What if cities of the planet were given the responsibility for providing the necessities of life to the citizens in and around them?
POC > http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1206-06.htm > Published on Monday, December 6, 2004 by OneWorld.net > > 45 Million Children To Die in Next Decade Due to Rich Countries' > Miserliness > > by Jim Lobe > > Unless the world's wealthiest countries comply with their past > pledges, some 45 million children in the worlds poor countries will > die needlessly over the next decade, according a new report released > Monday by British-based development group, Oxfam. > > Despite the fact that Group of Seven (G7) countries Germany, France, > Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States, and Canada are richer than > they have ever been, they are spending only half as much in real > terms in development assistance as they did in 1960, according to the > report, "Paying the Price." > > Oxfam warned that rich nations need to do much more to overcome > global poverty. An activist representing U.S. President George W. > Bush (R) buries an Indian woman to represent farmers underneath > coffee, sugar and cotton sacks during a protest in Madrid, November > 10, 2004. The NGO Oxfam claims that some 900 million people in rural > areas live in misery at the expense of richer nations maintaining > certain privileges. . REUTERS/Andrea Comas > And of the paltry assistance they do provide about US$50 billion a > year only about 40 percent of the money is actually spent in poor > countries; the rest of it is spent in the wealthy countries > themselves. Even, then, much of the aid is late in arriving. > > "The world has never been wealthier, yet rich nations are giving less > and less," according to Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam's executive director. > "Across the globe, millions of people are being denied the most basic > human needs clean water, food, health care and education. People are > dying while leaders delay debt relief and aid." > > Releasing the report on the eve of the launch of a global call to > action against poverty by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and > high-profile personalities around the world, Oxfam is pressing for > the G7 to immediately cancel all poor countries debt and double > development aid. > > Failure to do so will almost certainly put the Millennium Development > Goals (MDGs) for reducing poverty out of reach, according to the > report. The entire membership of the United Nations agreed the Goals > in 2000. > > The MDGs set forth eight specific benchmarks to be achieved by the > year 2015. They include achieving universal primary education, > halving the number of people living in hunger and on less than the > equivalent of one dollar a day; reduce by two thirds the mortality > rate of children under five and by three quarters the maternal > mortality rate; and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of > other deadly diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis. > > While the G7 agreed to these goals four years ago, their aid budgets > have not increased accordingly. > > That failure is part of a pattern that began in 1970 when wealthy > countries agreed to spend 0.7 percent of their annual gross domestic > products (GDPs) at a special UN General Assembly development > conference. > > While Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg have > reached and sustained that target for some time, none of the G7 > members is even close, although France and Britain have at least set > a timetable for reaching it. > > Indeed, in some countries, the amount of aid expressed as a > percentage of GDP, has actually fallen, particularly over the last > decade. At only 0.14 percent of GDP, U.S. foreign aid in 2003 ranked > dead last among all wealthy nations. In fact, its entire development > aid spending in 2003 came to only ten percent of what it spent on the > Iraq war that year. U.S. development assistance comes to less than > one-fortieth of its annual defense budget. > > The G7's combined aid budgets expressed as a percentage of GDP in > 2003 0.24 percent -- were only about half of what they were in 1960, > when they stood at 0.48 percent, according to the report. > > "The scandal must end," said Hobbs. "Aid can get millions of children > into school, save millions of mothers from dying in childbirth and > lift even more out of poverty, but rich countries are failing the > poor." > > Moreover, much of the aid is "tied" to purchases of G7 goods and > services and, thus are not even spent in poor countries, according to > the report. The worst offenders are Italy and the United States. More > than 90 percent of Italian aid is spent on Italian goods and > services, while about 70 percent of U.S. aid money is spent on U.S. > companies. > > The problem, however, is not only about aid and where it is spent, > according to the report. The G7, which also exercises preponderant > power on the boards of the international financial institutions > (IFI), such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund > (IMF) through their weighted voting systems, could, if it wished, > cancel the unsustainable debt that is crippling the ability of the > world's poorest countries to meet the MDG targets. Most of the debt > is held by the IFIs. > > Low-income countries paid $39 billion to service debts in 2003 and > received only $27 billion in new assistance; that is, for