About TIDAL

We are a group of community campaigners fighting unfair debt payments and unjust trade rules.

We fight the causes of world poverty and environmental destruction. We want an end to uncontrolled globalisation.

We want governments to stop forcing poor countries to pay huge sums to rich countries in debt repayment. These unfair debts should be cancelled and the money should be spent on health and education for the people.

We campaign for changes in the World Trade Organisation. At present, WTO rules help rich countries and multinational corporations to get ever richer, and push the poorest people and countries into ever deeper poverty. This must change.

We organise meetings and lobbies and we publish a regular newsletter.

TIDAL is backed by a growing base of over 600 active supporters, and its voluntary steering group includes representatives from the World Development Movement, Oxfam, the Mothers’ Union, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Leeds City Council, local religious groups and local businesses.

Never a dull moment for TIDAL supporters: having a bath in Dortmund Square, lobbying for trade justice in London and persuading local MPs (this one's Fabian Hamilton) to add their weight.

The issues

Unpayable debts, unaccountable lenders

Over 24 million people signed the Jubilee 2000 petition -- the largest ever -- calling for cancellation of $375 billion of unpayable debts owed by the world’s poorest countries. Despite grandiose political rhetoric, only $36.3 billion -- less than 10% -- had actually been cancelled by May 2003.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign is the UK’s campaigning successor to Jubilee 2000 and Drop the Debt. It aims to liberate the poorest countries from the crushing burden of debt, and to ensure that the future financial arrangements between rich and poor nations are founded on fairness, accountability and transparency.

‘Debt cancellation and fairer trade go hand in hand.’

Ashok Sinha, Jubilee Debt Campaign

Unfair trade rules

The Trade Justice Movement is calling on world leaders to:

stop forcing poor countries to open their markets; and champion their right to manage their own economies
regulate big business and their investments to ensure that people and the environment come before profits
stop rich countries promoting the interests of big business through trade interventions that harm the poor and the environment
ensure that trade policy is made in a fair, transparent and democratic way.

‘The Jubilee 2000 movement showed the world that by acting together, we can bring about change. By working together on trade, organisations hope to have a much bigger impact than they could ever have if they worked in isolation.’

Trade Justice Movement