The roud table discussion Global Voices to End Poverty hosted by Poverty and Development Unit adopted "Sapporo Declaration ~Global Voices to End Poverty~ on 7th July.
You can download the press release (PDF) here.
We live in an unjust world. As the facts lay bare, we live in a world where the richest 2% of the population enjoys more than half of all the wealth in the world; while the poorest half of the world owns barely 1% of the global wealth. It is a world where over 1 billion people still live under a dollar a day. It is a world where there is food, but people are starving; a world where there is medicine, but people die of preventable and treatable causes; a world where there is money, but people, especially the most vulnerable population, die of poverty.
We cannot accept such a world. We, the civil society, have fought hard to end such a world. The G8 countries, who asserts themselves responsible for leading the world, have made commitments one on top of another, on the premises that they would end a world that undermines the very foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, the promises and commitments have only been words and reaffirmation of those words, with a disappointing level of action, betraying the world over and over; compelling us to live an unjust world that the G8 countries are responsible for creating, maintaining, and leading, where wealth is above all the main criteria for determining if one will survive.
38 years ago, at the 1970 United Nations General Assembly, the world's governments committed to providing 0.7% of rich countries' Gross National Income (GNI) to Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) to developing countries. They recently reaffirmed this in 2002 at the International Conference for Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico. Although 0.7% of rich world GNI can provide enough resources to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, none of the G8 countries have come close to achieving this target. More recently, at the 2005 Gleneagles Summit, the G8 countries have made a commitment of USD 50 billion to developmental aid, in which half will go towards aid for Africa by 2010. Three years have passed since then, and even this unambitious goal is in danger of not being met.
We, the civil society, determined to bring an end to world poverty and inequality, have come together today to call upon the leaders of the G8 once again to keep the promises and turn these commitments into actions now. We, the civil society, in solidarity demand the governments of the G8 to take the following actions to end this unjust society with their full accountability;
• Filling the financial gap of USD 11 billion annually to attain the goal of Education for All (EFA) so that 72 million children can enrol in primary education. The G8 should commit to this aid being given predictably and to finance recurrent costs, in order that 18 million teachers can be trained, hired and paid between now and 2015.
• Attainment of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010; addressing the urgency of the emerging HIV/TB co-infection, multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB, and committing to the Global Plan to Stop TB; and the attainment of the Abuja target on Malaria. This includes creating firm plans and timetables to show 'who will pay how much when' for the USD 60 billion pledge made at the 2007 G8 Summit in Heilingendamm for the three infectious diseases and health system strengthening.
• Attainment of MDG 4 and MDG 5 which requires an increase of USD 10.2 billion annually, and for maternal mortality to be the indicator of measuring the success of providing quality health care for all, and commitment to the realization of Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services.
• Developing of a concrete contribution and action plan for the USD 10 billion a year (as calculated by UNDP) to meet the MDG on water and sanitation.
The attainment of the MDGs and other social development goals must be at the center of developmental policies and aid. These developmental policies and aid must reach the most vulnerable of populations. Furthermore, in all of the above, they must reflect the reality that women and girls are especially affected by initiatives to improve global health and education, and that a commitment to gender equality is integral to success. Also, consideration on youth in development policies and aid must not be neglected to achieve MDGs.
• A time bound comprehensive funding and action plan to meet the 0.7% target.
• The creation and adaptation of innovative financing mechanisms such as international solidarity levies to fulfil the unmet needs in development, as supplement to ODA.
• The cancellation of all debts that hinder the achievement of the MDGs and all other social development goals. The cancellation of these debts must not be counted as part of ODA.
• Leadership in ensuring more effective aid, along with policy coherence at the coming Accra High-Level Forum and Doha Conference on Financing for Development.
• Timely and collectively maintaining global responsibility to support those affected by natural disasters, conflicts and wars.
Participants of Peoples' Summit 2008: Global Voices to End Poverty, in Solidarity
You can download the press release (PDF) here.
Sapporo Declaration ~Global Voices to End Poverty~
7th July 2008We live in an unjust world. As the facts lay bare, we live in a world where the richest 2% of the population enjoys more than half of all the wealth in the world; while the poorest half of the world owns barely 1% of the global wealth. It is a world where over 1 billion people still live under a dollar a day. It is a world where there is food, but people are starving; a world where there is medicine, but people die of preventable and treatable causes; a world where there is money, but people, especially the most vulnerable population, die of poverty.
We cannot accept such a world. We, the civil society, have fought hard to end such a world. The G8 countries, who asserts themselves responsible for leading the world, have made commitments one on top of another, on the premises that they would end a world that undermines the very foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, the promises and commitments have only been words and reaffirmation of those words, with a disappointing level of action, betraying the world over and over; compelling us to live an unjust world that the G8 countries are responsible for creating, maintaining, and leading, where wealth is above all the main criteria for determining if one will survive.
38 years ago, at the 1970 United Nations General Assembly, the world's governments committed to providing 0.7% of rich countries' Gross National Income (GNI) to Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) to developing countries. They recently reaffirmed this in 2002 at the International Conference for Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico. Although 0.7% of rich world GNI can provide enough resources to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, none of the G8 countries have come close to achieving this target. More recently, at the 2005 Gleneagles Summit, the G8 countries have made a commitment of USD 50 billion to developmental aid, in which half will go towards aid for Africa by 2010. Three years have passed since then, and even this unambitious goal is in danger of not being met.