every two > dollars they received in aid, they had to pay back almost three > dollars to service debts that were often contracted by dictators > sustained in power largely as a result of Western or Soviet support > in the Cold War. In the vast majority of cases, the people of these > countries received virtually no benefit from what has become an > unsustainable debt burden. > > As a result, at least ten of Africa's most indebted poor countries > are paying more on debt service than on health services for their > people, an especially difficult situation given the spread of > HIV/AIDS in the region. > > NGOs have been pushing the G-7 and the IFIs for years to cancel the > debt and believed that they were on the cusp of victory at the > leaders' meeting in Georgia last summer. But the group could not > achieve a consensus as a result of which the issue has been kicked > over into next year. > > In its latest report, Oxfam said that the revaluation or sale of the > IMF's gold reserves could raise more than $30 billion more than > enough to cancel all remaining debts of the worlds 40 poorest and > most indebted nations. It also noted that canceling the debt of 32 of > those countries would cost the equivalent of $2.10 for each person > living in rich countries per year. > > The key to achieving the MDG targets thus lies both with increasing > aid and debt cancellation. The governments of developing countries, > according to the report, must also do their share spend 20 percent of > their budgets on basic social services designed to reduce poverty and > implement reforms designed to institutionalize democratic practices, > the rule of law, and policies that address the challenges faced by > the poor. > > If, on the other hand, current trends are sustained over the next > decade, Oxfam estimates that 247 million more people in sub-Saharan > Africa will be living in absolute poverty; 34 million more will be > hungry; and 45 million children will have died. > > "Unless world leaders act now to deliver a historic breakthrough on > poverty," said Hobbs, "next year will end in shameful failure." > > Copyright © 2004 OneWorld.net > > ### > > http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pr041206_MDG.htm > > 6 December 2004 > > Paying the Price. Why rich countries must invest now in a war on > poverty - Dec 04 > campaign report, pdf file 1,378 KB > http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pdfs/pp041206_MDG.pdf > > Oxfam: Poor Are Paying the Price of Rich Countries' Failure > > A new report from international agency Oxfam today reveals that 45 > million more children will die needlessly by 2015, because rich > countries are failing to provide the necessary resources they > promised to overcome poverty. > > The report, Paying the Price, finds that rich countries' aid budgets > are half what they were in 1960 and poor countries are paying back a > staggering $100 million a day in debt repayments. Oxfam also > calculates that 97 million more children will be out of school by > 2015 unless urgent action is taken. > > Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam's Executive Director, said: > "The world has never been wealthier, yet rich nations are giving less > and less. Across the globe, millions of people are being denied the > most basic human needs - clean water, food, health care and > education. People are dying while leaders delay debt relief and aid." > > Oxfam is calling on the leaders of G8 countries - Germany, France, > Italy, Japan, UK, US and Canada - to make history in 2005 by > cancelling poor countries' debt and increasing aid, alongside action > to make trade fair. > > Paying the Price comes on the eve of the launch of a global call to > action against poverty involving organizations and high-profile > figures around the world mobilizing to demand an end to poverty. It > warns that unless aid is increased by at least $50 billion now and > debts are cancelled, the internationally agreed Millennium > Development Goals will not be met. > > In 1970 rich countries agreed to spend just 0.7 percent of their > incomes on aid. Thirty-four years later, none of the G8 members have > reached this target and many have not even set a timetable. > > In addition, only 40 percent of the money counted officially as aid > actually reaches the poorest countries, and when it does it is often > seriously delayed. For example, 20 percent of the European Union's > aid arrives at least a year late and 92 percent of Italian aid is > spent on Italian goods and services. > > At only 0.14 percent of national income, the US spending on foreign > aid in 2003 was one-tenth of what it spent on Iraq. The US won't > reach the aid target needed to halve world poverty until 2040. > Germany won't reach the target until 2087 while Japan is decreasing > its aid commitments. > > Oxfam's Hobbs added: > "The scandal must end. Aid can get millions of children into school, > save millions of mothers from dying in child birth and lift even more > out of poverty but rich countries are failing the poor. This year > Zambia will spend twice as much on repaying its debts than it will on > educating its children. > > "Unless world leaders act now to deliver a historic breakthrough on > poverty, next year will end in shameful failure." > > Contact > For further information, please contact Caroline Green at Oxfam on + > 1 202 321 7858 or + 1 202 496 1174. > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
