LONDON, Sept 12: The coalition at the forefront of a British campaign to fight poverty in Africa has been banned from advertising on radio and television after the nation’s media watchdog decided it was a ‘political’ organization.

Make Poverty History, a coalition of more than 500 charities and social groups, said on Monday it was ‘disappointed’ by the decision from OFCOM, just days before world leaders gather in New York where the plight of the world’s poor is on the agenda of the World Summit at UN headquarters.

Its advertisement — in which the likes of rock star Bono and model Claudia Schiffer snap their fingers every three seconds, symbolizing how often a child dies as a result of poverty somewhere in the world — has been on the air for several months.

Despite the fact that no one lodged a complaint, OFCOM said Make Poverty History was ‘wholly or mainly political’ in that it sought to ‘achieve important changes’ to British and Western government policy. For that reason, it said, the advertisement can no longer be aired.—AFP