Europe Pressed to Lead Where G8 Failed

BOND

CAN EUROPE LEAD WHERE G8 FAILED?

ONE MILLION VOICES CALL ON EUROPEAN LEADERS TO END POVERTY NOW!

As EU leaders gather in Brussels to discuss the future of Europe, campaigners are reminding them of their obligations in the fight against global poverty.

Over the past few months, in a petition coordinated by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), more than 1 million people have demanded German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU leaders take urgent action on aid, debt cancellation, trade justice and climate change. Last week, despite intense public pressure, many of these same leaders failed to make any meaningful progress on the issues when they met at the G8 summit in Germany

Alison Marshall, Advocacy Manager at BOND, said: �Europe is so important in the worldwide battle against global poverty. EU countries currently provide 52% of all development aid. Europe is also the world�s largest trade block, so is pivotal to efforts to make trade fair and just for developing countries.�

In 2005, European and G8 governments pledged to increase aid dramatically, particularly to Africa, and 80% of this new aid was to come from the EU. Yet overall aid increases have been very slow, and aid volumes to Africa have been static since 2004.

In 2007, Europe aims to conclude trade negotiations with 76 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific � the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). A number of countries have made it clear that more time is needed for pro-development trade agreements to be negotiated, and campaigners are asking the European Commission to stop using aggressive negotiation tactics to push unfair trade deals.

Alison Marshall, Advocacy Manager at BOND, added: �G8 leaders have already responded to campaigners with a disgraceful lack of urgency. For millions of people around the world, giving up the fight against poverty is not an option. In Africa, 6,000 people die of AIDS every day. A woman dies in childbirth every minute. Our message to EU leaders is clear: play your role in the world and act against poverty now.�

Media contacts: Marco Serena, BOND +44 (0)7809768110
Ciara O�Sullivan, GCAP +34 (0)679594809

Notes

BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development) is the UK network of over 300 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in international development and emergency relief. BOND is part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a movement of national campaigning coalitions, in over 100 countries, with the aim of ending extreme poverty in our lifetimes. Since 2005, over 60 million actions have been taken under the umbrella of GCAP.

The Voices Against Poverty petition is a global petition, coordinated by the German GCAP coalition, calling on EU and G8 leaders to take action on poverty.

10,000 people demonstrated in London on 2nd of June to give their voice against poverty. You can read more here about specific policy demands.

On 21-22 June, EU Member States� Heads of State and Government will meet in Brussels for the European Council chaired by Angela Merkel, German Chancellor. They will discuss how to take forward the debate on the European Constitution and the future of the European Union. Learn more here.

Comment List

"Fighting Poverty - the real problem"

Author: John Coombes

Time: 06/20/2007 12:01

Comment: What concerns me in the fight against global poverty, and why it seems to be getting worse, not better, is an attitude of mind.
The G8 heads comprise many of the EU heads and so similar thinking dominates both decision making "machines".
If we look more closely at the attitude to responsible investment and caring from these leaders we gain insight as to an attitude of mind which gives cause for concern.
The EU accounts have not been signed off by the auditors because of "unexplained discrepancies". This has not happened once but consistently for the past 11 years. If this were a company the directors would have been prosecuted after this had occurred for just three years, and banned from running a company.
It is the length of time that this has been occurring that to me indicates the attitude of mind towards the management and accountability of our money. Such nonchalance must permeate all decision making about finance, as vested interest dominates action and responsible result.
We the electors are just as guilty in the apathy we demonstrate to demanding higher standards from our elected representatives. Until this impasse is resolved I can see no improvement in fighting global poverty.