The Pittsburgh G20 Summit appears to have made some progress towards reshaping global power structures to make them more representative, said anti poverty campaign group ONE. But media reports of the draft communiqué indicate the G20 still has some way to go before it becomes a truly representative global decision making body.

Commenting on the replacement of the G8 (Group of Eight richest nations) by the G20, announced today by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, ONE’s Government Relations Director Tom Hart said:

“Moving from the G8 to the G20 is a step in the right direction because it brings more of the world’s people to the table. But the new expanded world body must now start addressing the needs of the poorest countries, especially in Africa.

“For nearly a decade now, Africa has been high on the G8’s agenda, even if delivery on their commitments has been mixed. During this transition time, African development must not fall through the cracks. One way to show the world will not forget Africa would be to hold an upcoming G20 summit on the African continent.”

ONE will hand over a petition today to the US delegation to the Pittsburgh Summit in which 75,000 ONE members worldwide call for a G20 Summit to be held in Africa. The members were responding to an email from African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka in which he says:

“Bringing the G20 to Africa would make it impossible to ignore the role Africa must play in any successful global economic recovery... Africa is part of the solution.”

Reacting to the draft G20 communiqué’s call for an expansion of the mandate, mission and governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ONE’s Tom Hart said:

“Reform of the way decisions are made at the IMF is long overdue, but the review promised here must bring poor countries to the table if the IMF is to be a truly representative body.”