Mandela's poverty plea

Nelson Mandela today called for world leaders to wage a determined struggle against poverty declaring: "While poverty persists there is no true freedom."

Speaking to thousands of schoolchildren and campaigners in Trafalgar Square, the former South African president said global misery could be vanquished, just as slavery and apartheid had been overturned in the past.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

"And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice," he said. "Massive-poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times - times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation - but they rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils."

Addressing the Make Poverty History rally Mr Mandela urged rich countries to make significant steps towards dropping the debts of developing nations, currently costing them a crippling $39 billion a year.

Speaking in front of the National Gallery, only yards from where a permanent picket of the South African Embassy was mounted during the darkest days of the apartheid system that had kept him imprisoned for almost 28 years, he paid tribute to the British people's sense of justice.

"I can never thank the people of Britain enough for their support through those days of the struggle against apartheid," he said.

"Through your will and passion you assisted in consigning that evil system forever to history. But in this new 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." Mr Mandela will tomorrow address a meeting of the G7 finance ministers of leading industrialised nations in London.

He will call on them to redouble their efforts to tackle poverty, enshrined in the Millennium Declaration, by ensuring fair trade, ending the debt crisis, and increasing the amount of high-quality aid to the poorest countries.

"I say to all those leaders: 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 said.

Then, in a symbolic gesture, Mr Mandela handed over the baton of his lifelong struggle for freedom, justice and equality for a new generation, by giving a white band - symbol of the Make Poverty History campaign - to five children from Scotland and three from Langdon School in East Ham: Sheetal, 15, Alfie, 14, and Matthew, 14.

He told them: " Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great.

"You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.

"Of course the past will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up."

The Make Poverty History campaign is a coalition of more than 220 charities, trade unions, religious groups and celebrities.

It is part of the global call For Action Against Poverty, a network of groups representing more than 150million people in 60 countries.

The white band is available at any of the 750 Oxfam shops across the country.