5. Policy
change since 2005: what more needs to happen
Last year,
MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
called for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and
better aid. So what happened and what more needs to happen?
Trade Justice: Trade talks
What rich
country governments promised:
The present round of world trade talks, launched in Doha,
Qatar in 2001, was supposed to have development concerns at
its core. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial
meeting in December 2005 was last year’s final chance to
progress a just trade deal for the world's poor. In
unprecedented numbers, citizens across the world called on
rich countries at the WTO to stop pushing poor countries to
open up their markets against their will and to end export
dumping that damages the livelihoods of poor people.
But the
potential for justice for the world’s poorest people was
squandered. The 2005 WTO Hong Kong meeting failed to deliver
the trade justice deal needed to make poverty history. The G8
in Gleneagles had said a world trade deal that favoured poor
nations should be agreed. Yet the intransigence of rich
countries meant the partial agreement that was reached was far
from just for the poor of the world. Promises were betrayed.
What’s
actually happened:
In 2006, the greed and selfishness of rich nations has
continued, to the point that the present round of world trade
talks collapsed in July. The crisis at the WTO has resulted in
these talks being suspended.
The
aggressive positions of the European Union (EU) and the US
have made it certain that there will not be a world trade deal
that will help make poverty history at the WTO in the
foreseeable future. The responsibility for the WTO failing the
world's poor rests with the governments of rich countries.
They have not shown the political will to deliver trade
justice and make trade work for poor people.
What’s
still needed:
The Trade Justice Movement is again calling on the UK
government and its partners in the EU to stop the push for
developing countries to open their economies and to truly
respect their right to decide on trade policies that will help
them end poverty.
The WTO
talks may have been put on ice, but they are not the only
trade negotiations the UK takes part in.
Last year,
in response to the public’s calls to make poverty history, the
UK government promised to make trade work for the poor. Yet it
is on course for a devastating act of betrayal. Together with
its partners in Europe, the UK is part of a push to have some
of the poorest nations on the planet sign up to grossly unfair
trade deals.
The deals
are called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and we have
to act fast. Poor farmers and vulnerable producers will be
forced into unfair competition with rich nations. The lives of
750 million of the world’s poorest people in Africa and poor
countries worldwide are in the balance.
Take Action:
Send an email to Alistair Darling, the UK Trade and Industry
Secretary (www.makepovertyhistory.org/mph/campaign.do?code=dti)
asking him to use his influence to stop these deals going
ahead, to listen to the serious concerns of poor countries and
work with those countries to develop new deals that will help
deliver trade justice. Ground Floor, Victory House, 30-34
Kingsway, London WC2B 6EX
alistair.darling@dft.gsi.gov.uk.
Send
postcards to Alistair Darling, the UK Trade and Industry
Secretary, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany – the
country that holds the presidencies of the EU and G8 in 2007.
Order more cards for public events from the Trade Justice
Movement. Angela Merkel’s address is
Bundeskanzleramt
Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel
Willy-Brandt-Straße 1
10557 Berlin
For more information on Trade Justice
and what you can do in the Global Month of Action visit:
www.tjm.org.uk
Trade Justice: Right Corporate Wrongs
What the
UK government has been called to do: In 2006, the UK
government has a unique opportunity to act on its promises to
make poverty history. New laws on companies are being made in
Parliament right now. The legislation – called the Company Law
Reform Bill - is this country’s chance to make UK business fit
for the 21st century and make laws that stop big business
profiting at the expense of people and the environment (one of
the key demands of Make Poverty History last year).
At
present, UK companies are only accountable to their
shareholders for delivering profits. There is no requirement
for them to take steps to protect the health, environment, and
livelihoods of poor communities around the world who are
affected by their operations.
The Trade
Justice Movement is calling for the UK government to back
amendments to the Company Law Reform Bill so that:
-
companies
are legally required to report on their social and
environmental impacts
-
company
directors are legally obliged to minimise any damage their
company does to local communities and the environment
-
people
overseas who are harmed by the activities of a UK company
are able to take action against them in a UK court
What’s
actually happened:
The Company Law Reform Bill entered Parliament late in 2005 in
a form that would still allow UK companies to pursue profits
at the expense of workers’ rights, human rights and
environmental sustainability. But thanks to your emails,
letters and visits to MPs, the Right Corporate Wrongs campaign
now has widespread support in Parliament.
