World Bank

G20 Summit- Day After ReCap

Apr 3rd, 2009 9:08 AM UTC
By Virginia Simmons

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

Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health at a Crossroads

Feb 26th, 2009 12:04 PM UTC
By Lisa.Fleisher

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH) and the World Bank co-hosted a seminar last Wednesday on how to achieve MDGs 4 and 5 through strengthening health systems and increasing international and domestic financing for key maternal and child health interventions. MDG 4 calls for a two-thirds reduction in child mortality, and MDG 5 calls for a three quarters reduction in maternal mortality and increased access to reproductive health services. Countries are off-track to achieve these MDGs, and there has been almost no progress in reducing maternal mortality in Africa. Seminar participants discussed how to jump-start progress through more effective and efficient financing.

Financing for health systems has been dwarfed in recent years by financing for infectious diseases. While some progress has been made in the prevention and control of diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, too many women and children in poor countries still die every year of diseases that are no longer issues in the wealthier world. The global community is now increasing its attention on building health systems in developing countries to maximize and sustain investments in infectious diseases and to address the root causes of poor maternal and child health.

The High-Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems is at the center of global efforts to estimate the resource needs to strengthen health systems and define the mechanisms that can accomplish this goal. Launched in September 2008 and co-chaired by World Bank President Robert Zoellick and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Task Force has among its members high-level policymakers from key donor and recipient country governments. Operating under the premise that more aid is necessary – but better aid is absolutely critical – the Task Force has two working groups estimating the global price tags and country-level costs of achieving the MDGs. A key emphasis of the ongoing work is on the right mix of innovative financing mechanisms to deliver aid more effectively and efficiently. Accountability for funding and the results it achieves is high priority for donors, recipient countries, and civil society. The Task Force will deliver the results of the working groups at the G8 meeting in July, including recommendations on the appropriate mix of financing mechanisms to strengthen health systems and ultimately improve maternal and child health outcomes.

-Lisa Fleisher

Highlights from the G20

Nov 18th, 2008 9:12 AM UTC
By Beth Adler

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Anti-Corruption: (more…)

Readings: G20 Summit

Nov 14th, 2008 9:14 AM UTC
By Chris Scott

Here are a handful of articles we rounded up about this weekend’s G20 summit:

The Economist looks at this weekend’s G20 meeting, saying that while the rules of the global financial system cannot be rewritten in a five-hour powwow, some useful things can come out of the meeting, such as commitments on trade and on reforming the IMF.

Ban Ki-moon has appealed to leaders meeting at a financial summit in Washington this weekend not to let the global crisis become a “human tragedy” for people in poor countries. In a letter to leaders of the G20 Ban said, “The poorest and most vulnerable everywhere, but particularly in the developing countries, will be the most affected” by the world growth slowdown now being predicted. We need most of all to join forces to take immediate action to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a human tragedy.”

In Great Britain, Gordon Brown has called for a new international financial architecture, citing the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 as an example. The Bretton Woods agreement, which resulted in the creation of the IMF and World Bank, is particularly relevant today as we address the “need for global policy co-ordination in tackling” this financial crisis.

The New York Times editorial board today examines some of the challenges that confront the G20 during America’s presidential transition. The Times champions the need for all the participating 20 of the world’s leading economies to reach fundamental agreements as a platform to “begin a serious discussion about the roots of the financial crisis and set the stage for future meetings to discuss substantive reforms.”

-Steve Wilson and Chris Scott

Status check: debt relief delivery

Nov 11th, 2008 10:39 AM UTC
By Andreas Huebers

Last month, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund released their annual report on the status of debt cancellation for the world’s poorest countries.

The report monitors the two initiatives that channel debt relief: the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, called MDRI. Together, these two initiatives have mobilized debt relief for 41 of the world’s poorest countries, 33 of which are in Africa. In exchange for debt relief, poor countries adopt economic policy reforms and agree to channel the debt savings to poverty reduction activities.

ONE’s debt expert and Berlin-based Policy Manager Andreas Huebers sent along the following summary after combing through the report:

In September, the IMF and World Bank released their annual report on the progress of debt cancellation. In the last year, two African countries have started to benefit from debt relief- Liberia (which ONE members helped make possible) and the Central African Republic. The Gambia has also completed its debt relief program. These developments bring the overall debt cancellation provided by the HIPC and MDRI initiatives from $105 billion to $111 billion. The next African countries that are expected to progress to the next stage in the coming months are Togo, Cote d’Ivoire Burundi and Guinea.

Debt relief is continuing to free up government resources to fight poverty. The report found that in post-decision point HIPC countries, government expenditures targeting poverty reduction increased on average from under 7% of GDP in 2000 to 9% in 2006. This translated to $17 billion in 2006, which represents a substantial increase of $3 billion since 2005. These expenditures are more than five times the level what countries now paying to service their debts, a major improvement from a decade ago when some countries were spending more repaying old debts than on health and education combined.

Read more about how the financial crisis might impact debt cancellation.

(more…)

Breaking News: $3 Billion in New Malaria Funding!!

Sep 25th, 2008 12:53 PM UTC
By ONE Partners

Reporting to you live from outside the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit…

At the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit in New York today, global leaders in health, government and business announced over $3 billion in new malaria money to help spur the world toward ending malaria deaths by 2015 – making it the single biggest day for malaria announcements in the history of the fight against the disease.

Speakers including Bono, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, President Kagame of Rwanda and President Kikwete of Tanzania discussed how far the world has come in recent years to combat malaria and how far we still have to go. Peter Chernin, President and COO of News Corporation and Malaria No More Chairman, helped moderate the event, adding that malaria is not an isolated disease but both a consequence and cause of extreme poverty.

Two of the biggest announcements were from the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, announced $1.1 billion as funding for Phase II of the World Bank Booster Program and Rajat Gupta, Chair of the Global Fund, announced Round 8 funding recommendations for malaria control efforts totaling $1.62 billion.

In celebrating the new commitments, grassroots support and political will that is driving the worldwide effort to end malaria deaths, event host UN Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers urged the community not to become complacent. While today represents a big step forward, the race to end deaths – 3,000 children every day – is far from over.

For more information on the event and commitments, visit www.MalariaNoMore.org.

-Emily Bergantino, Communications Officer, Malaria No More