What We’re Reading 19/11/09

Nov 19th, 2009 5:06 PM UTC
By Steve Wilson

The Guardian—Bono and Geldof laud Queen’s speech commitment to global poverty relief
Bono and Bob Geldof welcomed Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to include in his legislative agenda the enshrinement in law of international development spending, which would put the government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on development from 2013 on to the statute books.”The proposal to make the 0.7% pledge legally binding is not just a great announcement, it is transformative of real lives, by a government that has led the world in keeping its promises to the world’s poorest people,” Bono said. “The next step is making sure this becomes law as soon as possible, in 2010.”

Voice of America—African Leaders Left Disappointed at End of UN Food Summit
A three-day United Nations food summit ended in Rome Wednesday without securing substantial new funds to combat world hunger, Voice of America News writes. Some African ministers left the summit saying world leaders are not doing enough to reduce soaring hunger levels on the continent.

Reuters—World leaders’ low turnout hits UN food summit
On a similar note about the U.N. food summit, Reuters writes that an absence of many world leaders undermined the summit from the start, and its final declaration showed little progress was made in the fight against hunger. U.N. officials put on a brave face throughout the November 16-18 Rome meeting, saying it had won broad support for the need to focus on longer-term agricultural development — rather than emergency aid — to help poor countries feed themselves. But the no-show by heavyweights from most of the world’s biggest economies lowered the summit’s profile, and did not help efforts to push malnutrition and food shortages to the top of the political agenda.

Reuters—Obama’s Democrats call for trade policy overhaul
A group of Democratic lawmakers urged President Obama on Wednesday to abandon the Doha round of global trade talks and start over with an agenda to protect labor rights and environmental standards. “We believe the Doha round should be declared dead,” Rep, Michael Michaud (D-ME), the chairman of a working group of U.S. lawmakers on trade issues, said at a news conference. The group is deeply skeptical of the free trade agenda that has dominated U.S. policy in recent years. Members say they are still waiting for Obama to keep campaign promises to reform U.S. trade policy to be more protective of American workers.

AllAfrica.com—Climate Change and the Population ‘Bomb’: A Debate Not to Shy Away From
The United Nations Population Fund released its “State of the World Population 2009″ report on Wednesday. It chose to take up a politically delicate topic, the relationship between climate change, population stabilization and the importance of gender. The fundamental question it seeks to address is: how much of a threat is the growth in population to the world and how much of this increase will lead to a spike in greenhouse gas emissions? As the report demonstrates, answers are not straightforward.

AFP—Eat local rice? Senegalese say no thanks
Similar to other poor but agriculturally-focused countries, the Senegalese government had what seemed a reasonable idea after last year’s food crisis: have the country grow and eat its own rice instead of sticking with the practice of importing tons from Asia. It was part of a larger plan to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. But the Senegalese, who serve rice with so many meals, said no thanks. Why? That’s where it gets sticky, writes the AFP. Explanations range from taste to social standing to the legacy of colonialism. Whatever the reason, the government is now figuring out how to promote locally grown rice and hopes to import none of the staple by 2012.

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