G20

It appears that Canada is quite enjoying its time in the spotlight these days. As if hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver (and becoming gold medalists in hockey) wasn’t enough, Canada is also the official head of the Group of 20 nations this year, and will therefore play host to the world’s most influential leaders this summer at the G8 and G20 Summits in and around Toronto. And with the global event fast approaching, Canadian advocacy organizations and activists alike are beginning to outline exactly what they hope their country will accomplish in its new role as a legitimate player on the international stage.

In the first of what will most likely be many events leading up to the summer summit, anti-poverty organization, Make Poverty History, along with a coalition of development NGO’s, labor, student and faith-based organization, launched a campaign this week called AT THE TABLE, which aims to pressure the Canadian government to increase its commitment to foreign aid. The global campaign brings together more than 60 partner organizations, including Oxfam, UNICEF and Amnesty International, that are all dedicated to ensuring that the voices of the world’s poorest nations are “at the table” of this year’s G8 and G20 summits. The overarching goal of the campaign calls for leaders to take bold measures to alleviate extreme poverty, address climate change and economic reform through increased foreign aid and a commitment to take action.

Launched in conjunction with International Women’s Day on March 8, the campaign is extremely timely given that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recently released budget effectively freezes Canada’s foreign aid spending at 2010-2011 levels – this is despite a promise to make improving the health of women and children in the world’s poorest regions a major focus of this year’s G20 summit on June 26 and 27. The Table coalition believes that Prime Minister Harper is out of sync with other world leaders on the issues of foreign aid, climate change and global economic recovery after last week’s budget announcement flat lined Canada’s contributions until 2014.

Though the G8 and G20 are the first global events on the campaign’s radar, AT THE TABLE plans to continue mobilizing citizens to “take their place” at a number of other global events, including the G20 summit in South Korea and the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in September.

To learn more about the campaign, visit their website at http://atthetable2010.org/

The following op-ed from ONE’s Executive Director Jamie Drummond and Policy Board member John Githongo has just been published in Canada’s Globe and Mail and newspapers across Africa:

As host of this year’s G8 and G20 meetings, Canada is in a great position to lead the essential process of reinvigorating the global campaign against extreme poverty. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s call for greater accountability in G8 development promises and increased investments in child and maternal health are very welcome and we look forward to more details. European leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama, who has called for a new global plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, are already on board.

A new plan can avoid the pitfalls of past top-down approaches – if it supports a more bottom-up citizen-led strategy for sustainable development. Take Africa, where there have been real improvements over the past decade. Economic growth has been averaging about 5 per cent a year, 42 million more children are in school, malarial death rates have nearly been halved in a number of countries and more than three million people are on life-preserving AIDS medications. We suggest a new citizens compact to build on these results. It would ensure that development is devolved, that citizens are connected with new technologies, that executive powers are diffused, that political parties are strengthened and that the integrity of leaders and governance institutions firmly take centre stage.

There are three urgent considerations for such a strategy.

First, African accountability efforts by civil society and think tanks must be expanded dramatically. Efforts such as Twaweza, an East African citizen accountability movement, can be scaled up across the continent and deliver great returns on investment by empowering citizens to demand their rights. Canada’s International Development Research Centre has already partnered with the Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation to invest more in African think tanks, and this can be expanded. These efforts are easier with today’s technology, especially mobile telephony. From the student who can text a hotline when her teacher does not turn up to the anti-corruption monitor who pores over statistics from national budgets online, new technology is the tool of the activist. Also, a new citizen strategy should not repeat past mistakes of lionizing specific political leaders – this makes it harder for Africans to hold them to account.

Second, experience shows that constant vigilance about transparency, especially with regard to national budgets, is critical. Thieves have more to hide. Regimes run by kleptocrats are more likely to fumble and fall, with wider security implications. But it is not just African budgets that must be more transparent. One of the great scandals in development is the lack of good statistics to measure progress – this area needs much more investment. Another scandal is the hypocrisy of most high-profile global promises, such as the vague billions alluded to at the Copenhagen climate-change summit. Donors must be clearer about what is really new money. Canada’s effort to chart all existing G8 development promises and improve accountability is especially important in this regard. Companies doing business in Africa must also be more transparent, as must the international banking system, so bribery can be exposed and stolen funds tracked down and recovered.

