Entries For: April 2009

GCAP’s journey has entered the 5th year of its struggle against poverty and inequality in 2008 experiencing a lot of change in terms of the global environment and GCAP’s own place within that, as well as welcoming new supporters and partnerships.

Externally, GCAP ran very successful campaigns around key political opportunities and set a new world record for mobilising more than 116 million people to end poverty in 131 countries at its annual Stand up take Action mobilisation.

Internally, the GCAP Global Foundation was formed as an independent not-for-profit legal entity registered in the Netherlands. In December 2008, after a wide consultation around the movement, the Global Council approved the GCAP Strategic Directions for the year 2009-2011, setting out key issues and objectives for GCAP.

The Annual Report 2008 will take you through the key moments and behind the scenes of GCAP in the past year.  From the amazing range of activities conducted by GCAP national coalitions in Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Arab Region and North America to the political influence and public face of the campaign, you will read about how the imperative for ending poverty edged a little closer to our goals and what lies ahead.

GCAP Annual report 2008 - Arabic (pdf)

GCAP Annual report 2008 - English (pdf)

GCAP Annual report 2008 - French (pdf)

GCAP Annual report 2008 - Portuguese (pdf)

GCAP Annual report 2008 - Spanish (pdf)

The extraordinary financial crisis and rapid rise of the G20 as an alternative forum for global decision-making has put a date on the shelf-life of the G8.  What ever the final make-up of the new global forum (G20 or G13), the traditional G8 seems destined to change. But, it still has a number of major commitments coming due in 2010 that must not be avoided, forgotten or watered down. The G8 cannot play against the clock in delaying much needed resources to the poorest nor can it walk away from its pledges to just to join another larger grouping to make new pledges.

The financial crisis has had an enormous impact on the developing countries and the poorest within those countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the number of people without access to sufficient food has risen by 150 million to reach 1 billion – all in the course of two years. This crisis needs the sort of response seen within the G8 countries in terms of bailing-out banks and crediting car companies.

However, the response by the G8 countries has been poor, in-terms of its 2005 pledges. Overseas Development Aid (ODA) has been decreasing in G8 countries – quite substantially in the G8 host country Italy. Commitments to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support and education, particularly the EFA Fast-Track Initiative remain seriously off track.  G8 member states are also continuing to fail to meet the resource demands placed on the Global Fund. While the recent commitment by the UK government, announced in its 2009 budget, to keep to its projected increase in actual ODA spending levels despite the financial crisis is commended, the G8 as a group is not rallying together to meet the pledges, rather, the group appears to be readying itself to abandon its promises.

This cannot be allowed to happen. The global financial crisis will have a long and enduring tail in developing countries. The loss of progress on health, HIV/AIDS, education and climate change will not be addressed in months – like the markets, but rather in-terms of decades.

The G8 Working Group has set out in this document the actions necessary for the G8 to take to meet its previous commitments and make the appropriate response to the financial crisis and its impacts on the poorest. The Gleneagles Commitments can be achieved in full and on time, it just requires the necessary leadership and political will to make it so.

For a full overview of our common  'asks', download the GCAP G8 Common Lobbying Positions paper.

The United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development will take place from 1 – 3 June at UN Headquarters in New York.

President of the General Assembly Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said “We now have the opportunity and the responsibility to search for solutions that take into account the interests of all nations, the rich and the poor, the large and the small. This is the mission of the G-192 [all UN Member States] amongst the international processes searching for solutions.”

Find out background information on the UN Conference as well as an overview of the main recommendations of the “Stiglitz Commission” from this briefing from UN-NGLS blog.choike.org/eng/?p=267

On-line registration for the UN Summit – DEADLINE MAY 13TH

The on-line registration for the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development (1-3 June), also referred to as the ‘UN Summit,’ is now open for Non-governmental Organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC as well as those that were granted ad hoc accreditation to the International Conference on Financing for Development (ICFfD) or its follow-up process.

Please review the registration ahead of time as filling it out may take some time, particularly if you are applying for a speaker’s slot.  Completed registration forms must be received by 13 May 2009. 

For the on-line registration, go to www.un-ngls.org/juneconference

NGLS bulletin and updates on June UN Summit

UN-NGLS will be publishing an on-line bi-weekly bulletin on the June UN Summit.  Please see the first bulletin for more information and to sign up for alerts at www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?article950

For those following the financial and economic crisis processes, this weekend the GCAP Feminist Task Force (FTF) participated in a Women’s Consultation organized by the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD) in the lead up to the ECOSOC High Level Meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) today, Monday, 27 April.

The main purpose of the Women’s Consultation is to develop a lobbying paper and strategy with a view towards the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development (1-3 June) as well as to provide input into today’s ECOSOC High Level Meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, WTO and UNCTAD.

Read the consultation paper that came out of this meeting.

Rosa Lizarde - GCAP FTF

“Education on the Brink” shows that without significant changes to the IMF architecture and removal of conditionalities, the poorest nations will remain unable to lift themselves out of recession.  Education systems will be left to languish without desperately-needed funds and the teacher workforce, already squeezed, is likely to face further pressure. The future of millions of children and illiterate adults now rests on whether the new cash injection given by the G20 to the IMF is accompanied by a substantive overhaul of macroeconomic policy frameworks, say GCE members.

“A good education is everyone’s human right, essential for individual growth as well as the economic growth of every nation.  Paying teachers is not a luxury expenditure, nor is it optional. There’s not a single IMF worker who got to their position without a good education and a bunch of great teachers.  Everyone should have this chance, and that means making the resources available to recruit, train and pay teachers”, commented Kailash Satyarthi, GCE President.

