August 21st, 2008 at 10:59 am | posted by Chris.Scott
This article from yesterday’s International Herald Tribune offers an excellent rundown of where the U.S.’s support currently stands for global trade talks. People like U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab are diligently working behind the scenes to ensure that trade talks continue throughout the remainder of President Bush’s presidency and onto the next administration. Schwab makes the excellent point that whoever the next U.S. President may be, it is up to all of us to build the political will necessary to continue these vital WTO trade talks.
The most significant WTO meeting in three years aimed to pull off a broad compromise that, in short, would have let poor countries sell more produce to rich countries while giving the U.S., 27-nation EU and Japan new chances for their manufacturers and service providers in the emerging markets of Brazil, China and India.
“There are always going to be elections. There are always going to be politics intervening,” [Schwab] said, adding that the U.S. would continue to look for a trade package that generates global growth, alleviates poverty, creates new opportunities for American exporters and combats protectionism at home and abroad. “If there is a deal out there that meets those criteria, I don’t care when it shows up,” Schwab said. “We have to go for it. It can’t be dictated by our electoral cycle or anyone else’s.”
July 28th, 2008 at 10:47 am | posted by Virginia Simmons
Last week a crew of ONE staff and American leaders took a trip to Rwanda to see effective-U.S. aid at work. I just got in this clip of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Center for the American Progress President John Podesta talking about their visit to a specialty-coffee-washing station just outside of Kigali.
Senator Bill Frist, MD:
“We’re at a specialty-coffee-washing station in Rwanda, Kigali,- just outside of Kigali, Rwanda. Why is it important? It is because of economic development. In a country that is mainly plagued by poverty, what you see behind me, the employment of over 200 women, women who double their income by working at this specialty-coffee-washing station will now have that opportunity to put their kids in school, to put a roof over their head, to empower their family to earn an income in the future that indeed can capture their dreams and translate their hopes and dreams into a reality.”
John Podesta:
“Rwanda has a “Rwanda 2020 Plan” to try to really make sure that growth is widespread and that it affects everyone. And you saw a real spirit of entrepreneurship here today. We saw women sorting coffee earning about 50% more than they were earning in their livelihood. Before that we saw a young Rwanda entrepreneur who had built that coffee-washing station. The focus in on specialty coffee. Rwanda has always produced a lot of coffee, but now they’re producing for the high-end, and that’s a team effort, but just there’s just a lot of spirit and optimism about the capacity to get this country really moving again. And get the kids in school. Get the people working. And get some income into people’s pockets.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 am | posted by Sen.Bill.Frist.M.D
July 19, 2 pm
Nyandugu Coffee Washing Station
How in the world can you take an economy in which over 50% of the population is under the poverty level, is landlocked, ranks somewhere around 160th out of 180 countries on the “Developmental Scale,” and even think about “making extreme poverty history?” as we in ONE like to say.
Answer: Establish viable, sustainable economic growth based on the resources that you have. And the resources that Rwanda naturally have are agriculture (even though it is the most densely populated country in Africa) and tourism (they showcase the upland or mountain gorilla, the magnificent cousins to the lowland gorillas—those whom I used to take care of in the National Zoo –– but more on that in a couple of days).
First, the ONE delegation went to see a fantastic partnership at a “Coffee Washing Station,” owned by the Alfred Nkubili. Our U.S. government, namely USAID, has partnered with the owner and manager to establish a coffee bean washing station. This station purchases coffee beans (”cherries” actually) from farmers (many peasant farmers) and then they process the bean through a washing cycle that separates the beans by quality. These beans become the specialty coffee beans that are sold to Starbucks and specialty coffee shops across America.
To accommodate the burgeoning specialty coffee market, these washing stations hire about 200 women to separate and process the beans. At these facilities, these women’s salaries are double to what they could make elsewhere. And a doubling of their salary means (more…)
July 10th, 2008 at 2:47 pm | posted by Ben Hubbard
African development was again the subject of G8 discussions as world leaders gathered in Toyako, Hokkaido in northern Japan from July 7-9 for the 2008 G8 Summit. While the G8 was confronted with multiple global challenges, including climate change and a weakening global economy, the 2008 Hokkaido Summit marked an important “mid point” moment in the fight against poverty. The Hokkaido Summit came at the critical halfway point to both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the G8 Gleneagles promises to Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on their landmark commitments to the region, having delivered only $3 billion of the promised $25 billion in additional assistance to Africa by 2010, according to the 2008 DATA Report.
After difficult negotiations, the G8 summit yielded small gains for the poorest. The bulk of G8 agreements on development and Africa and food security reiterated previous pledges rather than outlining new measures to get the group back on track. The G8 did announce plans for a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, though more details are needed to ensure its effectiveness and delivery. They highlighted the UN High-level meeting on the MDGs in September as an important opportunity to review progress and identify actions needed to overcome remaining challenges.
At a time when G8 credibility is at risk due to slow progress in delivering on commitments, there was a strong call for greater accountability in the G8 Communique. The G8 agreed to track progress against previous commitments in health, education, water and agriculture, as well as its compliance with anti-corruption measures.
Overall, the US, UK and Germany provided strong leadership in negotiations and have significantly increased their funding for Africa in recent years.
After the jump, the following brief overview of outcomes for Africa from the 2008 G8 Summit.
Giuliani was questioned on whether he would renew PEPFAR, or the President’s Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief, which is due to expire in 2008….
“I would continue that and if necessary expand it and am very open to it,” Giuliani said. “I talked to the president about it a long time back. That is something I would very much support.”
“I would try to increase dramatically trade with Africa,” Giuliani said. “Because what we’re really trying to do is help Africa get to the point where the African countries can take care of this problem themselves.”
“There’s nothing better than to help to make people self-sufficient, and aid helps them get through crisis, but then trade helps them to self-sufficiency.”
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