were photographed and searched by the police. (BBC)
Insider-Outsider: the NGO Fracture Zone (April 7, 2005)
Over 500 British NGOs took part in the alliance "Make Poverty History" at the G8 meeting in Gleneagles in 2005. Media thoroughly covered this event whereas the campaign "Make the G8 History," launched by another group of NGOs, did not receive much media attention. The initiative "Make the G8 History" argues that "insider" NGOs only lend legitimacy to the Group of Eight, allowing rich countries to continue exert their power over poor countries, especially in the global trade system. (openDemocracy)
