Today I had the privilege of being part of something far bigger than any individual contribution I could ever hope to make to anything. Today I marched in Edinburgh as part of Make Poverty History.

It has been a day of many things; of being part of a Jewish coalition for the cause; of meeting, quite unexpectedly, old faces from the past and doing something to start making a difference.

The Make Poverty History campaign is something I feel strongly about, not only from the perspective of being the right thing to do, but also from a personal perspective.

My stepmother is Ugandan. Her mother died from a lack of adequate healthcare due to cancer. Her younger brother died from complications due to malaria and her only sister died from Aids - both of her siblings died in no small part from our failure in the west to provide inexpensive medications to some of the world’s poorest people. I can see the effect the west’s unfair policies have had on my own family. I know a little boy who has lost his mother because of this.

So what do I want to see achieved? Firstly, I want every child in the world to have a free primary school education, so that they have the building blocks to build themselves a future. Secondly, I want all children in the world to be immunised against the biggest killers - immunisations we take for granted as being our right in this country. Thirdly, I want to see safe, clean drinking water available to every person on the planet. The fourth is a bit bigger, because it deals with trade in general. All of the above are achievable (and are being achieved right now in some African countries) if debt relief was provided from loans to western banks - I mean debt relief that has no ties. Interest has been paid over and above the original amounts loaned, so why do we need more money? All it does is make poor countries suffer. The next thing I want to see is an urgent review of tariffs and subsidies. It seems crazy to me that the world’s richest countries benefit more from reduced tariffs on imported and exported goods than developing nations - surely this should be the other way around? I would also like to see a reduction in the vast and obscene subsidies that are paid to some farmers, most particularly in the US. While I don’t want to see anyone forced out of business, I equally fail to see how one farmer needs $17 million in subsidies a year. Imagine what could be achieved if the huge amounts of subsidies were even halved annually and that money was directed into aid. Incidentally, I would also like to see better healthcare for women, to reduce the number of women who are dying unnecessarily in childbirth.

Our supermarkets and other manufacturing businesses should be buying direct. We should be encouraging co-operatives and making trade and aid agreements based on helping these people direct rather than their leaders. It was once said that if you give a man a loaf of bread, he will live for a day; give him the means to produce that bread for himself and he can feed himself and his family for life - and sell the rest of what he makes.

We don’t have the right to judge other cultures for the size of their families or having their children help with farms or business. We do have a right to judge our own leaders and hold them accountable if they don’t help make poverty history.

I feel so privileged to have been a part of today; I waited for several hours for the right to march in Edinburgh and when I did, it didn’t feel like any other marches I have ever been on. I felt I had to do this and that what I did made a difference. I feel I added to the voices saying that we want an end to the suffering poverty causes. My heart swelled with hope as I walked down Princes Street and saw something I once could only have dreamed might happen; a massive Make Poverty History banner displayed at Edinburgh Castle. The sun shone and the atmosphere was incredible and I am really praying that one day I can say, I was there. I made a difference.

But where do we go from here - we have made our voices heard today and will do so over the next week during G8. Hyde Park, as I write, has just ended and more people are now on their way here. I say we have to keep on raising our voices. We have to write letters. We have to make sure that we won’t settle for half-promises and hours of fighting over compromises that don’t benefit developing nations. There is no compromise and we have to make sure our leaders know that this is what we believe and that we will keep on watching, speaking and acting on this and demanding action from them until poverty is history.

And there’s more we can do as well; we can make some tough choices for ourselves. We can choose to boycott products and buy fair trade. We can buy ethical products. We can cut down on material goods that we just don’t need. We can spend more of our money to make sure that those who don’t have it get a fairer deal. And if we have skills that are needed, we can volunteer our time and send help where it’s needed. It’s not just about money out of our pockets; time is just as valuable as gold.

I could harp on about my religious obligations and beliefs that make this campaign important to me. I am not going to do that. I am only going to say that every person in this world is our neighbour and we all have an obligation to each other as human beings to ensure that everyone has the basics, that everyone has a fair deal and that everyone has justice.

We’ve only taken the first steps. Let’s keep fighting for justice.