World Bank, IMF Meetings Begin
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Today the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings begin with press conferences by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick. All of the World Bank agencies, the IMF, and a broad range of NGOs are holding discussions and events on development issues this week. Many of the events are focused on complex challenges such as the global food crisis and climate change, and others provide an opportunity to discuss how these institutions are working with recipient countries and civil society.
The current climate of global economic uncertainty not only impacts Wall Street and global financial capitals, but will begin to create an additional burden for the poorest countries in the world, many of whom are already being adversely impacted by high food and fuel prices. Both Zoellick and Strauss-Kahn emphasized this point in the lead-up to this week’s meetings. The challenge facing finance ministers, central bankers, and World Bank and IMF officials this week will be to think creatively about how we can continue to keep our commitment to help the poorest people in the world. This may require utilizing innovative financing solutions, such as an additional 1 billion euro of EU budget money that could be provided to agriculture programs in poor countries, in order to keep these promises.
In their opening remarks today, both Strauss-Kahn and Zoellick stressed the need for rich countries to follow-through on their commitments to the world’s poor:
Countries’ budgets are strained, so it is difficult to deliver even when commitment has been made in the past. Advanced countries shouldn’t respond to the crisis by cutting aid to the poorest, most vulnerable countries.
Some 28 countries are already fiscally highly vulnerable from the twin shocks of food and fuel. Currently these countries, on average, are set to receive no increase in project and program aid. G7 countries as a group are still far behind on their Gleneagles commitments. The poorest cannot be asked to pay the biggest price. For the poor, the costs of crisis can be life-long.
Read ONE’s press release about the proceedings here.
We’ll continue to share what we see and hear this week as the meetings begin.
-Sara Rogge
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The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with frequent contributions from volunteers, members and partner organizations.
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October 9, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Good work! Thank you for your unselfish dedication to the starving people of the world.
Here’s something that I am getting started in California:
NO MEAT FRIDAYS
MOST PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE WHAT A MASSIVE DRAIN ON RESOURCES PRODUCING MEAT IS.
ONE HAMBURGER= 650 GAL OF WATER NOT TO MENTION THE GRAIN THEY EAT.
WE ARE STARING IN THE SCHOOLS–EDUCATING CHILDREN. THEY WILL WRITE THE GOV. AND ASK HIM TO MAKE FRIDAYS OFFICIAL NO MEAT FRIDAYS. WE CAN FEED MORE PEOPLE ON GRAIN MORE EFFIENCENTLY.
JUST THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HELP SPREAD THE WORD.
BARBARA.