Mandela Calls for Action on 'unnatural' Poverty

Former South African president Nelson Mandela today urged thousands to join a global campaign against poverty, declaring: "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural."

Mr Mandela made his call at London's Trafalgar Square, the scene of decades of British anti-apartheid protests, ahead of the meeting of finance ministers from the G7 industrialised nations later this week.

He told the crowds at the Make Poverty History Rally, aimed at encouraging the public to put pressure for real action on trade, debt and Aids, that achieving "trade justice" would be key to success.

And high profile meetings this year such as, the G7 meeting and the gathering of G8 leaders in Scotland in July must be used to help focus international minds on the issue of poverty, he said.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural," he said, standing in Trafalgar Square - where protesters had years earlier campaigned for his release from jail. "It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings, he told the crowd.

Mr Mandela is expected to make a separate speech to the G7 finance ministers with a similar message.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner urged world leaders to act, saying: "Do not look the other way, do not hesitate. Recognise that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act with courage and vision."

He is backing Gordon Brown's call for a Marshall Plan for Africa. They are seeking more aid from the G8 nations to meet UN goals to cut childhood deaths and poverty by 2015.

On a personal note, the leading statesman and anti-apartheid campaigner, who was released from prison in February 1990, said: "I can never thank the people of Britain enough for their support through those days of the struggle against apartheid.

"Many stood in solidarity with us, just a few yards from this spot.

"Through your will and passion, you assisted in consigning that evil system forever to history.

"But in this century, millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free."

He urged the crowd to act as messengers to millions against poverty and to wear a white wristband at the G8 summit in July as a global call to action.

"And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.

"It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists there is no true freedom."

Mr Mandela, who visited the chancellor yesterday after Mr Brown promised almost £530m for vaccines for children in poor countries, described massive poverty and obscene inequality as the "terrible scourges of our times".

And this is unforgivable in an age when the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth, he said.

"They have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evil," he said.