Download the full report Education on the Brink: Will the IMF’s new lease on life ease or block progress towards education goals? (PDF)

Since the subsequent elections will be held in 2014, these 2009 elections are the last chance to elect a European Parliament that will be committed to put an end to poverty and inequality by the MDG target date.

This represents a key opportunity for pan-European campaigning on development issues and national coalitions are taking the lead in promoting the public visibility of the economic and social justice agenda.

One example is from the GCAP national coalition in Malta. SKOP is the National Platform of Maltese NGDOs and, in preparation of the coming elections to the European Parliament, they have just released a Manifesto on MDGs, which has been disseminated to  candidates, in order to explore their positions regarding development issues.

The Manifesto calls on Members of European Parliament (MEP) to ensure that EU policies are in line with development objectives, especially taking into account issues like gender equity, climate justice, financing for development, the necessary reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and trade policy, the links between migration and development and the importance of democratic accountability.

Download the SKOP / MEP Manifesto. More information available at www.skopmalta.org  

The fact that one in every four women cannot read this is the incentive for the Global Campaign for Education’s huge international effort to put literacy on the forefront of the global agenda and ensure that the international community take the steps to ensure Education for All.  Some of the world’s favourite personalities are leading the way in the effort that will see millions of individuals ‘Write their name, for those who can’t’, during Global Action Week 20th – 26th April 2009.

The Big Read is taking part during 20th – 26th April, 2009, and we’re expecting more than 10 million people to take part.  There are high profile events taking place in all countries, with children reading stories to their politicians, running writing competitions, and reading circles.  Keep an eye on the Global Campaign for Education website for news of high level events around the world, and to add your name to the Big Read:
www.campaignforeducation.org/bigread 

GCAP national coalitions are taking part in the Global Action Week, for example GCAP Kenya is working with several partners on activities this week around the theme "eradicate illiteracy, realize universal primary education" an adaptation of the overall theme reflecting concerns in Kenya. National Coalitions can download resources from the Big Read website.

This would spell disaster for the millions of people suffering from rising hunger and climate change and living in deep poverty across the developing world.

When Gordon Brown finally emerged to announce the terms of the "deal", those of us watching were cautiously optimistic. He spoke of the more than USD 1 trillion for emergency loans to help struggling countries. The scale seemed impossible to grasp and the mechanisms for delivering it to the poorest countries appeared dubious, to say the least.

That the G20 proposes to deliver such massive new resources mostly through existing International Financial Institutions such as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and regional development banks, which have in the past insisted on failed policies
of globalisation as a condition for poor countries getting their help, is perhaps the most worrying aspect.

Poor country governments have often been forced to implement policies of free trade and deregulation of their financial markets, and caps have been imposed on government spending for health and education. Will this continue now? The meeting was not clear.

We have been saying for years that these institutions urgently need to be reformed, and giving them more money without thorough reforms may not help the people who need the help the most.

We were also wary of the lack of detail in their communique on using stimulus investments to build a green economy.

It all boils down to the big governance question; is this the forum best suited to make these decisions and really tackle the flawed financial order that has been created recklessly over decades?

The G20, comprised of a tiny fraction of the world's nations, is not  the best place to work out the details of how to address the multiple global crises the world faces. The details need to be addressed at the UN, which has 192 member states. UN meetings coming up later this year -the United Nations Conference on the World Economic and Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Development, set for June, and the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December- will be key to moving forward on these issues, so we must be there and we must make sure they are not sidelined. Sarkozy cannot speak for Bangladesh, nor can Brown for Zimbabwe.

We cannot fix in one day what has been broken for more than 30 years.

We have long attended summits and meetings of world leaders which promised big on development aid and financing but delivered little.

Frankly the words of our leaders often ring hollow. For Africa alone, the donors are USD 40 billion behind on the aid commitments they made at Gleneagles in July 2005. Countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, need untied grant money to help them achieve the MDGs: ODA, not more loans. Otherwise, the solution itself could become a problem. The reaffirmation of the commitment of the G20 to achieving their respective ODA pledges, including commitments on Aid for Trade, debt relief, and the Gleneagles commitments, especially to sub-Saharan Africa, is therefore welcome.

This is about something real. Poor countries are in utter despair. They are suffering from the crippling effects of inflated food and energy prices, and from worsening climate change, and now they're being hit by a financial crisis that their governments played no part in causing.

We really need equal representation of all the world's countries on a fair platform to repair a de-stabilised and tipping global economy.

The sentiments expressed in the G20 communique are good but it lacks the important details showing how the poor will be protected and how money will be channelled to the neediest women and children. Those of us in the anti-poverty movement will not be able to relax for a minute in the months ahead. We will be poised at the upcoming World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington, at the UN meetings in June and December, and of course the meeting of that even more elite group of nations, the G8, in July. This struggle is far from over. Only if we step up the pressure considerably will we be able to deliver justice to those that deserve it the most. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

THE GCAP E-LETTER - APRIL 8 2009 - EDITION #40 

For the first time ever, the parliament is discussing about increasing the ODA four-year budget more than the government has proposed. The State Council (Senate) and the National Council agreed to approve an increasing up to 0.5% and requested the government to present a corresponding credit application in 2009. The GCAP campaign has contributed to significant change in public opinion from “aid is useless and there's no need to increase it" into the opposite. The anti-aid-campaign that some influential media had been leading since 2005 has ebbed away last winter.