Jubilee 2000

[citation needed] As planned, the Jubilee 2000 Coalition dissolved at the end of the millennium year but left a legacy of organisations around the world.

The idea was first articulated by the activist Paul Vallely in his 1990 book Bad Samaritans – First World Ethics and Third World Debt [1] and taken up by Martin Dent, a retired lecturer in politics at the University of Keele, who with his friend, retired diplomat William Peters, linked the biblical Jubilee to a modern debt relief programme and founded the Jubilee 2000 campaign in the early 1990s.

Jubilee 2000 Scottish Coalition attracted widespread support from Trade Unions, charities and different church denominations working together, and held events across Scotland.

Among the supporters were Bono of rock band U2, Quincy Jones, Willie Colón, Muhammad Ali, Bob Geldof, Youssou N'dour, Thom Yorke, N.T.

The protestors made headlines around the world for their activities aimed at increasing awareness, such as forming a human chain around Birmingham City Centre, passing out petitions, and holding workshops.

[13][14] The protests caught the attention of Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who met with the directors of Jubilee 2000 to discuss the issue of heavy debt in poor countries.

[21][22][23][24] Later, a promise from the United States during the G-7 (G-8 financial ministers, excluding Russia) meeting in Cologne, Germany in 1999 to cancel 100% of the debt that qualifying countries owed the US was attributed in part to the influence of the campaign.

Although it did not meet all of its stated goals[27]—which were hugely ambitious—the campaign did receive very positive assessments for its grassroots involvement, vision, and measurable impacts on policy and poverty.

"[28] Then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote "Many events in the past few years have shown how powerful and influential NGOs can be ... We saw it with the campaign to ban landmines.