Make Poverty History by Making War History 'React', Parker's Piece, Cambridge, 7th May 2005 (A Youth event connected to the 'Make Poverty History' campaign). In 2004 I was working in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, a tiny country in the mountains alongside China. I spoke to Aybek, a 15 year-old young man in a village. He was an ordinary school-pupil, like many of you here, and in his free time he worked as a shepherd, looking after animals for his family. His family lived on the border between Kyrgyzstan and the neighbouring republic of Uzbekistan, where there had been armed conflict with guerrillas. The government of Uzbekistan put concealed minefields on the border, and while he was out after school looking after the sheep one day, he stood on one. He wasn't killed, thankfully, nor did he lose a leg, as so often happens. However, he was badly injured and was in constant pain. What is more, his family had to stop shepherding animals in the lands they had worked before. For a poor family in a poor village with no other source of livlihood, this could be devastating. This illustrates a simple point: in many parts of the world, poverty is inseparable from war. In order to 'make poverty history', we have to 'make war history.' Britain's recent wars have been fought in other countries and have not directly brought poverty here - indeed, some industries make money from weapons manufacture. But the story is often very different in the 'global south' - Africa, Asia and Latin America. There, there are over 40 wars going on at the moment. Of the 40 poorest countries in the world, 24 have recently seen armed conflict. More than half the countries of Africa, the world's poorest continent, are affected by armed conflict at the moment. These armed conflicts have a massive effect on poverty. It is not simply that people are directly killed and maimed. Food production can be devastated as people flee homes, are unable to obtain seeds and other inputs, and lawlessness distupts basic economic and survival activities. Furthermore the breakdown of social services, health, education, transport and food distribution, and social networks leaves victims of war doubly vulnerable. These conflicts also have an impact on international development. Donors become scared of working in war-torn areas, and shrinking aid budgets get diverted for emergency asssitance rather than lasting poverty reduction. So, war can cause poverty; but poverty can also contribute to war. A lack of opportunities for poor people can cause grievances that make them more likely to take up arms, particularly when they belong to groups excluded on distinct ethnic, regional, or religious identities. Competition over scarce resources of land and water is a factor in the Darfur conflict in Sudan. War and poverty are inseparable: if we are concerned about poverty, we must be concerned about war. How does that relate to the three goals of the Make Poverty History campaign - 'fair trade', 'drop the debt', and 'more and better aid'? Firstly, fair trade. International policies forcing poorer countries to accept 'free trade' (for example, by reducing state subsidy of basic economic activities) can, in some cases, contribute to poverty and war. In Sri Lanka, market liberalisation brought benefits to some urban areas, but devastated peasant farming and marginalised the youth in other parts of the country. This has exacerbated tensions that sustained the civil war, as poor households became increasingly dependent on recruitment to the country's armed groups. Another aspect of international trade that has exacerbated war and poverty is the arms trade, which diverts funds away from much-needed civilian expenditures. 75% of the global arms trade is directed at poor countries. Take Sri Lanka again. There, military expenditure rose from 4% of government expenditure in the early 1980s to 22% by the late 1990s. What can be left for agricultural development, schools and healthcare? Some lower income countries such as Burundi and Eritrea actually spend more on arms than on health and education combined. The arms trade is not a fair trade for the world's poor. Secondly, drop the debt. A good reason to drop the debt of poorer countries is that debt can fuel conflict. For example, as Western creditors have imposed stringent debt repayment schemes on African states, their governments have had to respond by cutting back on services such as health, education, and agriculture, increasing poverty. Charging for schools has meant many kids have dropped out and become child soldiers. Debt relief is a golden opportunity to pressure governments to use funds for development instead of arms purchases. Thirdly and finally, more and better aid. The world currently spends about £30bn a year on aid, but £490bn on the military. As long as we keep those two figures the wrong way round, we contribute to war and poverty. In 1999 South Africa signed an arms deal worth around £2.5bn with the UK - ten times what it spent on AIDS that year. Couldn't that money have been better spent, and couldn't we have encouraged them to use it better? To conclude, every year, throughout the world, roughly half a million people are killed by armed violence - that's one person every minute, or 8 since I began talking to you. Poverty and war are inseparable. I, like many of the organisers of this event, am a Christian. Jesus Christ taught us: 'Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.' The Bible understands that peace and development cannot be separated - its word for peace, 'shalom', means both 'peace' and 'plenty.' As the film about the Crusades, Kingdom of Heaven, showing in cinemas at the moment, reminds us, Christians have been responsible for lots of violence in the world's history. However, that is only when they forget the teachings of Jesus. When they take them to heart, and act on them, they can change the world. Indeed, it is no coincidence that many exciting peacemaking developments around the world are being run, inspired, or funded by followers of 'the Prince of Peace.' So, because poverty and war fuel each other, if you care about poverty, you must care about war - and peace. You can get involved and make a difference. Do get involved, because to make poverty history, we also have to make war history. --