Poverty

I’m just back from a briefing with economists Paul Collier (of Bottom Billion fame) and John Page of Brookings. The duo recently co-authored a report for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) called “Breaking in and Moving Up: New Industrial Challenges for the Bottom Billion and the Middle Income Countries.” For fans of Collier (and I count myself as one) the report offers a follow-up to one of the key arguments of the Bottom Billion: that a robust manufacturing sector is critical to lifting least developed countries out of their poverty trap. Accordingly, the authors write that we should eschew “least developed countries” from our lexicon and instead refer to the world's poorest countries as “least developed manufacturing countries.” Why manufacturing?

Reflecting on this past weekend's G-20 summit on the global economy, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized the imperative of continuing development aid even in the straights of dire economic times. "It would be incredibly short-sighted - as well as immoral - for wealthy countries to use this financial crisis to drop promises to help the poorest," Annan said at a debate in Paris. This is a point we've made before -- and one that should prove salient to policymakers. Investing in eliminating extreme poverty around the world is not simply a moral exigency; it is in wealthier countries' strategic interests to do so. A poorer, more stratified, and likely more extremist world is in no country's interest.

by Anita Sharma (This op-ed first appeared at Open Democracy) The international effort to end world poverty may not at present be the highest-profile one on a global news agenda dominated by financial turmoil and worries over the coming recession. But the public engagement with the issue is real and sustained. This was reflected in an extraordinary global mobilisation on the weekend of 17-19 October 2008. "Stand Up and Take Action" was supported in 131 countries by nearly 117 million people, who participated in diverse events - from marches to religious ceremonies - and were united by a shared demand that this generation of political leaders do their utmost in the anti-poverty endeavour.

In case you missed it, Sunday's New York Times Travel section featured the announcement of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, a partnership between tourism industries launched by, among others, the UN Foundation. Participating businesses will now have to meet at least these standards, ensuring that the economic, social, and cultural weight of tourism is brought to bear for important environmental and anti-poverty initiatives. Check out the criteria here.

In a blog post extolling the virtues of celebrity diplomats Nicholas Kristoff recently mused, "Bono knows G-8 poverty policy issues better than I do." Well, it seems that Kristoff will not have to travel too far to glean insights from the U2 frontman. Radar reports

Like Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter before him, New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal sees something special in a certain teensy Gaelic man who refuses to remove his sunglasses. That's right, the Timesman announced last night his first acquisition for the paper's Op-Ed pages for 2009: Bono. Yep, Bono. The activist-creator of Zoo TV will pen between six and ten pieces for the Grey Lady next year, Rosenthal told students Wednesday night at Columbia's School of Journalism.

This is a very exciting development. In hiring Bono the most influential paper in the United States has essentially committed itself to consistent coverage of the global poverty beat. I, for one, hope he uses it as a bully pulpit. A new president and congress will face a multitude of pressures stemming from the global economic crisis. And there are already disturbing signs that the global anti-poverty agenda may suffer in light of this crisis. Also, it is becoming more and more clear that American action alone cannot solve this crisis. International cooperation--particularly among the G-8 -- has already proven to be a necessity. As Kristoff says, there are few on this planet who know as much about the G-8 poverty agenda as Bono. Next time they meet to discuss the economic crisis, we need someone with a megaphone speaking up for those worst affected by it. Bono is our man.

Last weekend, nearly 117 million people in 131 countries stood up as part of a UN-led campaign to draw attention to the Millennium Development Goals. This year's STAND UP Against Poverty shatters last year's record setting participation. The UN News Center has more on the events:

Over 8,000 events were held around the globe, from Afghanistan and Burundi to Thailand and Uganda, as part of the "Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty" campaign held from 17 to 19 October. "We are very proud that there has been such a massive citizen response for the Millennium Development Goals and against poverty," Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign, which initiated the project, told reporters in New York today. Nearly 117 million people - close to 2 per cent of the world's population - took part in Stand Up-related events, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest social mobilization ever on a single issue. Another 5 million people took part in events that were not submitted before the Guinness deadline. This represents a huge increase over 2006, when some 23 million people stood up against poverty, and 2007, when that number grew to almost 44 million.

The photo above comes from an event in Yerevan, Armenia. Check out STAND UP's photo page for more action shots.

Join millions of other concerned citizens around the world today and take a stand --literally--against global poverty. Today, the Stand Against Poverty Campaign is organizing its second annual international event. Last year, over 43 million people Stood Up to demand that world leaders keep their promises to end poverty and inequality. This year Stand Against Poverty Plans to exceed that number and break a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records. Join the global movement and tell world leaders to support the Millennium Development Goals!

H/T to David Roodman who has written a critically important post on the excellent Center for Global Development's blog. The graph shows the trends in foreign aid from Norway, Sweeden and Finland before after a 1991 banking crisis hit the Nordic countries. As you can see, it took some time for Sweden and Norway to get back to their pre-crisis foreign aid spending levels. Finland never fully recovered. Roodman posts a second graph showing how Japan's foreign aid expenditures also plummeted after the 1990 stock and real-state bubble burst. Like Finland, Japan has not returned to pre-bubble foreign aid spending (adjusted for inflation). Why is this important? The countries listed above are the world's most generous donors of foreign aid in terms of the percentage of their GDP that goes to foreign development assistance. As this graph shows, we can expect even the most generous countries to scale back their foreign development assistance as the world economy turns sour. Here in the United States the percentage of our GDP that goes to foreign aid is pretty minuscule--the United States offered $25 billion in official foreign development assistance last year. The Obama campaign has promised to double that amount to $50 billion. But recently, Obama and Biden have said that given the current economic situation they will not be able to fulfill this promise as quickly as they would have liked. If past is prologue, it looks like even the most generous countries on the planet will not be able to pick up the slack. The world's poor are in for rough times in the coming years.