MPs have
not yet voted on proposed amendments but campaigning and
lobbying has resulted in small improvements in the drafts of
the legislation, for example on how companies will have to
report on what they do. Yet there is still a long way to go if
this country is to have trade justice laws on corporations.
The Global Month of Action is the key time to make sure
politicians strengthen company law and vote in favour of
making companies respect the rights of people and the planet.
What’s
still needed:
The UK Government and MPs of all parties must look again at
their positions on corporate accountability and improving the
impacts of companies on communities and the environment. The
Government has not been ambitious enough in making business
work for people and planet.
MPs come
back to Parliament on 9 October. Soon after, the Company Law
Reform Bill will come back to the House of Commons as the
Government wants to get the legislation passed by early
November in time for the state opening of Parliament on 15
November. We need to have one last big push from early
September through to Global White Band Day on 17 October. Your
MP will have the opportunity to vote to strengthen the rules
on UK companies to make them more accountable for their
impacts. Make sure they do.
Take
Action:
Contact your MP and call on them to support our campaign for
laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people
and the environment. You can email your MP and/or arrange a
face-to-face meeting. You will find everything you need and
more information on the Trade Justice Movement website:
www.tjm.org.uk
Debt
cancellation
What the
G8 promised:
That it would cancel most of the debts of some of the world’s
poorest countries were paying to the International Monetary
Fund, World Bank and African Development Fund. This meant some
debt cancellation for 21 countries in 2006 with up to another
21 countries eligible to benefit in future.
What’s
actually happened:
This debt cancellation has started. Countries like Zambia and
Tanzania have begun making use of the money released by debt
cancellation. This has included providing emergency food
supplies in the face of drought, hiring more teachers and
making healthcare available without charge.
What’s
still needed:
1.
If debt cancellation is to be really effective, more
debts and more countries must be included. The G8 debt deal
didn’t include important creditors like the Inter-American
Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and didn’t
include countries like Kenya and Indonesia, which also
urgently need debt cancellation. In total, the G8 deal
cancelled only about 10% of what is needed.
2.
There must be an end to the damaging conditions
attached to debt cancellation. In order to qualify for debt
relief, poor countries must still privatise services, still
cut public spending, and still harm their own farmers and
producers by opening their markets. The UK must put more
pressure on the World Bank and IMF to end these conditions,
including by withholding funding (and giving it to poor
countries by other means) until they are brought to an end.
3.
The current system for dealing with debt is one-sided
and unfair: instead there should be a new process that is
focused on justice, meets the needs of the poorest people,
allows debtor nations a proper voice and recognises that
creditors also have responsibility for the debt crisis.
Take
action:
Contact your MP and ask them to support the ‘Cut the Strings’
campaign to end damaging conditions attached to debt relief.
Ask them to write to Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for
International Development, urging him to put pressure on the
World Bank and IMF – including by withholding funding – until
there is an end to these conditions. You will find everything
you need on the Jubilee Debt Campaign website:
www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk
More
and better aid
What the
G8 promised:
An extra US$50 billion (£27 billion) in aid a year by 2010,
with half going to Africa, and which would make a real
difference to the lives of people living in poverty.
What’s
actually happened:
Despite headline figures much of the aid increase in 2005 was
accounted for by debt relief, mainly for Iraq and Nigeria.
While debt relief is vital for fighting poverty, developing
countries need both debt cancellation and more and better aid.
What’s
still needed:
For the G8 aid promises to have a real impact on improving the
lives of the poor, the UK and other donor countries must
ensure that debt cancellation is additional to increased aid.
More aid must also be accompanied by further changes in the
way it is delivered, to ensure that money is spent on poverty
reduction, is fully untied, is aligned to developing
countries’ needs and priorities and is free of harmful
economic policy conditions. In particular, rich countries must
press the World Bank and IMF to stop imposing economic
conditionalities such as forced liberalisation and
privatisation on developing countries.
