President Bush will deliver remarks today at 10:05 am EST commemorating World AIDS Day. We will post the webcast and transcript shortly, if they are made available.
Shortly after delivering his remarks, Mr. Bush will be joined by Mrs. Bush and President-elect Obama (via taped remarks) at the 2008 Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health at 10:30 am EST. Pastor Rick Warren is expected to recognize President Bush for his work around PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). You can watch a live webcast of the event here.
I know that you have all been eagerly awaiting ONE’s analysis of the G20 economic summit that took place this past Saturday. To re-cap, in October, President Bush called for a first-ever meeting of the G20 to discuss solutions to the global financial crisis, and mechanisms to prevent future crises. The G20 is a group of finance ministers from the world’s leading economies (the G8, the European Union and Australia), as well as a group of ten emerging economies including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. After the summit, officials issued a communiqué detailing their resolutions. Here are a few highlights:
Developing Country Representation: The G20 calls for better representation of developing countries – both emerging economies and poor countries – in the Bretton Woods Institutions like the IMF and World Bank, in order to accurately reflect the world economy and increase the legitimacy and effectiveness of these institutions. The G20 calls for these reformed institutions to play a role in identifying future crises and responding to them.
Trade: The G20 rejects the impulse to turn to protectionist measures to stabilize their economies and promises to refrain from raising new barriers to trade or investment in the next 12 months. The G20 also calls for a successful completion to the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round trade talks.
Official Development Assistance (ODA): Considering the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, and particularly on the most vulnerable in those countries, the G20 countries reaffirm the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their development assistance commitments. They urge all countries to undertake commitments consistent with their capacities, and re-iterate the principles agreed upon at the UN Conference on Financing for Development that took place in Monterrey in 2002 that emphasize country ownership of and mobilizing all sources of financing for development.
Beyond Wall Street and Main Street here in the U.S., experts are also warning that the financial crisis will have repercussions on streets throughout the developing world. Growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to slow, inflation is on the rise, and the effects of the food and fuel crises will likely be exacerbated. These developments could have serious implications for the world’s poorest people – the World Bank estimates that the rise in food prices alone could push at least another 100 million people into poverty, equivalent to seven years lost in the fight against poverty.
This Friday, President Bush will host leaders from the G20 in Washington D.C. to address the financial crisis, with an aim to identify mechanisms to deal with the current situation and implement measures to ensure that future crises are avoided. Discussions will include the question of reshaping global financial governance and imposing greater regulation on the global financial sector. As the New York Times reports, European leaders are pushing for “…regulation, “or at least oversight,” of all financial institutions, accountability and transparency, new approaches to risk assessment…” in addition to a central role for the IMF. While some have likened this meeting to a second Bretton Woods – the post-WWII gathering of Allied Forces that created global monetary bodies like the IMF and World Bank – the adjustment of existing institutions and policies seems a more likely outcome of the summit than the establishment of new institutions.
The G20 is a group of finance ministers from the world’s leading economies (the G8, the European Union and Australia), as well as a group of ten emerging economies including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. Many are hoping that the attendance of some developing countries indicates that the challenges facing poor countries in light of the current crisis will be high on the agenda. Questions include how to protect poor communities from the impacts of the crisis, how countries can prevent losing recent gains made in combating poverty, and how the developing world – who is the most vulnerable – can be shielded from such crises in the future. While the inclusion of emerging economies at the meeting is an important step towards prioritizing development on the international economic agenda, many are doubtful that the G20 group will be able to establish guidelines that will benefit the developing world in the long-run.
The meeting is a precursor to the Doha international trade and development talks scheduled for the end of the month. ONE will be sending a team to Doha, so keep your eyes peeled for future posts about important outcomes from the meeting.
With the 2008 presidential election being held a week from today, it’s a great time to take stock of the progress made during the Bush administration and what challenges we’ll confront during the next administration.
Todd Moss, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, sat down for an interview about progress in US foreign aid under the Bush administration. He also discusses ideas for how the next president could potentially continue these efforts.
Q: What has the Bush administration done to strengthen U.S. engagement in Africa?
A: I don’t think it’s too strong to say that President Bush’s Africa policy is the most distinguished foreign policy legacy of the administration. Although few expected such interest eight years ago, the president has clearly been deeply and personally committed to strengthening U.S.-Africa relations. We have not only seen U.S. assistance levels to Africa skyrocket, but the whole debate about foreign aid and Africa has changed.
Q: How so?
A: A decade ago, Washington was still arguing about whether foreign aid was a waste or not and whether we had any real interests in Africa. Today, the discussion is about how to innovate, build partnerships, and fix our aid system. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) have been game-changers. Africa’s debt problem is essentially fixed. We have seen a huge spike in American trade and increased private investment. The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. has helped to launch more than a dozen private equity funds targeting the continent. American thinking on Africa has changed completely. It’s no coincidence that views of the U.S. are still overwhelmingly positive across Africa.
During yesterday’s White House Summit, President Bush expressed his view that America must remain committed to international development “regardless of the ebb and flow of the markets.”
You know, we meet today in the middle of a serious global financial crisis. Over the past few weeks, we have seen how the world’s economies are more interconnected than ever before. The crisis is having a major impact on working people all over the world — including many in developing nations.
During times of economic crisis, some may be tempted to turn inward — focusing on our problems here at home, while ignoring our interests around the world. This would be a serious mistake. America is committed — and America must stay committed — to international development for reasons that remain true regardless of the ebb and flow of the markets. We believe that development is in America’s security interests. We face an enemy that can’t stand freedom. And the only way they can recruit to their hateful ideology is by exploiting despair — and the best way to respond is to spread hope.
We believe that we ought to remain committed to development because it’s in our long-term economic interests. When America helps developing nations rise out of poverty, we create new markets for our goods and services, and better jobs for American workers. And we’re committed to development because it’s in our moral interests. I strongly believe in the timeless truth: To whom much is given, much is required. We are a blessed nation and I believe we have a duty to help those less fortunate around the world. We believe that power to save lives comes with the obligation to use it. And I believe our nation is better when we help people fight hunger and disease and illiteracy.
President Bush just finished addressing the UN Assembly in New York. During his remarks he pushed for stronger economic and HIV/AIDS fighting initiatives in Africa. He noted that “every country and institution that provides foreign assistance including the United Nations will be more effective by showing faith in the people of the developing world and insisting on performance in return for aid ”while asking countries to “adopt a model of partnership not paternalism.”
He also spoke at length about PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief):
Every nation that receives American support through this initiative develops its own plan for fighting HIV aids and measures the results. And so far these results are inspiring. 5 years ago 50,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today that number is nearly 1.7 million. We’re taking a similar approach to fighting malaria, and so far we’ve supported local efforts to protect more than 25 million Africans. …All [nations] who have made pledges to fight disease have an obligation to follow through on their commitments.
ONE’s Legislative Deputy Director Maryamu Aminu is sending in live updates from the PEPFAR signing at the White House.
3pm:
-Very exciting atmosphere in the east gold room. They usually have state dinners in here.
-The procession just arrived and are standing on stage. Primary cosponsors: Biden, Berman, Kerry, Payne, Sununu, Brownback, Lugar, Lee, Pence, Dybul, and Enzi.
-People in the room:
Africa diplomatic corps and 15 focus-country ambassadors
Mrs Lantos, for whose husband the bill is named
Malaria coordinator- Anthony Zeimer
The African Children’s Choir
Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS
-President and the First Lady just arrived – to applause. (more…)
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
