[Claudia Schiffer] Makes Appeal for Poverty Aid

From ABC News

LONDON Jun 10, 2005 — Claudia Schiffer has appealed to finance ministers of the world's richest nations not to "turn a blind eye" to the plight of many developing countries.

The German supermodel posed with pictures of Treasury chief Gordon Brown and the rest of the world's leading money men on the streets of central London Thursday to show her backing for the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, spearheaded by Bob Geldof.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations are meeting in London this weekend.

In the last week, supporters of the campaign have sent more than 1 million e-mails to finance ministers from the seven wealthiest nations and Russia to put pressure on them ahead of a Group of Eight summit in Scotland in July.

"I have two children, but if I was living in parts of Africa I'd have a one in five chance of dying during childbirth," Schiffer said. "And my baby would have a one in five chance of dying before their fifth birthday.

"World leaders cannot turn a blind eye to this," she said. "If the campaign works then something will at last be done about these terrible statistics. As a mother I want to do everything I can to help this campaign."

Anti-poverty campaigners say poverty kills 30,000 children each day. They are lobbying finance ministers and world leaders to cancel the debts of the developing nations, to provide more aid to poorer countries and to make trade laws fairer.