What We’re Reading 4/1/09

Apr 1st, 2009 8:55 PM UTC
By Chandler Smith

Financial Times: G20 must not forget the poorest
This editorial from the Financial Times urges the Group of 20 to address concerns for the developing world, including measures for financial and economic stability s well as humanitarian support.

Irish Times: Developing countries need to be put at heart of global new deal (Jamie Drummond, op-ed)
In this op-ed by ONE’s own Jamie Drummond, Drummond argues that the global economic situation is hitting the poorest of the world hard, and also undoing the progress that has been made in the last decade. He lays out how the EU and G20 can find solutions for this crisis by focusing on resourcing, regulating, and reforming.

Reuters: G20 summit must not neglect poor nations
In a speech on Tuesday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick urged wealthy governments attending the Group of 20 summit to commit 0.7 percent of their stimulus packages to a “vulnerability fund” to help poor countries weather the economic storm.

Wall Street Journal: An Empowered IMF Faces Pivotal Test
The IMF is in ever greater demand and is likely to gain more power. Thursday’s summit of leaders of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations is poised to elevate the IMF by promising to pump more than $250 billion into the fund, and asking it to issue “early warnings” about countries in peril.

Associated Press: Gates Foundation, China announce $33M TB project
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told health ministers and senior officials from 27 countries worst-affected by the new drug-resistant strains of TB that they must make dramatic improvements in detecting infections and build stronger health care systems. Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates was on hand as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chinese government announced a $33 million project to test new ways to diagnose drug-resistant TB and assess new treatments and better ways to track patients.

-Chandler Smith

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