You might be wondering what happened to Christian Aid’s trade campaign and whether we ever managed to stop the EU’s unfair Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Here we answer your questions and explain how our campaign for economic justice has evolved.
Why did Christian Aid campaign on EPAs?
Our trade justice campaign called for poor countries to be free to choose their own trade policies in order to lift their people out of poverty.
As part of this campaign, we focussed on EPAs, deals the European Union was negotiating with poor countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
We believe EPAs constitute an unfair deal for these countries, and we campaigned hard against poor countries being bullied into signing them.
What impact did the campaign have?
Thousands of you protested to the UK government and the EU about the negotiations. Christian Aid helped build a movement against EPAs that spanned more than 30 countries.
Thanks to your campaigning and that of our partners, governments in many of the affected ACP countries are refusing to be bullied into signing unfair deals and are seeking renegotiation.
So what next?
It is poor countries’ need for money that makes them vulnerable to pressure to agree unfair trade deals.
But the fact is they have the means to raise the cash to pay for their own development.
They have natural resources and the skills of their people. However, too often it is multinational companies who are reaping all the rewards.
Big firms are making huge profits in poor countries, but many are not paying the right amount of tax. And the losses to poor-country coffers are vast.
Find out how tax dodging is costing poor countries $160 billion every year – and how our Big Tax Return campaign aims to help them get their money back.
