Ahead of G-20, New Figures Predict Less Aid and More Debt for Poor Countries Already Hit by Economic Crisis
United Nations Millennium Campaign Warns that Poor Countries Risk Being Left Out of Looming Economic Recovery
Ahead of Friday’s G‐20 summit in Pittsburgh, the United Nations Millennium Campaign is releasing new figures which show that unless rich countries marshal additional resources at the summit, they are likely to deliver $33 billion less aid than promised to the poor countries which are hardest hit by the global economic crisis. At the same time, packages intended to help poor countries address the crisis might drive them deeper into debt.
The United Nations Millennium Campaign is warning that the ongoing economic crisis is likely to bring the economies of many developing countries to the brink of collapse and threatens the very survival of their citizens. According to the African Development Bank, countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya could run out of foreign reserves to purchase goods necessary for survival in a matter of weeks. At the same time, countries including Laos, Senegal, Uganda, Cape Verde and Sudan are cutting expenditures on poverty alleviation for desperately poor citizens.
UN Millennium Campaign Urges World Leaders to Prioritize Solutions for the Poor at G-20 Meeting
Millennium Campaign cautions that while additional resources are urgently needed to help the world’s poor survive the economic crisis, they must be free of harmful conditionalities that increase indebtedness and put at risk the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
Salil Shetty Speaks to “World Update” on BBC World Service Radio About G-7 Finance Ministers Meeting
February 13, 2009- In a live interview with World Update on February 13, 2009, the Director of the UN Millennium Campaign calls on G-7 finance ministers, meeting in Rome on February 13-14, to create a vulnerability fund for poor countries and reject protectionism, in order to address the global economic crisis.