Third, private investment can also drive the citizens strategy. Proliferating mobile telephony is allowing Africans to leap digitally from the Third World into the First. Africa has tremendous renewable energy potential that is ripe for investment. African stocks have been doing well, although this has been barely noticed by investors abroad. This summer’s soccer World Cup in South Africa is an opportunity for a rising generation of African entrepreneurs to present this new image of their continent, a chance that must be seized. We propose a new “Africa Rising” fund to capture the moment – campaigners who once rightly called for disinvestment to help end the injustice of apartheid can now call for new investment to help fight the injustice of poverty.

These measures can increase the effects of much-needed new investments to boost education, agriculture and health and fight infectious diseases and climate change. Without them, reversals may occur. With China offering less democratic options for development, it is no longer politically incorrect to ask whether democracy really suits Africa. The situations in Kenya and Nigeria both show the challenges where growth takes place but most citizens are excluded.

This need not be Africa’s path, though. This year is the key moment to renew the right kind of Canadian, G8 and G20 support for citizen-led development.

At the conclusion of the Pittsburgh G20 Summit, Canada’s Prime Minister Harper and South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak announced that they would both host G20 summits. Here at ONE, we were curious to see how this announcement would play out, since South Korea had already been tapped for the next G-20 and Canada was in line for the next G8.

On Monday, Prime Minister Harper announced that Toronto, Canada, will host the G-20 Summit on June 26 and 27, 2010. He was joined by President Myung-ba, who announced that Seoul, South Korea, will host a second G20 in November 2010.

Since 2005, the G8 has long been a place where world’s wealthiest countries make commitments to partner with developing countries to fight poverty and eradicate preventable disease. In Gleneagles, Scotland, seven of the current G8 countries made a series of commitments designed to bring the world closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. You can read more about that meeting here.

The transition from the G8 to the G20 could be beneficial, especially since the recent global economic downturn taught the international community a painful lesson about the inter-connectedness of financial sectors. However, the world leaders participating in these summits need to provide more clarity about how development issues will be addressed.

During Monday’s announcement, Prime Minister Harper briefly referenced these concerns about developing countries, saying, “We have demonstrated leadership by providing new resources and guarantees to strengthen international financial institutions, namely innovative new capital arrangements to help ensure the Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank have resources they can count on throughout the crisis. We intend to continue playing a role in defining the path forward in 2010.”

This acknowledgement is a good step in the right direction. ONE, along with organizations and individuals around the world, will be working proactively to make sure that these twenty nations follow through on plans to strengthen the financial institutions that can help finance poverty-fighting initiatives – institutions like the African Development Bank.

Overall, the Pittsburgh G20 Summit appears to have made some progress towards reshaping global power structures to make them more representative, but it still has some way to go before it becomes a truly representative global decision making body.

I spent the summit with our US Government Relations Director Tom Hart, who said:

“Moving from the G8 to the G20 is a seismic shift: it brings many more of the world’s people to the table, but the new expanded world body must now start addressing the needs of the poorest countries, especially in Africa. For nearly a decade now, Africa has been squarely on the G8’s agenda, even if delivery on their commitments has been mixed. During this transition time, African development must not fall through the cracks. One way to show the world will not forget Africa would be to hold an upcoming G20 summit on the African continent.”

As I posted earlier here, we passed our petition, in which 75,000 ONE members worldwide call for a G20 Summit to be held in Africa, to the US delegation at the summit.

Below are some key points in the summit’s communique that are relevant to Africa:

• Agriculture – The G20 called on the World Bank to develop a new trust fund, as a way to implement the G8’s food security initiative announced at the L’Aquila Summit in Italy in July. This multilateral fund will support the set of principles championed by the White House to make aid for agriculture more effective, coordinated and geared towards the strategies developed by poor countries themselves.
• Climate change – The G20 failed to call for resources to help the poorest countries adapt to the harmful impacts of climate change, and tackle its causes. It was disappointing that there was no mention of the urgency of addressing these needs.
• African Development Bank – The G20 have reaffirmed the commitment to make sure the multilateral development banks have enough finance, especially the World soft loan arm, the International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The African bank has increased its lending to respond to the financial crisis by as much as US$4bn and now needs support to replenish its coffers. ONE welcomes Canada’s announcement of an extra US$2.8bn in loan guarantees for the Bank.
• World Bank and IMF- Both International Financial Institutions took steps towards increasing representation of developing countries.

