[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/WUSC.jpg” caption=”Pictured from left, Rohini Kumar and Michelle Lam, fourth-year arts & science students sign the Make Poverty History banner in petition to the Canadian government. Photo credit: Eileen Liu”]If you take a moment to walk around the McMaster campus, you may notice little white bracelets adorning the wrists of many in the crowd. Millions of people in Canada and abroad have begun to wear these bracelets as a sign of support for the latest movement to take the world by storm. This past summer, Bono of U2 and many other musical celebrities joined forces to declare solidarity with the Make Poverty History campaign.

The student run World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Local Committee has taken the initiative to bring this campaign to McMaster and make students and staff aware of the issues surrounding global poverty. This type of endeavour is not new to students working in WUSC. “Our goal is to foster human development and global understanding through education and training,” says Martha Peden, co-chair of McMaster's WUSC Local Committee. “This mission is embodied in WUSC's mandate to promote knowledge for a more equitable world.”

WUSC runs three main programs each year to accomplish these goals. Every summer, they send students from all over Canada to Northern India to learn about international development projects. They also sponsor one refugee student to study at McMaster, fundraising for his or her living expenses and actively taking a role in accustoming the student to Canadian life. Finally, they frequently undertake campaigns to educate the McMaster community about international development issues. Make Poverty History is one of those campaigns.

“The message of Make Poverty History is simple,” Peden says. “More and better aid. Trade justice. Cancel the debt. End child poverty in Canada. To do this, the campaign calls on the Canadian government for urgent and meaningful policy change to increase foreign aid spending to 0.7 per cent of our gross domestic product as well as to unconditionally cancel 100 percent of debt owed by all of the poorest countries.”

Monday, October 17 marked the United Nation's international day for the eradication of poverty. Working with Engineers Without Borders, WUSC set up a booth in the MUSC Marketplace to provide the McMaster community with important information about poverty. With live music to draw attention, they sold T-shirts and white bands to fundraise for the campaign. Students and staff also were encouraged to sign a large banner to petition the government for policy changes. As a declaration of the McMaster community's support for the Make Poverty History campaign, WUSC will make its way to Ottawa for it's annual general meeting in November. Three McMaster professors, Robert O'Brien (Department of Political Science), Nibaldo Galleguillos (Department of Political Science) and Atif Kubursi (Department of Economics) also stand behind this movement and gave a joint lecture on the major themes of the Make Poverty History campaign: fair trade, increasing foreign aid and cancelling debt.

The entire McMaster community is encouraged to support the Make Poverty History campaign in several ways. The best way to fight poverty is to become educated about it and make political leaders aware of the issues that are important to the people. Pledges can be made at www.makepovertyhistory.ca and anyone is welcome to join the WUSC Local Committee. Any type of support for the campaign is greatly welcomed, even if it is just wearing the little white bracelet to demand the end of poverty.