FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY GAINS URGENCY FROM WORLD BANK, IMF
4.14.08
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The World Bank and the 185-nation International Monetary Fund (IMF) wrapped up their annual spring meetings Sunday with calls for urgent action to address extreme poverty and starvation.
In response, the ONE Campaign and DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) are pressing developed nations to target extreme poverty with aggressive approaches. The global advocacy and campaigning organizations are calling for emergency action at a series of high-level political meetings this year to reinvigorate political and financial commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
The IMF and World Bank spent significant time during their meetings focused on food prices and the impact that this spike could have on developing nations. In three years, food prices have jumped 83 percent, while international food aid is bottoming out. Skyrocketing prices have led to riots around the world this month, including Indonesia, Egypt, the Philippines and Haiti.
Without fast response, World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that the food prices could result in "seven lost years" in the fight against extreme poverty. IMF Director managing director Dominque Strauss-Kahn echoed Zoellick’s concerns, warning that rising food prices could have terrible consequences for the world, including the risk of war. Development gains made in the past five or 10 years could be "totally destroyed," he said.
Following the IMF-World Bank Sunday session, ONE President/CEO David Lane issued the following statement.
"The world must urgently address the crises facing people in the developing nations. The world’s poor are more vulnerable than ever. Rising food prices and climate change, which impact the poorest first and worst, threaten to erase recent gains in poverty reduction. The very careful World Bank, never one for hyperbole, calls this situation a development emergency. This is the time to be bolder, not more timid. The world’s leading nations must follow through on their commitments to help the world’s poorest people.
"The opportunity is before us to turn the tragedy of extreme poverty into a triumph for the world. But the G8, the IMF, the UN -- these countries and organizations must have the courage to act. Millions of lives have been saved through effective, innovative approaches to financial assistance, medicines and education. But that success will be short-lived if the world’s poor bear the burden of the developed nations’ fears and failures.
"At the same time, developing nations need to take advantage of the opportunities they already have. That is where the Bank’s plan to help developing countries to manage their own natural resource wealth can be especially beneficial. Natural resources should not be exploited for the benefit of a few. These resources should be managed smartly with revenues in turn targeted to fight poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease.
"ONE and DATA applaud the IMF and the World Bank for their call for action. As Ambassador Zoellick points out, we should not be satisfied be satisfied with paper and talk. We can and we must seize the opportunity to fight extreme poverty and save a generation of people from starvation and disease."
The ONE Campaign (www.ONE.org <http://www.ONE.org> ) is a global advocacy and campaigning organization, uniting millions of people to press government leaders to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.
DATA (www.DATA.org <http://www.DATA.org> ) is an advocacy organization founded in 2002 by Bono, Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee "Drop the Debt" campaign to fight AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. DATA also advocates for increased democracy, accountability and transparency in governance so that Africa’s citizens have a greater voice in how resources are being used.
MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Gavin
tom.gavin@one.org
202-536-7477
