2009 Pittsburgh G20
Today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette devoted almost a full page to ONE, CGD and the University of Pittsburgh’s panel yesterday.
Below are some excerpts:
“It shouldn’t be a summit to address only the completion of a global economic stimulus. It should also be about some of the issues that have caused us a lot of disappointment and frustration in Africa,” said Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank.
For David Lane, the president of the international advocacy group the ONE Campaign, which is committed to fighting extreme global poverty and disease, tackling the problems of Africa should start with the premise that Africa can be part of the solution to the global financial crisis.
“There are pragmatic reasons for the leaders of the world gathered here to include Africa in the dialogue,” said Mr. Lane.For example, Africa can be a key economic player because it has almost 1 billion producers and consumers of goods and services, he said. “People are so used to seeing the hardships of Africa that they often don’t consider the positive things happening there,” said Mr. Lane.
His organization, which was co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono in 2004, is calling on the G-20 to hold an upcoming summit in Africa as “a first step in showing that Africa is part of the solution to our global problems.”
You can read the full article here.
The morning, Tom Hart, Helen Palmer and I headed into the official media room for the Pittsburgh G20. Much like my trip into the media room for the April G20 in London, we had to pass through quite a bit of security, this time including laptop bag sniffing dogs.
The best part was that all the thousands of credentialed journalists, from all the most read publications from around the world, were loaded into buses and driven directly passed ONE’s giant downtown mural. I jumped up and shot some photos with my small digital camera.
Below are just a couple of photos of the media room and TV news crews setting up.
(more…)
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the unveiling of a giant 200-foot mural created by the “Moving the Lives of Kids” (MLK) Community Project in downtown Pittsburgh.
ONE’s petition asking the G20 to hold a future meeting in Africa covers 100 feet of the wall. The MLK team, including nearly 20 local artists and 30 kids from the community, painted the wall in less than five days. When we arrived for the unveiling and press conferences (and as it started to pour down rain) they were putting on the final finishing touches.
Right now I’m working on downloading and then uploading some video from the short press conference, but until then here are some more photos of the giant wall and the truly uplifting event.
(If you’re in Pittsburgh, the mural is on Ross Street between 3rd and 4th.)
You might have noticed Nora’s blog post alerting ONE readers that the G20 will be kicking off in a few days in Pittsburgh. In addition to calling for a future G20 meeting to be held on the African continent, ONE is asking that counties in attendance at the G20 clarify the commitments for agriculture and food security they made at L’Aquila G8.
In a demonstration of collective political will—and with thanks to the leadership from the U.S.—the G8 and other countries and institutions pledged $20 billion for global food security at the July G8 meeting in Italy. This pledge will fund what has been dubbed the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, a coordinated and comprehensive plan to address global food security. While the $20 billion was a step in the right direction—especially in the wake of the food crisis of 2008 and the current financial crisis, both of which threaten to drive people further into poverty and hunger—the road is long ahead.
As a next-step, ONE is calling for the G20 to:
- Ensure that the implementation of the pledges for agricultural assistance made at L’Aquila is comprehensive and coordinated through existing and effective mechanisms and partnerships.
- Provide clarity on funding plans made as part of the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative and expand participation in the effort to additional G20 members.
The U.S., UK, Canada, and Italy have already publicly announced and documented their contributions to the L’Aquila $20 billion. At this time, we’d like to hear from countries that have only hinted at their numbers, as well as learn how much of each pledge is new money rather than funding in existing pipelines. But quantity is not all that matters. In order for this initiative to be successful, implementation of assistance should be coordinated and comprehensive. The U.S. has put forth several principles to guide this initiative—that in addition to being coordinated and comprehensive, the initiative be country-owned, multilateral, and sustained over time. We would like to see the G20 adopt these principles as the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative moves forward.
This will not come as news to those of you who have been reading the ONE blog, or watching the headlines about floods in Senegal and droughts in Kenya, but the impediments to achieving food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are substantial. The opportunity, however, is also significant. For example, approximately three quarters of people living in sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture, and agriculture contributes, on average, one third of GDP, which means that if the agricultural sector was carefully and innovatively developed, crop yields and incomes could both increase for African families. If robust funding of good quality can be channeled towards a holistic food security solution, perhaps we will finally see a reversal of the cycle of hunger and poverty in the developing world. Not only that, but with the right investment, Africa has the potential to not only feed itself but to be a breadbasket for the rest of the world. We look forward to keeping you posted here on our website about developments in Pittsburgh, so stay tuned!
Earlier today, I attended the “G20 and Global Development” panel co-hosted by ONE, the Center for Global Development, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program of Public and International Affairs. The speakers included:
Tim Adams, former Under Secretary for International Affairs, Department of Treasury
Nancy Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development
Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank,
David Lane, President and CEO, ONE
Dr. Louis Picard, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, moderator
Center for Global Development President Nancy Birdsall started us off with a few key messages:
In the US, the financial crisis is about bank failures, job losses and foreclosed homes, but in the poorest countries the crisis is about under-nourished babies and children leaving school to work in the streets because their parents have lost their livelihoods.
She also pointed out that the G20 is a relatively new global meeting. While it does not have the ability to perform formal implementation of its stated goals, it does have the ability to steer other global institutions, like the UN, World Bank and the IMF, in their work. When the G20 meets, it should indicate which international institutions it wants to work on implementing each of its goals. Two key goals she hopes the G20 will address at this summit are the impact of climate change on the poorest and helping developing countries ensure themselves against economic crisis in the developed countries.
