The success and failure of G-8 and G-20 summits
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Md. Masum Billah
On June 25-27, the leaders of the G8 countries gathered at Huntsville in the Muskoka region of Canada for their 36th annual summit. The G20 summit followed in Toronto on June 26-27. Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the G20 should consider measures such as taxing financial transactions to penalise excessive risk taking and limit the burden on taxpayers of bank failures. But the United States opposed the measure.
Group of eight and Group of Twenty heads of government debated touchy issues such as global economic governance, economic crisis, democratic governance and climate change and the role of developed countries in addressing these issues.
The great international achievements of Canadian in the past for its contributions to the establishment of international peacekeeping, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines and the International Criminal Court are today clouded by concerns about Canada's current role in climate change negotiations, Afghanistan war, reform of the global economy and addressing global poverty. The prime minister of Canada identified four areas to move the agenda forward such as global economy, climate change, development and democratic governance. A broad and diverse coalition of Canadian civil society organisations called on Canadian government to seize the opportunity by putting poverty eradication, economic recovery for all and environmental justice at the centre of the international agenda.
The G20 must become more democratic by ensuring transparent, representative and accountable global decision-making that is inclusive of the world poorest countries. In Africa where over 40% of the people live below the poverty line, nearly 300 million live in absolute poverty on less than US$1.25 a day. The financial crisis and the deepening climate crisis have hit those who live in poverty the hardest. Environmental and economic pressure, including the high cost of fuel and other agricultural inputs, has combined to raise the price of basic foodstuffs beyond the reach of millions. By the end of 2008 rising food prices had added an estimated 109 million hungry people, brining their numbers to million more are at risk of being driven into extreme poverty in 2009 and 2010. The World Bank estimates that persons with disabilities comprise about 20% of the poorest of the poor, and that the Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved without taking into consideration the needs of people with disabilities.
The credibility of the G-8 issue of combating poverty rests on its accountability for past promises. In 2010, key G8 commitments made at Gleneagles in 2005 became due. But it was not met fully, which the protesters termed that the rich countries tactfully avoided the previous promise. The failure of the G-8 to fully deliver their aid commitment is particularly disturbing given the growing evidence that recent increase in development assistance has met with poor results. Giving aid is only a part of the solution to address global poverty, but it is critical. In Africa alone, ODA provide AIDS treatment to nearly 3 million people to dramatically reduce deaths from malaria and help 34 million more children enrolled in school. Each year, more than 500,000 women including adolescent girls, die from pregnancy related causes and 9.2 million children die before they turn five. The major causes of maternal and child mortality are well understood and the means of tackling them, through simple and affordable interventions are well known. The G-8 group members have sufficient fund to support programmes against HIV, TB and Malaria. In preparation for the second Global Fund replenishment conference that will take place in October this year. It is essential that the G-8 reaffirm their commitment to fully meet the financial requirement of the Fund. In this context where over 5000 people die of AIDS related illness each day, G-8 leader must translate commitment into action with concrete country pledges, commitment and timelines to meet targets for both the Global Fund and Universal Access.
In 2009 the G8 along with 27 other countries, responded to the chronic food crisis though the announcement of the L' Aquila Food Security Initiative, which induced a pledge of US$22 billion over three years. In Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency designated food security as priority theme for its official development assistance and announced $600 million over three years as its contribution to the G8 initiative. In 2010, Canada must ensure that these welcome and necessary commitments are fulfilled so that leaders can build on this good record to further progress towards greater food security globally.
The single largest cause of sickness globally is the lack of safe or clean drinking water and adequate sanitation. Investments in water and sanitation predictably reduce child and maternal mortality, decrease the incidence of disability, caused by water and sanitation related disease, and should be made in conjunction with initiatives to strengthen public health system and sanitations to address specific diseases. Nearly 900 million people lack access to safe drinking water and millions of children become weak or are disable due to water and sanitation related diseases and infections. A further 2.5 billion people have no access to basic sanitation. The total burden of disease worldwide could be reduced by almost 10% with improvements in water and sanitation. Education is widely recognised as a critical factor in fighting poverty, improving health, reaching gender equity and achieving economic prosperity. In 2000, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, world governments set six clear 'Education for All' goals to be met by 2015. As we approach the 2015 deadline, 72 million children are still out of school more than half of them are girls and one in five adults cannot read or write. Ninety percent of children with disabilities do not attend school at all.
Through a combination of good policy and increased resources over the past nine years, 40 million more primary age children have gone to school and the gender gap is slowly closing. Unemployment and underemployment are significant contributors to poverty. According to ILO unemployment reached up to 239 million worldwide in 2009, the worst year on record for employment creation. In some countries unemployment among persons with disabilities is as high as 80 percent. Globally 200 million workers are at risk joining the rank of 1.2 billion workers already living on less than $2 per day. In 2010, the G8 and G20 members must recognise that the implementation of their anti-corruption commitments is a prerequisite to achieving sustainable progress in all areas of the G8 and G20 agendas. The G-20 has begun to address the short term impact of the crisis. But of the $1.1 trillion in funding announced by the G-20 groups in 2009, only $50 billion is expected to go to the world's poorest countries. Although the IMF and the World Bank have introduced new form of social protection and have reduced the number of conditions attached to new loans, many of the remaining conditions will undermine these attempts to increase social protection.
