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	The challenge in India is to make inclusive growth a reality by ActionAid India / OneWorld South Asia   August 2007   Most Indian workers live under appalling poverty, by Rahul Kumar & Deepshikha Khurana. (OneWorld South Asia)   The report by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihood – is the first comprehensive research on the informal sector in the country based on government data between 1993 - 2004.   A majority of workers in this segment comprises of Dalits and Muslims, who face lack of proper regulation and ineffective implementation where regulation exists.   Flying in the face of the much-touted growth rates in the country, the report proves that India"s high growth rates remain inequitable as around 836 million Indians live on a paltry Rs 20 per day for their daily sustenance.   The report has been submitted to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The advisory body had earlier released a report on the urban street vendors and also on social security for unorganized workers.   Defining the unorganized sector, the report says: "The unorganized sector consists of all unincorporated private enterprises owned by individuals or households engaged in the sale and production of goods and services operated on a proprietary or partnership basis and with less than ten total workers."   The reports reflects on the fact that the Indian economy may have grown in recent years but 86% of India"s working population that works in an unorganized sector is without social security, works in poor conditions, hardly has social protection and security and earns relatively low wages and incomes.   NCEUS has stressed the need for the regulation of conditions of work including the length of the working day, payment of overtime, holidays, safety conditions, provided with minimum wages, which will have a positive impact both on employment and on growth of economy and can be instrumental in reducing poverty.   Many workers in the Indian labour mark are illiterate and belong to poor and socially-discriminated groups. The agriculture sector has been found to be in bad shape, especially for the small and the marginal farmers, as they are forced to spend more than they earn and their condition deteriorates when they are under debt.   NCEUS was set up in 2004 by the present government so that it could initiate measures for the welfare of the unorganized workers and enhance the welfare and well-being of farmers, farm labour and workers and also assure a secure future for their families.   25 June, 2007   People’s Declaration: "We are united by demands for dignity and full citizenship". (ActionAid India)   ActionAid brought together 1400 plus participants from across the country who charted out common struggles, concerns and unified strategies for ending exploitation in a People’s Declaration.   Communities as diverse as manual scavengers, people with disabilities, Gujarat riot survivors, indigenous groups who"s land and culture is under threat, HIV positive people and children out of school assembled to discuss a range of human rights issues including peace and security, food and livelihood, health, education and women’s rights.   On the final day, Babu Mathew, country director of ActionAid India and a former law professor and trade union leader highlighted the cruel contrast between India"s economic boom and the increasing marginalisation of those who are left out:   "The challenge in India is not just to talk about making growth inclusive, but to make inclusive growth a reality. Rights enshrined in the Constitution must be made good for all citizens, not just the fortunate few.   "Hunger is one of the most extreme forms of denial of rights. In India it is clear that displacement and destruction of livelihood are creating India"s "new hungry" as well as reinforcing existing discrimination along the lines of caste, class, religion, ethnicity, gender and sexuality."   Indigenous groups from Orissa are among those under threat. Many of their representatives took part in the conclave.   “This is our place – we have been here for generations” says Ghasi Majhi talking of her home in Lanjigarh, Orissa. “When the factory starts, the company will take over our land. What will happen to our children?” he asked.   Majhi lives in the shadow of a bauxite refinery whose presence in the environmental sensitive location of Niyamgiri mountain is being challenged in the Supreme Court. The mountain holds deep spiritual significance for tribal communities as well as providing a source of food and livelihood.   Ramesh Singh, head of ActionAid internationally, who attended the conclave said: "The Indian voice carries immense influence in the world. We hear the voice of Indian government and corporations but we need India"s most marginalised citizens to shine and not just the economy.   "That is what I am seeing here today with the launch of the people"s declaration and the emerging people"s alliance against poverty and hunger," added Singh.   The people"s declaration laid out clear demands. In presenting the declaration Roma Jana from Mumbai, HIV positive for the last 11 years, demanded the enactment of a bill for the protection of people living with HIV and Aids from violence and discrimination and priority under the social security schemes including Antyodaya cards and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.   Two young boys, one of them a hawker at Bhopal railway station, gave voice to the demand for the abolition of child labour. "We demand free, equitable, good quality education for all with a child friendly environment in schools," said Manoj who works among the poor children of urban areas and Balbir, who works among the children working on the railway platform at Bhopal.   Kapileshwar, a Dalit activist from Bihar called for five acres of cultivable land to every landless Dalit family. Syed Farooq from Jammu and Kashmir, speaking for the Muslim community, demanded implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendations and representation in the political process.   "Together we excluded groups are the majority of India"s population. While our specific needs, aspirations and rights denied are many and diverse, we are united by common demands for dignity and full citizenship," said Anjum from West Bengal, a member of the Indian Muslim women"s movement Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan.
