In anticipation of the upcoming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ONE member Brian Thomas penned this great op-ed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ONE volunteers in Pennsylvania and all around the country have an incredibly important role to play in making sure the voices of the world’s poorest are heard at this summit, slated to begin on September 24th.

Excerpts below, full op-ed here

On Sept. 24, 2009, world leaders from the G-20 countries will gather in Pittsburgh to continue a conversation from April in London. The G-20 is a collection of some of the most powerful industrial countries, as well as some of the leading emerging economies, such as China, Brazil and South Africa. They meet against a backdrop of the worst global economic crisis in half a century.

Clearly critical issues need to be addressed in terms of how the financial crisis is affecting the citizens of these nations through falling housing values, rising unemployment and diminishing incomes. Yet the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty around the world will likely suffer worst of all if not taken into consideration.

While social safety net programs and stimulus packages are implemented in the United States and other developed countries, poor countries don’t have the same options. The International Monetary Fund has warned that falling trade, remittances and foreign investment are threatening livelihoods in Africa. As a strategy for recovery is determined and acted upon, it must not be done at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable people.

During difficult times there is a temptation to look inward and ignore the needs of others. At the same time, providing for the poor remains central to the values that shape our ethics, our faith traditions, and our identity as citizens. This shared commitment to compassion and fairness is our best hope for finding a way forward in the midst of a struggling world economy.

-Chris Scott

Overall, yesterday’s G20 Summit communique has left ONE very hopeful, but as always, with a lot of work on our plates. Below, I’ll quote the very succinct recap by our Global Campaigns Director Roxane Philson, and then I’ll include 3 very short flip camera interviews with some incredible G20 Voice bloggers: Nigerian blogger Sokari Ekine, Richard Murphy of the UK (who was able to ask a question about tax havens to Gordon Brown at his internationally-covered G20 press conference), and Kenyan blogger Daudi Were.

Roxy’s Summary:

“Yesterday’s G20 Summit looks like it made some real progress for the world’s poorest. Caution tells me that some of the vague language will take hard work to clarify, but this morning, as I re-read statements and news from yesterday, I am filled with a sense of hope and optimism.

Highlights include:

Resources: The G20 announced US $50 billion for low-income countries – although we are concerned this includes existing funding – and a further US $100 billion in lending for development banks.

Reform: Developing countries will have greater representation in the international financial institutions and that election to World Bank/IMF leadership will be based on merit.

Regulation: The G20 announced regulation of illicit tax havens.

As with all summits like the G20, we’re left with just as much work coming out of the summit as we had going in. We need to work to ensure that money going to developing countries is given as grants, not loans that trigger another debt crisis. Also, much more needs to be done on the green agenda in the interests of developing countries at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year.”

And below, short interviews with 3 great global bloggers:

Nigerian Sokari Ekine of the blog Black Looks on attending the 2009 London G20 Summit:

UK Richard Murphy of The Tax Research Blog on asking a question on tax haven reform to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the internationally-covered G20 press conference:

Daudi Were, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, and blogs at Mental Acrobatics blog, on the outcomes of the G20 Summit.

Attending the 2009 London G20 Summit as an accredited member of the media was absolutely the opportunity of a lifetime. I just want to publicly thank Karina Brisby, Shane McCracken, Samantha Bronnar, and everyone who put the G20 Voice project together and made it possible for 50 bloggers from around the world to attend this historic global summit. I hope it’s only the beginning for allowing new independent voices, particularly those from from the developing world, into these critical global discussions. I also want to thank our own Weldon Kennedy for handling all of ONE’s G20 Voice project work from the UK.

-Virginia Simmons

In addition to the remarks we blogged about earlier, President Obama had this to say about his role as President.

Transcript:

I have a direct responsibility to my constituents to make their lives better. That’s why they put me in there. That accounts for some of the questions here, how concretely does me being here help them find a job, pay for their home, send their kids to college, live what we call the American dream. I will be judged by my effectiveness in meeting their needs and concerns.

But, in an era of integration and interdependence, it is also my responsibility to lead America into recognizing its interests, its fate is tied up with the larger world. That if we neglect or abandon those who are suffering in poverty, that not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities in markets and economic growth, but that despair may turn to violence that turns on us. That unless we are concerned about the education of all children and not just our children, not only will we be depriving ourselves of the next great scientist to find the next new energy source that saves the planet, but we also may make people around the world much more vulnerable to anti-American propaganda. So, if I’m effective as America’s president now, part of that effectiveness involves providing Americans insight into how their self-interest is tied up with yours.

-Chris Scott

The 2009 London G20 Summit is finally really wrapping up. Below are some excerpts from ONE’s reaction to the summit’s communique. You can see the full release here.

