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20th
November, 2006
DAVID
ADAMS
The Make Poverty History campaign have declared the G20 a
missed opportunity to show international leadership on the
issue of global poverty, with co-chair Tim Costello describing
the meeting as “much ado about nothing”.
The campaign’s leadership - which is chaired by Costello,
World Vision chief executive, and Andrew Hewett, Oxfam's executive
director - have condemned the G-20 for failing the world’s
poor on policies on aid, trade, debt and climate change, saying
that the only welcome outcome being a commitment to integrate
aid efforts through the Paris Declaration.
“The
G20 has been much ado about nothing,” said Tim
Costello. “They might as well as have stayed
at home as brought Melbourne to a halt given the complete
lack of leadership that their final communique demonstrates.”
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Costello
described the final communique as demonstrating “a failure
to understand that if we don’t strike a decisive blow
against global poverty we can’t expect to win a war
on terror or find a lasting solution to climate change”.
“The G20 has been much ado about nothing,” he
said. “They might as well as have stayed at home as
brought Melbourne to a halt given the complete lack of leadership
that their final communique demonstrates.”
Hewett said there was “ no cheer for the world’s
poor from this meeting”.
“The leaders of the G-20 have forsaken a critical opportunity
to strike a decisive blow against poverty and failed to continue
the momentum of last year’s G8.
“There is an urgent need for leadership on both sides
of the political divide in our efforts to tackle global poverty.
We are all being let down by our leaders on this critical
issue.”
Make Poverty History, which have released a statement outlining
a policy platform they will be lobbying parties to adopt in
the lead-up to next year’s Federal election, have also
condemned the violence which occurred in Melbourne over the
weekend.
”While a handful of violent protesters saw the G-20
gathering as unwanted - we did not,” Costello said.
“We are appalled by the senseless violence of a minority
this weekend which overshadowed many peaceful Make Poverty
History events.”
He said Make Poverty History’s “hundreds of thousands”
of supporters “believe the most effective way to eradicate
extreme global poverty is to work with world economic leaders
from both rich and poor countries to find the solutions needed
to help end extreme poverty”.
Meanwhile in a statement released following his meeting with
Federal Treasurer Peter Costello in the politician’s
Melbourne offices on Monday, Bono said the Federal Treasurer
seemed to be “personally very interested in the plight
of the world’s poor and determined to figure a way for
his country to play a more committed role”.
“If the Minister is as serious about increased aid as
he is about effective aid then I think the two will combine
to transform Australia’s role in the world of engagement
with the poorest of the poor,” the internationally acclaimed
Irish rockstar and anti-poverty campaigner said.
Bono, who has been in Melbourne over the weekend as part of
the supergroup’s Vertigo tour, said he described those
who were taking part in the Make Poverty History campaign
as the “New Australia’- proud Australians who
have told me that at the moment they feel their continent
is behaving as an island, they want to be a leader, not a
laggard, in facing these great challenges of the age.”
“We talked a lot about the Global Fund, how it is proving
itself as a most effective intervention in the fight against
AIDS, TB and malaria,” he said. “The combination
of these three diseases takes 15,000 lives per day. This seemed
to be an area that Australia might consider a leadership role
in ensuring that it is adequately funded.”
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www.makepovertyhistory.com.au
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