Brussels, 15/10/08: On the occasion of the World Rural Women's Day, World Food Day and International Day of Poverty Eradication, SAAPE - in collaboration with its European partners Eurostep and Hivos, jointly organised a hearing in the European Parliament urging the EU to adequately respond to the food crisis by making use of the € 1 billion food facility in a way that specifically focuses on the vulnerable and marginalised small-scale farmers in the developing world. The hearing was hosted and chaired by Gay Mitchell MEP and Thijs Berman MEP.

Brussels, 01/10/08: During the informal Bordeaux Council on 29-30 September, the EU27 development ministers discussed and approved the proposal of transferring €1bn from Community resources to agriculture support for developing countries. The €1bn was promised by the Commission at the last G8 summit and is intended to save the 2008 and 2009 harvest in developing countries. The development ministers are however unable to speak on behalf of the finance ministers and the issue will continue to be discussed both within member states and in the European Parliament, that has co-decision powers on this matter. Further, there is still no decision as to whether the funding will come from the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

Brussels, 30/09/08: Both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson are questioning the viability of the current financial system. ”I confirm my call for a summit in coming weeks to establish the basis for a new international financial system,” Sarkozy said. Mandelson stated that several European leaders including Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had contacted U.S. President George W. Bush in the last few days to urge him to call an international conference to put in place institutional reforms and regulatory changes. This new impetus could, according to civil society organisations, make possible a more substantive discussion on the unequal structure of the current financial order during the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, due to take place in Doha on 29 November to 2 December. Developing countries have long called for renegotiation of the financial architecture in order for them to be better represented and the voting systems in the financial institutions to be less biased towards the interests of the banks and financial institutions in the West. Ten proposals to tackle the crisis have been identified by Dr. Johan Galtung in a recent article.

• Click here to read the Financial Times article about Sarkozy’s statements
• Click here to read an article on Sarkozy’s proposals in the Washington Post.
• Click here to read an article about Mandelson’s statement in Reuters
• Click here to read the article with Dr. Galtung’s 10 proposals

  ---

Brussels, 25/09/08: Current development models and policies have completely failed the world’s least developed countries (LDCs), according to a statement made by LDC Watch, a global alliance of national, regional and international civil society organisations (CSOs), networks and movements based in the LDCs and supported by civil society from development partner countries, released on the occasion of the MDG summit in New York.

The statement draws attention to the fact that recent World Bank claims that extreme poverty has been reduced by half in the last 25 years should be treated with caution. The Social Watch Basic Capabilities Index published this week, which is calculated on progress in terms of basic social indicators rather than levels of income, shows that out of the 33 countries in the critical level, 28 are LDCs. The recent MDG Gap Task Force Report commissioned by the UN Secretary-General also draws discouraging conclusions.

Failure to achieve the MDGs in the LDCs will be a failure of the international community to deliver on its commitments to the 750 million people living in poverty in LDCs. LDC Watch therefore states: NO MDGs without LDCs!

• Click here to read the LDC Watch statement
• Click here to read a press release about the launch of the Social Watch Basic Capabilities Index 2008
• Click here to see the results of the Social Watch Basic Capabilities Index 2008
• Click here to read an IPS News article about the launch of the Social Watch Basic Capabilities Index 2008
• Click here to read a blog by Jeffrey Sachs on FT.com about the US$ 700 billion bailout of the US banking system

Brussels, 17/09/08: The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) issued a statement yesterday, 16 September, confirming that they stand by their position of 12 July stating that “a Government of National Unity is a subversion of the National Constitution and only a Transitional Authority should be put in place with a mandate to take Zimbabwe to fresh, free and fair elections that will hopefully not be disputed by the parties”.

Earlier in the day, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) announced that it was awaiting the comments of the ZCTU and that its position would be guided by the ZCTU statement. However, COSATU expressed concern over the fact that the agreement sends a dangerous signal to dictators that they can retain power through negotiations, brokered by other African leaders.

The ZCTU General Council will meet on Saturday 20 September 2008 to discuss the new political situation.

• Click here to read the ZCTU statement
• Click here to read the COSATU statement
• Click here to read a briefing paper about the new agreement by Promise Mkwananzi for Zimbabwe Watch