Bono, Bob, Brown and Blair: a critical look at the Make Poverty History campaign (July 2005) - Liza Coffin

Cue……Bob Geldof?

A disabling lethargy is creeping across Britain . Even hard-hitting political journalists have succumbed. We've created the perfect climate for our Prime Minister and Chancellor to ‘save' Africa .

On June 12 The Observer's frontpage headline crowed “$55bn Africa debt deal ‘a victory for millions'”, as Gordon Brown announced debt cancellation amounting to only $22bn of new money for just 18 out of 26 countries needing immediate relief. On July 15 an IMF leak revealed key powers were attempting to alter the G8 debt relief proposals to give lenders more leverage over poorer countries. Now, just days before the World Summit meets in New York , the Bush administration is denying ever having signed up to 0.7%.

Where is the scrutiny? Who is holding decision makers to account?

The Make Poverty History campaign has failed to inspire a generation to think independently, question continually and challenge relentlessly.

Reducing to a single soundbite the fiery debate surrounding the causes of and solutions to world poverty has produced a campaign that, as ITN News' Jon Snow protested when his bosses asked him to remove his white band to conduct an interview with Michael Howard, is ‘beyond contention'. But a campaign that is beyond contention is also devoid of debate. Make Poverty History has reduced its supporters to passive consumers of a global anti-poverty brand.

A year ago this month a disparate coalition of NGOs met to discuss a national campaign to influence the decisions made by world leaders at key moments in 2005. By uniting their human and financial resources they planned to maximise the strength of their voices, and those of their supporters, and quickly gained a glittering celebrity following and substantial media attention.

Compromise was necessary for this coalition of more than 400 organisations to find common ground upon which they could campaign with one voice. Make Poverty History has communicated its message with phenomenal success. But simultaneously it should have nurtured debate among its supporters to encourage an active understanding of the issues upon which they're campaigning, including the areas of contention.

For those who desire to understand the issues upon which the campaign is built, just a scattering of paragraphs on www.makepovertyhistory.org explain the calls for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid. The coalition's publication How You Can Help Defeat World Poverty in Seven Easy Steps does little more than scratch the surface. At the July 2 nd rally the campaign went some way to addressing this lack of information with a multitude of high quality interactive displays. If all these resources were translated into an online format they would not only be available to the 225,000 activists who descended on Edinburgh that day, but also to the thousands of people who log onto the Make Poverty History website every minute.

Bono – ‘Stadium filler’

The two and a half million people who are wearing white bands and the million who have written to their MP should be encouraged to extend their involvement in the campaign beyond spending their £1 or posting their pre-printed postcard. By engaging them in debate the coalition can ensure its supporters are equipped to challenge decision-makers' responses to the campaign. Otherwise ‘the largest and most successful mobilisation against global poverty in history' is capable of nothing more than floundering dumbly in the torrent of government spin that cascades over it.

Live8 has magnified Make Poverty History's shortcomings. Geldof and Midge Ure chose performers for the eight concerts according to their ability to “fill stadiums and arenas”. The resulting line-up of ageing western pop stars presented a sanitised form of protest that dulled the public anger that has fuelled the Make Poverty History campaign. Geldof hoped to promote “tough public debate on… the greatest political problem of our time”, yet according to a band manager he had instructed the musicians not to criticise Bush during their performances. Attempts to inject substance into the concert at Hyde Park were thwarted by the BBC who, deeming the Coalition's short films ‘too political', refused to show them and instead treated the British TV audience to Jonathan Ross' celebrity-obsessed drivel in between acts. Live8 failed to credit the public with the ability to open their minds to the music of those countries who are the focus of the campaign, let alone challenge preconceived ideas about world poverty and how to tackle it.

Make Poverty History

Blair has been spotted wearing his white band, Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn marched with the activists in Edinburgh and the only ticketed event at the rally was to hear the Chancellor speak. The line between the campaign's demands and government policy has become almost indiscernible. In fact they are one and the same if we are to believe one tabloid who described the Make Poverty History campaign as “Brown-sponsored”. Given that Richard Curtis apparently finds it “difficult” to criticise the Government due to his friendship with Brown, is he really the appropriate architect of Make Poverty History's communications strategy?

We must prevent our campaign from being reduced to a public relations gift for No 10. 2005 offers an unprecedented opportunity to capture people's attention, place the resources to learn in their hands and give them the impetus to challenge. With the UN Millenium Review summit just around the corner and the World Trade Organisation's meeting in Hong Kong later this year, it is not too late to pump the Make Poverty History campaign with the vitality of vigorous debate it has lacked.

Tony Blair accused critics of the package offered by the Gleneagle's summit of “not getting their hands dirty by trying to achieve anything”. But it is those who step out of the accepted arena of rebellion to scrutinise our world leaders who are truly getting their hands dirty, who will truly make progress.