The writer is a senior manager, BRAC Education Programme. He can be reached at Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com
On June 25-27, the leaders of the G8 countries gathered at Huntsville in the Muskoka region of Canada for their 36th annual summit. The G20 summit followed in Toronto on June 26-27. Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the G20 should consider measures such as taxing financial transactions to penalise excessive risk taking and limit the burden on taxpayers of bank failures. But the United States opposed the measure.
Group of eight and Group of Twenty heads of government debated touchy issues such as global economic governance, economic crisis, democratic governance and climate change and the role of developed countries in addressing these issues.
The great international achievements of Canadian in the past for its contributions to the establishment of international peacekeeping, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines and the International Criminal Court are today clouded by concerns about Canada's current role in climate change negotiations, Afghanistan war, reform of the global economy and addressing global poverty. The prime minister of Canada identified four areas to move the agenda forward such as global economy, climate change, development and democratic governance. A broad and diverse coalition of Canadian civil society organisations called on Canadian government to seize the opportunity by putting poverty eradication, economic recovery for all and environmental justice at the centre of the international agenda.
The G20 must become more democratic by ensuring transparent, representative and accountable global decision-making that is inclusive of the world poorest countries. In Africa where over 40% of the people live below the poverty line, nearly 300 million live in absolute poverty on less than US$1.25 a day. The financial crisis and the deepening climate crisis have hit those who live in poverty the hardest. Environmental and economic pressure, including the high cost of fuel and other agricultural inputs, has combined to raise the price of basic foodstuffs beyond the reach of millions. By the end of 2008 rising food prices had added an estimated 109 million hungry people, brining their numbers to million more are at risk of being driven into extreme poverty in 2009 and 2010. The World Bank estimates that persons with disabilities comprise about 20% of the poorest of the poor, and that the Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved without taking into consideration the needs of people with disabilities.
The credibility of the G-8 issue of combating poverty rests on its accountability for past promises. In 2010, key G8 commitments made at Gleneagles in 2005 became due. But it was not met fully, which the protesters termed that the rich countries tactfully avoided the previous promise. The failure of the G-8 to fully deliver their aid commitment is particularly disturbing given the growing evidence that recent increase in development assistance has met with poor results. Giving aid is only a part of the solution to address global poverty, but it is critical. In Africa alone, ODA provide AIDS treatment to nearly 3 million people to dramatically reduce deaths from malaria and help 34 million more children enrolled in school. Each year, more than 500,000 women including adolescent girls, die from pregnancy related causes and 9.2 million children die before they turn five. The major causes of maternal and child mortality are well understood and the means of tackling them, through simple and affordable interventions are well known. The G-8 group members have sufficient fund to support programmes against HIV, TB and Malaria. In preparation for the second Global Fund replenishment conference that will take place in October this year. It is essential that the G-8 reaffirm their commitment to fully meet the financial requirement of the Fund. In this context where over 5000 people die of AIDS related illness each day, G-8 leader must translate commitment into action with concrete country pledges, commitment and timelines to meet targets for both the Global Fund and Universal Access.
In 2009 the G8 along with 27 other countries, responded to the chronic food crisis though the announcement of the L' Aquila Food Security Initiative, which induced a pledge of US$22 billion over three years. In Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency designated food security as priority theme for its official development assistance and announced $600 million over three years as its contribution to the G8 initiative. In 2010, Canada must ensure that these welcome and necessary commitments are fulfilled so that leaders can build on this good record to further progress towards greater food security globally.
The single largest cause of sickness globally is the lack of safe or clean drinking water and adequate sanitation. Investments in water and sanitation predictably reduce child and maternal mortality, decrease the incidence of disability, caused by water and sanitation related disease, and should be made in conjunction with initiatives to strengthen public health system and sanitations to address specific diseases. Nearly 900 million people lack access to safe drinking water and millions of children become weak or are disable due to water and sanitation related diseases and infections. A further 2.5 billion people have no access to basic sanitation. The total burden of disease worldwide could be reduced by almost 10% with improvements in water and sanitation. Education is widely recognised as a critical factor in fighting poverty, improving health, reaching gender equity and achieving economic prosperity. In 2000, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, world governments set six clear 'Education for All' goals to be met by 2015. As we approach the 2015 deadline, 72 million children are still out of school more than half of them are girls and one in five adults cannot read or write. Ninety percent of children with disabilities do not attend school at all.
Through a combination of good policy and increased resources over the past nine years, 40 million more primary age children have gone to school and the gender gap is slowly closing. Unemployment and underemployment are significant contributors to poverty. According to ILO unemployment reached up to 239 million worldwide in 2009, the worst year on record for employment creation. In some countries unemployment among persons with disabilities is as high as 80 percent. Globally 200 million workers are at risk joining the rank of 1.2 billion workers already living on less than $2 per day. In 2010, the G8 and G20 members must recognise that the implementation of their anti-corruption commitments is a prerequisite to achieving sustainable progress in all areas of the G8 and G20 agendas. The G-20 has begun to address the short term impact of the crisis. But of the $1.1 trillion in funding announced by the G-20 groups in 2009, only $50 billion is expected to go to the world's poorest countries. Although the IMF and the World Bank have introduced new form of social protection and have reduced the number of conditions attached to new loans, many of the remaining conditions will undermine these attempts to increase social protection.
The writer is a senior manager, BRAC Education Programme. He can be reached at Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com