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	Summit offers cautious hope for World''s Poor by Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US   April 2009   Though pleased with the outcome of international talks on the global economy, several leading humanitarian groups are warning world leaders that they must take swift action to fulfill their promises if change is to come to the world''s poorest people.   "We commend the G-20 for its collective action in maintaining its commitment to the poorest and agreeing to new investments in food security," said Samuel Worthington, president of InterAction, an umbrella group representing nearly 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in aid and development activities worldwide.   G-20 leaders who participated in the high-level summit in London last week agreed to spend over $1 trillion to create jobs and rehabilitate the world''s ailing banking system. They also renewed their countries'' pledges to reduce poverty worldwide and protect the environment.   In London, the leaders agreed that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 was a must. Set by the world community in 2001, the MDGs include substantial cuts in poverty, disease, illiteracy, and environmental degradation. The G-20 said it was committed to providing funds for the MDGs.   Mr Worthington thinks the agreements reached by the G-20 will help create economic stability in low-income countries and strengthen the regulation of financial transactions. But he is concerned that implementation of the agreements could be slow. "We urge the G-20 to use innovative mechanisms...for a rapid disbursement of the funds within one year," he said.   Worthington also urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will be managing much of the global financial program, to allow developing countries to make economic decisions they deem best for their short-term needs and the long-term health of their economies.   The World Bank and IMF have been heavily criticized for imposing damaging constraints on developing countries that accept their support.   Neil Watkins, executive director of the Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of 75 organizations that promotes debt cancellation for poor countries and a fairer global financial system, agrees with Worthington.   "While the large sums made available to developing nations by the G-20 are clearly urgently needed, the IMF should not be given a blank check," said Watkins, who thinks the IMF needs "meaningful and deeper reforms."   The IMF has been criticized by many independent aid and development organizations for years for imposing strict conditions on poor countries to receive loans. As a result, many governments fail to spend money on health, education, and job creation in order to demonstrate "fiscal prudence" to their IMF benefactors.   Like many other anti-poverty activists, Watkins is concerned that the financial assistance committed by the G-20 in London came only in the form of loans, not grants, and world leaders at the summit did not make any commitment on debt relief for the poorest countries.   He thinks that the G-20 did the right thing by calling on the IMF to devote some of the proceeds from gold sales to the poorest countries, but warned that: "the proposal needs significant improvement before the IMF meetings later this month." Watkins believes the IMF should sell even more gold, and proceeds should be used for debt relief or grants to developing countries -- not more loans.   The international charity group Oxfam, which runs scores of development and humanitarian aid projects around the world, also holds similar views on the outcome of the London summit.   "This summit delivers a vital pick-me-up for poor countries struggling to survive the economic crisis, but much more is needed to ensure their long-term recovery," said Oxfam spokesperson Duncan Green.   Though hopeful that decisions made by the world leaders at the London summit would produce positive results, Green remains skeptical about their long-term commitment to ending poverty for more than a billion people in the world''s poorest countries.   "We welcome the $1.1 trillion for global economic recovery," he said in a statement. "But we must ensure that poor countries get their fair share - that Uganda benefits as well as Ukraine."   Green said he is "deeply concerned" about how the IMF is going to play its role in addressing the financial crisis. "It has been given a blank check but its reform remains no more than a promise," Green added in a statement.   Jubilee USA''s Watkins, who shares those views, says his group will try to exert pressure on the U.S. Congress in coming weeks to demand IMF reforms. Visit the related web page
	Globalization and economic, social and cultural rights by International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) France   To the UN Human Rights Council : Special Session The Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crises on the Universal Realization and Effective Enjoyment of Human Rights.   The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) welcomes the initiative of the Human Rights Council to hold a Special session on the impact of the economic and financial crises on the universal realization and enjoyment of Human Rights.   Economic globalization has the potential to bring about economic growth and alleviate poverty, and thus support the realization of human rights, but the impacts of economic globalization have been often denounced as leading to increased inequalities, and to violations of economic, social and cultural rights. In times of economic crisis the negative effects of globalization needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.   Corporate responsibility   To understand the impact of the crisis and provide adequate remedies, FIDH believes that one has to look at its causes, which include the failure of governments to regulate private actors in order to protect human rights from their actions. International Human Rights Law imposes on States not only that they respect human rights but also that they protect them: that they ensure that all actors within their jurisdiction, including corporations and financial institutions, do not harm human rights.   Human rights under pressure   Economic, social and cultural rights of the poor in many countries are already undermined by the present crisis: the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living in particular the right to housing, and the right food - already put under extreme pressure by the soaring food prices- are being increasingly hit. There is a serious risk when social tensions rise that other human rights be violated as well, and that the most vulnerable including migrants and refugees become the scapegoats of difficult times. The most vulnerable needs to be paid increased attention and to be adequately protected.   International cooperation   The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights requires that States Parties to take steps individually, and through international cooperation in order to achieve the realization of human rights. Developed countries should not take the excuse of the economic downturn to step away from their commitments to assist developing states to realize human rights.   FIDH calls on the Member States of the Human Rights Council to renew their commitment to respect economic, social and cultural rights notably by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.   To discharge their duty to protect human rights and make sure economic actors are accountable for human rights abuses, and that victims of corporate-related abuses have an access to effective remedies; Make sure international policies, including trade liberalization processes, do not harm but contribute to the realization of human rights in third countries. Visit the related web page
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