You can watch him live here:

The text of the communique is below.

Leaders’ Statement: The Pittsburgh Summit
September 24 – 25, 2009

(more…)

Tom Hart and I just delivered ONE’s G20 petition to the US delegation here at the Pittsburgh summit. The petition, now signed by more than 75,000 ONE members from around the globe, asks the G20 leaders to host an upcoming G20 summit on the African continent.

We expect the official summit communique to come out just before President Obama’s remarks, slated for 4:45pm EST today. We’ll keep you posted.

-Ginny Simmons

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!

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:

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

All eyes are focused on New York right now, but in just a few days Pittsburgh will grab the global stage when heads of state from the world’s biggest economies show up for the G20 Summit. As most of you know, in addition to a variety of requests for follow-up from the G20 London Summit and the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, ONE is also calling for the G20 to agree to host an upcoming summit in Africa.

But why?

The obvious answer is that the African continent is made up of 53 states and nearly 1 billion people, so of course any discussion of the global economic recovery should be hosted in Africa at some point. Less obvious to many is the fact that when it comes to the economic crisis and other pressing global problems (like climate change and food security), Africa is part of the solution.

Take the economy. Until the financial crisis, 18 non-oil exporting African economies were growing individually at annual rate of 5.5% or more, the most sustained economic growth in decades. Increasing investment, trade and economic diversification were all part of this trend. This growth not only presented African countries with new opportunities to create jobs, increase exports and boost revenues, it also offered the world a new destination for investment and business. The same is true with the global economic recovery. Helping Africa get back on its feet after the financial crisis will reap benefits for the rest of the world. Research commissioned by ONE earlier this year showed that a $50 billion stimulus for long-term growth in sub-Saharan Africa would generate $250 billion of increased output and generate a 40% return for the investors in ten years time.

Climate and agriculture are other areas where Africa has a lot to offer. Preserving the continent’s vast natural resources, for example, could help offset global emissions. The forests of the Congo basin span 700,000 square miles, making it one of the world’s biggest carbon sinks. Africa’s potential for solar, geothermal and hydro-power provides new opportunities for private sector investments. And with greater investment in agriculture, Africa could one day serve as a global breadbasket and help to prevent the food shortages the world witnessed in 2008. Nearly two-thirds of Africa’s people are employed in agriculture, and some estimate that the continent is home to 800 million hectares of unused, cultivable land.

Much needs to be done to truly tap into Africa’s potential in a way that brings benefits to the rest of the global community- barriers to trade need to be removed, carbon markets need to be incentivized to invest in Africa and infrastructure needs to be strengthened so that the continent can attract more investment. But one easy way that the G20 can get the ball rolling is by announcing that it will host an upcoming summit on the continent. Doing so will signal that the G20 is sincere about bringing Africa to the table as these important global decisions are made and will force the rest of the world to take a closer look at what Africa has to offer.

Stay tuned here for more details on ONE’s recommendations around agriculture and climate change for the G20 in Pittsburgh.

-Nora Coghlan

The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh is fast approaching and ONE members are preparing a very special message for the occasion, calling on G20 leaders to hold one of their upcoming summits in Africa. 34,000 ONE members have already signed the petition asking the G20 to Go To Africa and see Africa’s potential to be a driving economic force of the 21st century for themselves.

We’ve just partnered with Moving the Lives of Kids Community Mural Project in Pittsburgh, an amazing community group that is painting a G20 message that will include our petition. It’s going to be an eye-grabbing, powerful presentation right in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, so we can be sure that the visiting dignitaries get the message. Stay tuned for more on the campaign, the mural, and the G20 summit.

-Aaron Banks