Cologne Lift-off

It was clear from early in the morning that the city of Cologne was about to experience an event never seen before in Germany. In a city that was rebuilt on the back of massive debt relief after devastation in the Second World War, tens of thousands of people gathered to say that debt cancellation was needed to give hope to the impoverished countries of the world.

In brilliant morning sunshine, it was easy to distinguish Jubilee 2000 supporters as they emerged from Cologne station sporting banners and colourful Erlaßjahr 2000 scarves. A growing mass of people gathered in the shadow of the enormous cathedral – chanting slogans, taking photos of each other with banners, and performing street drama.

Around the city, thousands of people gathered in five meeting points to hear from speakers and experts about the debt crisis. At about 1pm, people started to make their way to join their section on the 10 kilometre route of the chain that ran through backstreets of Cologne, along river embankments and over the dramatic Hohenzollernbrücke bridge. Near the summit of the G8 leaders, huge banners from all over the world made up a unique Jubilee 2000 art gallery on the river bank.

Amidst a scrum of photographers, U2's Bono and Edge, Bob Geldof, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, Youssou N'Dour along with leaders of the international movement joined the chain. Behind them, the Dutch campaign boat that had sailed from Rotterdam – supported the giant 15 metre Drop the Debt Message-in-a-Bottle.

Amongst the links in the chain, were thousands of people from Britain. Peter Bentall of Basingstoke had travelled by coach with churches in Basingstoke and Overton. He said: "International debt is an issue of morality and justice. Millions of people are suffering around the world and we are here to put pressure on the G8 leaders."

More than 400 people came in a chartered train from Stockholm, Sweden, to be a part of the human chain. It was a ”singing train” with participants from numerous Swedish organisations, unions and churches as well as some Norwegian and Finnish participants. The Swedish campaign brought with them 200 000 Jubilee 2000 signatures calling for debt cancellation. Lars Olof Hellgren said: "The Cologne meeting is not the end of our campaign, we will go on working for the cause: Drop the Debt."

The Human Chain was made up of over 35,000 people from more than 60 countries. It was linked with another human chain in Stuttgart of 15,000 people at a major church festival, Kirchentag.

Friedel Hütz-Adams, Erlaßjahr 2000 organiser declared the chain a great success: "Today we scored two major victories: Firstly, we completed the chain around the G8. Secondly, Chancellor Schroeder made it clear to us that he had got our message, saying their agreement should be only the first step."

Archbishop Rodriguez from the Latin American Jubilee 2000 movement led an international delegation to hand over an incredible 17 million petition signatures. He handed them over to Gerhard Schroeder who received them on behalf of the G8. Afterwards, he emphasised how the G8 summit marked a significant staging post in the campaign. "There is a great hope when ordinary people put their hands together. Nothing can stop us. The campaign has started something that will change many things in the next century."

The Human Chain in Cologne has been widely covered by the media in Germany, despite attention to Kosovo. The presence of pop stars in support of a visibly popular campaign also brought scores of international journalists to cover the event. Bono, at a packed press conference following the human chain, explained how ”absurd” it was that they were needed to get the media interested in an issue that dealt with human lives. However with Bob Geldof, Thom Yorke, Perry Farrell he made clear that the media now had a role to highlight and raise awareness of the issue of debt to a global audience. Bono also stressed that 1999 could be remembered "not just for the devastation of one country, but for the reconstruction of more than 50 of the poorest countries" if only the leaders had the courage.

Ann Pettifor, who described the day as "emotional" said: "Today in Cologne we launched Jubilee 2000 on a global scale. Soon there will be no corner of the earth which has not heard of our ambition for the new millennium. That the poorest people of the poorest countries should be released from debt bondage - from the rule of creditors and the IMF by the year 2000."

Kofi Mawuli Klu, from the Jubilee 2000 Afrika campaign reiterated her message: "The real significance of today is that the Human Chain has given a strong message of international solidarity. People around the world taking action on debt have become so powerful that it has forced the G8 leaders to begin to act on the debt issue. This strengthens our resolve, that with great efforts all over the world, we can achieve our goal."

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