We, the civil society, determined to bring an end to world poverty and inequality, have come together today to call upon the leaders of the G8 once again to keep the promises and turn these commitments into actions now. We, the civil society, in solidarity demand the governments of the G8 to take the following actions to end this unjust society with their full accountability;
On the Attainment of Existing Commitments
The G8 governments must provide a time bound comprehensive funding and action plan to ensure the attainment of the MDGs and all past commitments and goals, as well as a monitoring and evaluation process to ensure the countries are held accountable. These goals and commitments are including, but not limited to:• Filling the financial gap of USD 11 billion annually to attain the goal of Education for All (EFA) so that 72 million children can enrol in primary education. The G8 should commit to this aid being given predictably and to finance recurrent costs, in order that 18 million teachers can be trained, hired and paid between now and 2015.
• Attainment of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010; addressing the urgency of the emerging HIV/TB co-infection, multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB, and committing to the Global Plan to Stop TB; and the attainment of the Abuja target on Malaria. This includes creating firm plans and timetables to show 'who will pay how much when' for the USD 60 billion pledge made at the 2007 G8 Summit in Heilingendamm for the three infectious diseases and health system strengthening.
• Attainment of MDG 4 and MDG 5 which requires an increase of USD 10.2 billion annually, and for maternal mortality to be the indicator of measuring the success of providing quality health care for all, and commitment to the realization of Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services.
• Developing of a concrete contribution and action plan for the USD 10 billion a year (as calculated by UNDP) to meet the MDG on water and sanitation.
The attainment of the MDGs and other social development goals must be at the center of developmental policies and aid. These developmental policies and aid must reach the most vulnerable of populations. Furthermore, in all of the above, they must reflect the reality that women and girls are especially affected by initiatives to improve global health and education, and that a commitment to gender equality is integral to success. Also, consideration on youth in development policies and aid must not be neglected to achieve MDGs.
On Financing and Debt Cancellation
The G8 governments must provide:• A time bound comprehensive funding and action plan to meet the 0.7% target.
• The creation and adaptation of innovative financing mechanisms such as international solidarity levies to fulfil the unmet needs in development, as supplement to ODA.
• The cancellation of all debts that hinder the achievement of the MDGs and all other social development goals. The cancellation of these debts must not be counted as part of ODA.
• Leadership in ensuring more effective aid, along with policy coherence at the coming Accra High-Level Forum and Doha Conference on Financing for Development.
• Timely and collectively maintaining global responsibility to support those affected by natural disasters, conflicts and wars.
On Emerging Issues
The following issues threaten and undermine development efforts and bring about greater social instability:Food Crisis
The soaring prices of food are creating "Silent Tsunami" of 100 million people to the brink of starvation, in addition to the 850 million who are already living in starvation, and thwarting the efforts to attain the MDGs by 2015. It is reported that the population of the poor will be increased to 1.7 billion, particularly due to lack of basic food security. Although there is enough food in the world, speculative financing, bio-fuel policies benefiting the developed countries have driven up the prices of food, creating a greater inequality between the distributions of food. In order to ensure access to food, we call for immediate actions of the G8 to address the food crisis by granting emergency food aid (by prioritizing purchase from local farmers), increasing investment in sustainable small-scale agricultural production in developing nations, moratorium on bio-fuels and agricultural subsidies in G8 countries, regulating speculative financing and tackling the underlying causes by ending harmful trade policies and investing in sustainable agricultural productivity in developing nations and honouring their commitments to the MDGs.Climate Change
Those who are least responsible for climate change are paying the biggest price for its effects. G8 countries must respect the UNFCCC process, set binding goals in reducing greenhouse gases by at least 25-40 percent below 1990 level by 2020, and immediately provide compensation and support to adaptation measures to minimize the impact of global warming in developing countries and access to clean technology for lowcarbon economic development. This should be paid additionally to the existing commitments for development.Health Threats
The G8 must also address neglected health threats caused by the ever-increasing level of poverty. These include: psychiatric illnesses including mental depression and suicide, increasing number of people with reparatory illness, asthma due to air pollution in urban areas of developing countries, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Furthermore, the G8 must pay specific attention to the issue of human resources for health crisis, which presently undermines efforts to attain all the above-mentioned health-related commitments.On the Participation of Civil Society in Decision and Policy Making Process
A strong cooperation, participation, mobilization and movement of citizens are indispensable in the fight against poverty. The civil society has a proven and effective role in representing and providing the voice for the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. The citizens must be ensured a full participation and involvement in the decision-making and policy-making process so that decisions and policies are made for the people. This includes, but is not limited to incorporating the outcome of the Civil G8, and other dialogues into the formal meeting agenda of the G8. Greater occasions, such as the Civil G8 Dialogue, as well as continuance of these regular dialogues in Italy and beyond, are necessary so that the voices of civil society reach the policy level.Participants of Peoples' Summit 2008: Global Voices to End Poverty, in Solidarity
To Top