In
addition to delivering aid promises, there is a need to reform
the International Financial Institutions that govern
multilateral aid flows. The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) should be truly democratised, by making
them more transparent, opening up their leadership selection,
giving a greater say to developing countries and ensuring
parliamentary oversight of their activities.
HIV/AIDS
What the
G8 promised:
As close as possible to universal access to treatment for all
those who need it by 2010.
What’s
actually happened:
The response has neither matched the extent of the crisis nor
the commitments made. Although access to treatment has been
rising steadily over the last two years, only 1.3 million
people in the developing world are receiving antiretrovirals (ARVs)
- far short total of the 6.5 million who need them urgently.
Only 5% of the estimated 700,000 HIV positive children in need
of treatment are receiving it – and the majority of those are
in the developed world. Inadequate funding seriously threatens
the Global Fund’s ability to make urgently needed new grants,
while significant barriers remain to accessing cheaper generic
medicines.
What’s
still needed:
Countries including the UK need to work far harder to achieve
the massive scale-up efforts needed to realize universal
access by 2010, and ensure children are included in national
and international treatment targets. Specifically, they need
to:
-
Ensure
that $20 billion is made available each year to finance
universal access, including full funding of the Global Fund,
and that IMF and World Bank-imposed macroeconomic policies
do not prevent investment in health infrastructure.
-
Provide
financial, technical and political support to ensure that
new lines of generic medicines – particularly for the
patented brands Kaletra and Viread – are available for use
by the G8 in 2007, and all barriers to their production,
export and import are overcome.
-
Lead
international efforts to ensure a massive scaling-up of
health systems, free at the point of use, including a
comprehensive strategy to train, support and retain health
workers.
Take
Action:
Add your eyes to our photo petition and tell political leaders
that the world is watching them. Come and see young people
from around the world talk about HIV in their community at a
meeting near you – and get your MP to come too. All
information and actions:
www.stopaidscampaign.org.uk
Education
What the
G8 promised for education:
Last year the G8 committed an extra $50 billion in aid to
developing countries by 2010. Education was highlighted as a
key area for targeting this aid increase, with their
communiqué giving a specific mention to the education
Millennium Development Goal and enabling all children to have
a "free and compulsory education of good quality by 2015". The
G8 communiqué also pledged support for the Education For All
Fast Track Initiative – the global plan to match good quality
education plans with extra donor cash.
The aid
increase was welcomed, but there's great concern that the aid
increase will arrive too late to help most of the 100 million
children who are out of school. All children have to start
school by 2009 at the latest if even the minimum target of
universal primary completion by 2015 is to be reached. The
drastic effects of the lack of finances was demonstrated in
2005, when the only Millennium Development Goal set for that
year – getting an equal number of boys and girls into school –
was missed in over 90 countries.
What's
actually happened:
After tireless education campaigners there have been increases
in aid to education, although the financing shortfall that is
keeping children out of school is still vast. Around $10
billion a year is needed between now and 2015 to open the
gates of learning to all. Countries approved through the Fast
Track Initiative - around 20 low-income nations so far - are
still short of around $400 million altogether.
A number
of donors, including Russia, Canada and Spain, have made
commitments to basic education through the Fast Track
Initiative since 2005. And in March 2006 the UK pledged to
prioritise aid to primary education with the new aid spend due
to come on stream between now and 2015. They have committed a
minimum of $15 billion over the next 10 years, with an
immediate downpayment to FTI of $200 million and more expected
in coming years.
At the
2006 G8 summit, once again warm words were issued on the
subject of Education For All, but no more cash was put on the
table, and there was little pressure on the 'lagging' donors
for them to live up to the promises made the previous year.
What's
still needed:
It is crucial that rich countries do not wait further to
commit funds but immediately put money into the global finance
partnership for education: the Education for All Fast Track
Initiative (FTI). At least 51 countries can meet the FTI's
conditions and make education for all a reality but are
blocked by the lack of funds – the total financing requirement
for FTI will be around $3 billion per year once all these
countries are approved.
Time is
running out, the finance gap must be filled immediately. All
children must be able to start school by 2009 at the latest if
the Millennium Development Goal education target – of
universal primary school completion by 2015 – is to be met.
|
Download
a sample