Robert Fox
8 July 2009
guest blog
Rome — Robert Fox, the executive director of Oxfam Canada, writes on the G8 meetings in Italy:
We've now seen what they've agreed to and it isn't pretty. On aid and Africa, there's nothing new. And on the economic crisis, well, let's just say the impact on the poor in the global South wasn't top of mind for G8 leaders.
When you speak to journalists about this stark reality they ask: "But where's the news? Every year we hear the same thing."
Performance on aid varies greatly among G8 members but together they fall $23 billion short of the target they set in 2005. The result? At least three million lives have been lost - women who die needlessly in childbirth; children who fall victim to preventable diseases; persons with AIDS whose lives are cut short because they could not get treatment.
It's true the crisis in Africa didn't start yesterday, but it's also true it's increasingly bleak. The global economic crisis, made worse by climate change and rising food prices, is pushing ever larger numbers of women and men, already teetering on the brink, over the edge. But it's also true there's good news too - clear evidence of the benefits from investments in health and education, water and sanitation, especially for women and girls.
Journalists also complain it's difficult to sift through the G8 commitments to see which are real and which are spin; what is new or additional money and what is recycling a previous unmet promise. Also true. The devil is in the details and reporters need to dig to find out if there's any substance behind the rhetoric. That's a key role for Oxfam and our team of experts and allies here in the Media Centre - helping journalists cut through the hype.
But it's also true that if the media can find ten minutes in a newscast to rehash the details of a pop star's funeral, they should be able to find 90 seconds to report that three million people are dying needlessly while the richest countries in the world duck their commitments. And if teams of reporters can delve into the murky details of a celebrity's financial dealings, perhaps they could also make the effort to follow the money upon which people's lives depend.
This year's Summit has the added challenge of being located at the epicentre of an earthquake that devastated Abruzzo province in April this year, killing 300 and leaving 60,000 homeless. Prime Minister Berlusconi is taking full advantage of the leaders' presence to highlight the need for increased reconstruction funds - a telegenic scene irresistible to the networks. And G8 governments are responding accordingly.
Which raises the question whether we need to arrange an opportunity for world leaders to visit first hand the homes of others desperate for investments in their future - clinics, schools, water and sanitation systems, agricultural extension services and funds to help them adapt to climate change and stem the tide of rising temperatures.
Until we can arrange that, we continue our efforts - along with our partners and allies - to bring the voices and reality of people living in poverty to the attention of G8 leaders. And we'll continue to encourage, badger and hound reporters to bring a more critical eye and greater sense of urgency to their Summit coverage.
In the meantime, we made international news with our stunt on climate change this morning.
Robert Fox is the executive director of Oxfam Canada and his blog was originally published on the Oxfam International website.
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One of the basic problems of foreign aid and trade is that the foreign money acquired is of limited use. It mostly can be used to employ foreign labor. Africa's problems need to be solved with African labor, because unemployment is one of your real problems. Importation of needed goods is often the only real option available, but there is usually someone whose ability to address part of the need is sabotaged. This may seem abstract, but in the past year there have been several attacks on aid workers delivering food because they were bankrupting local farmers.
Foreign money can also buy private jets, limousines, military equipment, and foreign land. Your nations need little of those.
Aim your economies at domestic consumption and needs. If there is surplus renewable resource to export, export that if you can, but not those things your descendants will need too.
You can't teach a starving man to fish!The G8 shift of focus from food aid to agriculture is frustrating... both long and short term hunger solutions are needed.
The world food program combines both well with their purchase for progress: http://bit.ly/wvmC
By buying food aid locally, the feed the same local, the local economy and local agriculture.
It's a clever balance between filling the hungry gap, while investing in the future.
Anyway, investing in urgent hunger needs is an investment in the future. It brings political stability while boosting health and promoting global human development gains.
* 16 European Nations . Met And Plotted On How They Would Rob Africa Of Its Riches.
* They met during two(2) Periods of time in two(2) places
* The General Act Of Berlin Conference (Nov, 1884 to February, 1885)
* Brussels Belgium to finalize SECRET agreements ( Nov, 1889 to July 1890)
* The Book “King Leopold’s Ghost (1998) by Adam Hochschild documents some of This information.
The following Nations (Households) - Planned how they would divide among themselves our AFRICAN Riches.
1) Austria-Hungary - Francis Joseph I Charles - August 18, 1830 -
2) Belgium - King Leopold II – April 9, 1835
3) Denmark - Frederik VIII -June 3, 1843
4) France - Marie François Sadi Carnot – August 11, 1837 -
5) Germany - Wilhelm II -– January 27, 1859
6) Great Britain - Queen Victoria (Hanover) – May 24, 1819 – British Ruler – 2nd
7) Holland –William III – February 19, 1817
8) Italy - Umberto I - March 14, 1844 -
9) Norway - Oscar II [Oscar Frederik] – January 21, 1829 (Also Sweden)
10) Portugal - Carlos I – September 28, 1863
11) Russia - Alexander III Alexandrovich – March 10, 1845
12) Spain - Alfonso XIII – May 17, 1886
13) Sweden - Oscar II – January 21, 1829 (Also Norway)
14) Turkey - Abdülhamid II, - September 2 or September 22 - 1842 -
15) United States - Benjamin Harrison – August 20, 1833 -
16) Persia (Iran) - Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar – July 16, 1831 –
For centuries Black Africans have been exploited and exploited in the name of Islam. Then with the coming of the Portueses (so-called Christians) to Ghana around the 1440s , the so-called Christians started their exploitation.
FRITZ SPRINGMEIER A Bold Christian Truthseeker The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73Q2_f4vKU ]
We Black Africans are puzzling. We have a bounty of riches around us, yet we persist in allowing outsiders to steal them; while we fight each other over trivial matters.
Just in case you're wondering, here's some Black Africans who have done wondrous things to change the way we live in the world.
For example : Garrett-Augustus Morgan invented the Traffic Signal to CURB (no pun intended) TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS !!!
* Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER
* George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE
* George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS – PAINT STAINS – ETC
* W.A. Dietz - SHOE
* Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM
* Michael Harney - LANTERN
* Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM
* H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE
* Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME
* John A. Johnson - WRENCH
* Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS – AIR CONDITIONER
* Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS
* Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP
* John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER
* Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER
* Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR
* W.A. Martin - LOCK
* Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal
* Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898
* W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN
* L.P. Ray - DUST PAN
* W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY
* G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER
* .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER
* J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR
* T.W. Stewart - MOP
* Maxine Snowden - RAIN HAT - 1983
* Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER
* Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster
* Granville T. Woods - Telegraph Transmission Devices - Dec 2, 1884 Patents # - 308, 816 (7)
Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum P.O. Box 76128 Los Angeles , Calif. (90076) Phone (310) 859-4602)
Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa
Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Okofo
[This inspiring poem was featuring in the movie “Coach Carter ”]
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate,
Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure.
It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
- Marianne Williamson -
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] / [http://alexjonesringtones.net/] Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
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