Next Former Under Secretary for International Affairs, Department of Treasury Tim Allen spoke. Among other topics, he said that people who have to rely on capital from others are the hardest hit in any economic crisis. The irony, though, is that there is enormous capital in these developing countries, but that a lot of the money shifts out country. There just aren’t the institutional systems in place to capture capital in these countries. We need to help build those institutions and leaders. “Infrastructure matters and human capital matters.”
ONE’s President and CEO David Lane focused on 3 main points in his opening comments. The first being inclusion. The G20 has stated that their highest goal is to accelerate the global economic recovery. Africa is among the hardest hit in this crisis and it must be part of any plan for a lasting recovery. He spoke of ONE’s formal push to have a G20 meeting on the continent of Africa in the near future, encouraging those in the room to learn more and sign our petition at ONE.org. Finally he spoke of the importance of partnership and the role that both developing and developed countries must play in order for progress to be possible. Developing countries must focus on improving governance. Donor countries must be willing to open up trade and invest in poorer countries’ infrastructure.
When President of the African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka arrived to the panel, he said “I want to share what we as Africans feel about the global economic crisis.” He used the example of Ghana, the first black African country to be given independence. The 80′s were prosperous years for the country, he told us, and the 90′s continued with strong political gains. “In 1982 the Ghana economy was worse than Zimbabwe. Today, Ghana is being toted as a model.
“But there is a degree of frustration being felt on the continent. Many countries, while yes they made some mistakes, did mostly the right things. Suddenly those gains have been put on hold because of external problems.”
“And then we see a response to this crisis that has not truly been global. This is not about charity. It’s about — let us contribute to that global economy with you.”
“This should have been the summit to address the unaddressed business of the global stimulus.”
Next the panel moved on to questions, some from our moderator University of Pittsburgh Professor Dr. Louis Picard and some from the audience. Dr. Louis Picard asked this question to David Lane: In Eastern Michigan, Americans are really suffering. Africa is remote from the lives of ordinary Americans. Why should they care about places that are far, far away?
David responded that, yes, we are hurting in this country, but in terms of absolute poverty, there is an argument to help those who simply have no food to eat and have to sell themselves in the street. That argument is a moral argument and it appeals to many Americans.
But the argument to care is not just moral, it goes further.
In an era of globalization, having a region that is not part of the global economy is against our self-interest. “I’m not going to say that there is a clear, linear relationship between poverty and terrorism, but Somalia, for example, has not had an effective government for more than 10 years, it hasn’t had real educational system for more than 10 years, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that there is some very dangerous thinking flowing out of that area.”
There was a question from an student of economics at University of Pittsburgh to the full panel: I’ve heard that Africa isn’t poor. It’s poorly managed. Do you think that’s true?
Donald Kaberuka was the first to respond. He said that, as an example, there is nothing Africans have done to cause global warming, but Africans are suffering.
“At least the rich countries should do something about climate change and adaptation. We accept there are issues of governance, but it’s not our issues of governance that caused climate change.”
Tim Allen also weighed in, citing that Africa is rich in resources “but it doesn’t help Africa when those resources are shipped away and the profits are shipped away too.” The reason it doesn’t stay in the local countries is because there just isn’t the institutional framework. We have to find a way to keep savings in the countries and keep others from coming in and walking away with developing nations’ natural resources.
The G20 Summit kicks off tomorrow and ONE members are already hard at work on a campaign that is already getting a lot of attention. More than 62,000 ONE members have asked the G20 to go to Africa for one of their upcoming summits and see for themselves how this continent can contribute to a stronger, more stable global economy. Add your name, help us get to 100,00 signers and convince the G20 to make Africa part of the solution.
Yesterday, ONE’s President and CEO David Lane discussed the campaign with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjY1oagy20g[/youtube]
In Pittsburgh, a group of local young people are literally drawing even more attention to ONE’s message of the need to bring the G20 to Africa. The Moving Lives of Kids Community Mural Project is almost done with a vibrant mural that will “deliver” our petition to the world leaders who are meeting nearby. Check out photos of the mural-in-progress here and while you’re at it, add your voice to the petition to hold a G20 Summit in Africa.
But why Africa? As Nora Coghlan shared earlier today, this continent of 53 states and 1 billion people is brimming with potential. Up until the recent financial crisis, 18 non-oil exporting African economies were growing at an annual rate of 5.5% or more from increased investment, trade, and economic diversification. Africa’s natural resources could help offset global emissions and with proper agricultural investment, the continent’s 800 million hectares of unused, cultivable land could turn Africa into the breadbasket of the world.
Check back soon for more updates as the G20 swings into full gear tomorrow.
-Sydney Skov
I’m here at the University of Pittsburgh at the panel we’re co-hosting with the Center for Global Development (CGD) on the G20 and global development.
Speakers will include:
Tim Adams, former Under Secretary for International Affairs, Department of Treasury
Nancy Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development
Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank,
David Lane, President and CEO, ONE
Dr. Louis Picard, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, moderator
The room is filling up and we should starting in just a few moments. I’ll update you on how it’s going in just a bit.
-Virginia Simmons