	EU urged not to give up Poverty Fight by Haider Rizvi OneWorld US   June 19, 2007   With European leaders gathering in Belgium this week, anti-poverty campaigners in Europe have gathered more than 1 million signatures on a petition calling for the EU leadership to increase aid for poor nations and cancel their debts.   The signature campaign organized by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), an umbrella organization comprising a wide array of social justice groups active in more than 100 countries, also seeks urgent actions on fair trade dealings with poor countries and concrete measures to tackle climate change.   GCAP and other social justice groups in Europe raised similar demands when the leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) economically powerful countries were attending their annual summit in Germany a little over a week ago. Despite intense public pressure, the G8 leaders failed to make enough meaningful progress on issues related to poverty and development aid, campaigners said.   "Europe is so important in the worldwide battle against global poverty," said Alison Marshall of British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND), a UK-based network of over 300 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in international development and emergency relief.   In a statement, Marshall, whose organization is part of the international campaign to fight poverty, described the G8 leaders" response as not possessing a sense of urgency for action.   "For millions of people around the world, giving up the fight against poverty is not an option," Marshall noted with dismay.   Four of the EU members -- Germany, Britain, France, and Italy - are also part of the G8. The other four who enjoy the membership in the exclusive club of the world"s most industrialized countries are the United States, Canada, Japan, and Russia.   The EU Summit, due to start Thursday, is likely to focus on the future of Europe and the EU constitution, but for their part, anti-poverty campaigners are trying hard to draw the attention of the continent"s leaders to their obligations in the fight against global poverty.   In 2005 major European governments and the G8 pledged to increase aid dramatically, particularly to Africa, and 80 percent of this new aid was to come from the EU. Yet overall aid increases have been very slow, and development assistance to Africa has been static since 2004.   EU countries currently provide 52 percent of all development aid. Since Europe is the world"s largest trade block, anti-poverty campaigners contend it must also play a pivotal role in global efforts to make trade fair for developing countries.   This year, Europe is expected to conclude trade negotiations with 76 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. The move is sometimes referred to by diplomats and economists as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).   In recent months, a number of countries have made it clear that more time is needed for pro-development trade agreements to be negotiated, so campaigners are asking the European Commission to stop using aggressive negotiation tactics to push unfair trade deals.   Earlier this month, in London, more than 10,000 people attended a protest against the G8 leaders for failing to deliver on promises to tackle poverty made at their annual meeting held in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005.   At that summit, the G8 leaders pledged about $50 billion more aid, debt cancellation for up to 42 countries, and access to affordable medications for people with HIV/AIDS by 2010. However, many of them have failed to act upon those promises.   Britain being an exception, the other European members of the G8 -- Germany, France, and Italy -- are still lagging on their commitments to fight poverty in Africa and other poorer parts of the world.   Currently, more than 2 billion people on the planet are living below the poverty line, a fact that many leaders of the developing world as well as UN officials have long cited to demand an end to unfairness in trade between the industrialized countries and those heavily relying on agricultural production.   During the G8 Summit, the UN-based largest coalition of developing nations, known as the Group of 77 and China (G77), said it was concerned about the industrial countries" role in perpetuating inequalities in global trade and commerce.   On the eve of the G8 Summit, Munir Akram, Pakistan"s envoy to the UN and chairman of the G77, released a statement, in which he accused the G8 nations of not doing enough to help developing countries in their quest for development and the eradication of poverty. "Developing countries have demonstrated a sincere commitment to fulfilling the pledges made in successive international conferences and summits during the past few years," he said. "But, unfortunately, our development partners have not reciprocated."   Akram lamented that Official Development Assistance, the international aid given by wealthier countries to support the development of poorer ones, has declined in recent years. He feared it was likely to continue to decline in the near future.   The G77 urged the G8 members to take "bolder and innovative measures" to meet the internationally agreed upon target of putting 0.7 percent of national budgets toward development assistance for poorer countries.   Of the G8 member countries, none have yet reached that target. The United Kingdom came closest last year, allocating just over one half of one percent of its national income to development assistance. At 0.17 percent, the United States gave a lower percentage of its income than any other industrialized country except Greece.   Anti-poverty campaigners are also calling on European nations as well as other members of the G8 to reduce the huge subsidies provided to their agricultural sectors, which they say are artificially driving down prices worldwide and threatening the food security of billions living below the poverty line in poorer countries. Visit the related web page
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