“ONE today welcomed commitments to the world’s poorest countries in the G20’s final deal, but warned that funds announced for them must not create a new debt crisis.

“The G20 have come up with impressive numbers; it’s what they do with them now that counts”, said Oliver Buston, Europe Director for ONE. “Is the US$50bn announced for Low Income Countries grants or loans? To fight the crisis, Africa needs new effective aid on top of existing promises, not expensive loans.

“Thanks to Gordon Brown’s leadership, the world’s poorest have not been forgotten, now their participation in international talks needs to grow”, he said.”

We will need to look over the details of what’s been decided over the next days and weeks, but we should remember that a few months ago we weren’t even sure if developing countries would be on the agenda at this G20 meeting. There’s certainly a lot of work ahead but ONE members campaigned for African voices and for resources, reform and regulation, and today we made some good progress towards these goals.

This entire experience personally, of attending the summit as part of the G20 Voice project, has been an absolute honor. I’ll post more about that tomorrow.

-Virginia Simmons

Check out the live video stream of this fantastic briefing here: http://www.switchnewmedia.com/clients/G20Voice/live.htm

-Chris Scott

A couple hours ago British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a global press conference at the London G20 Summit, and right now, US President Barack Obama is holding one as well (which ONE’s Virginia Simmons is currently attending.)

Here are some important excerpts from Brown and Obama’s speeches:

Brown:

This time of financial crisis is no time to walk away from our commitments to the world’s poorest. So when people are suffering – and, yet, it is within our capacity to help – we will not pass by on the other side. We remain firmly committed to meeting the millennium development goals and all of our pledges on aid. To deal with this crisis we have today asked the IMF to bring forward proposals to use the proceeds of agreed gold sales to support low income countries. So in total we have now reached agreements worth $50 billion for the poorest countries – alongside our support for a world bank vulnerability fund.

Obama:

Finally, we are protecting those who don’t always have a voice at the G-20, but who have suffered greatly in this crisis. The United States is ready to lead in this endeavor. In the coming days, I will work with Congress to provide $448 million in immediate assistance to vulnerable populations, and to double support for agricultural development to over $1 billion so that we are giving people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. We will also support the United Nations and World Bank as they coordinate the rapid assistance necessary to prevent humanitarian catastrophe. This is not just charity though. These are future markets for all countries, and future drivers of growth.

-Chris Scott

I just attended the press briefing where Prime Minister Gordon Brown read off the G20’s communique. After, I walked out and was handed a copy- still warm. Check it out here: http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/resources/en/PDF/final-communique

ONE’s official reaction coming shortly.

14:23 updated with video

So- I just finished helping coordinate the CNBC interview with two African G20 Voice bloggers, Daudi Were of Kenya and Sokari Ekine of Nigeria alongside Bob Geldof. (I’ll be able to upload some video of it in a bit.) We are working to make sure the media are giving space for opinions and insights from Africa. Many media outlets are now coming by to interview Daudi, which is amazing.

Overall, it’s an incredible privilege to be able to attend this summit and to have the opportunity to advocate for ONE’s goals in such a giant room full of journalists who are often prone to forgetting to cover Africa. So what exactly are our goals? Here they are again below in a very simple list:

1. We want the leaders to agree an immediate $50bn fiscal stimulus for sub-Saharan Africa – many African countries are suffering from the effects of economic downturn, even though they were little to do with the origins of the crisis. Vital development assistance will not only help save trade and jobs but also lives.

2. We also want international institutions to be reformed so that the people of developing countries have a voice at the global level. The World Bank and other organizations are run by developed countries – making them represent developing countries will help ensure a fairer world.

3. We also need better regulation of the financial system – over $800billion of illicit cash flows out of tax havens – imagine if governments could capture that money and put it to good use. So we’re hoping for a deal on tax havens today.

Ok…back to working the room.

ONE’s European Director is being interviewed right now on the G20 Voice live stream.

There is usually not a lot in the picture, but there are periodically briefings and interviews with the bloggers.

Today’s Financial Times is loaded with a four page supplement on how the financial crisis is hitting African countries hardest, and a great opinion piece in the main paper from Bob Geldof about including developing nations in the new global economy.

William Wallis’s lead article in the supplement makes a powerful case for G20 taking urgent action to provide the resources developing countries need to weather this downturn, saying:

“Today many of sub-Saharan Africa’s 47 states are seeing their incomes evaporate, leaving holes in national budgets and foreign reserves as wide as the pits from which their resources have been extracted.

Without urgent measures to limit the damage, fragile recent development gains could be swept away, conflicts will reignite and more states will fail, warns Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister, who is representing Africa at today’s summit of the Group of 20 nations in London.”

Read the full supplement, or download the PDF – which will let you see ONE’s new advertisement in the paper.