• by Kumi Naidoo
• Tuesday, June 30, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The G20, comprised of a tiny fraction of the world's nations, is not the best place to work out the details of how to address the multiple global crises the world faces. The details need to be addressed at the UN, which has 192 member states, writes Kumi Naidoo, co-chair of Global Call to Action Against Poverty.

In this article, the author argues that the fact the G20 proposes to deliver massive new resources mostly through existing international financial institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, and regional development banks, which have in the past insisted on failed policies of globalisation as a condition for poor countries getting their help, is most worrying.

We cannot fix in one day what has been broken for more than 30 years. For decades summits and meetings of world leaders have promised big on development aid and financing but delivered little. For Africa alone, the donors are USD 40 billion behind on the aid commitments they made at Gleneagles in July 2005. Countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, need untied grant money to help them achieve the MDGs: ODA, not more loans. Otherwise, the solution itself could become a problem.

The reaffirmation of the commitment of the G-20 to achieving their respective ODA pledges, including commitments on Aid for Trade, debt relief, and the Gleneagles commitments, especially to sub-Saharan Africa, is therefore welcome. This is about something real. Poor countries are in utter despair. They are suffering from the crippling effects of inflated food and energy prices, and from worsening climate change, and now they're being hit by a financial crisis that their governments played no part in causing.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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