ECONOMY: G20

G20: Poor Countries in Dire Need of Funds BY RAMESH JAURA IDN There is no longer a question that developing countries are being hit severely by the global crisis. Instead, there is the very distinct possibility that they end up as the worst-hit victims, while already being the most vulnerable, said Eckhard Deutscher, Chair of OECDs Development Assistance Committee (DAC) March 30.

He was presenting preliminary figures for 2008 Official Development Assistance (ODA) in London. The need for aid has increased dramatically, he added.

This part of his statement was in stark contrast to the upbeat key message, the DAC chair intended to convey: As recently as several months, aid targets seemed to be slipping out of reach. Now, the situation is reversed. The aid commitments undertaken by donors, notably the Gleneagles commitments of G8 countries, have come within very realistic reach.

And yet, said Deutscher, aid increases are of vital importance because progress the world has seen towards the Millennium Development Goals is being eroded as the crisis unfolds.

He pointed out that already in 2008, 100 million people were estimated to have fallen back into absolute poverty due to the food and fuel crisis.

Tens of millions more would join them this year as a result of the global financial crisis – and this was a rather conservative estimate. As a result, 1 billion people would suffer hunger this year – and indeed did so already.

According to preliminary ODA figures, in 2008, total aid from members of the OECDs DAC rose to USD 119.8 billion, corresponding to an increase of 10.2 percent in real terms. This is the highest dollar figure ever recorded, Deutscher said.

But he warned in the next breath that the increase in aid figures was not a cause for self-congratulatory complacency.

It should spur all to undertake further efforts, he urged adding: Fulfilling commitments made repeatedly at head-of-state level is not an optional luxury. The viability of many developing country plans and strategies depend on them - and with that the long-term economic prospects and political stability of many poor countries. In todays world, a world that is evermore interconnected, this concerns everybody. Development co-operation is no charity. It is a strategic investment we need to make in a common future.

Especially in the current crisis, honouring commitments for development assistance was an important touchstone for the credibility and viability of international co-operation in addressing challenges shared by all.

And it is perfectly clear that this crisis will not be overcome by domestic action alone. International co-operation is absolutely essential, Deutscher said.

But the question being asked as the month of March inched towards an end: Will the trickle down misery of those not in a position to mobilise billions and billions of dollars to stave off the worst crisis threatening them? 

Ramesh Jaura is chief editor of the Globalom Media group, president of Euforic-Europe's Forum on International Cooperation in Maastricht (The Netherlands) and Director of IPS-Inter Press Service Europe in Berlin. This is published in arrangement with Voices of the South on Globalization. (End/2009)