Monterrey to Doha: Poverty in the spotlight

Poverty has falling across the world from a third to a fifth over the last decade, but the unfortunate fact remains that every three seconds, we allow one child to die from extreme poverty. Credits: Caritas

Government ministers and aid officials are meeting in Doha, Qatar 29 November – 2 December to discuss progress on poverty eradication since the Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Monterrey, Mexico 18-22 March 2002.

Read:

– Caritas Internationalis statement on Doha

– Doha development summit must address failures

– Caritas blog from Caritas Internationalis Representative Michel Roy in Doha.

– Doha summit ends without urgency or commitment

Here’s our top ten snapshot of the last six years.

Winners

1. The Commitments: Rich countries meeting at the G8 in Gleneagles in 2005 promised $50 billion in overseas aid which will make a real difference
2. Schools in: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and many other countries have abolished fees for primary schools resulting in dramatic increases in enrolment during the space of a few years thanks to debt relief.
3. Flight plan: Innovative ideas have worked such as a low tax on flights in France which raised 200 million Euros for medicine for the developing world
4. Above the law: Progress on corruption with the increasing involvement of the international community against corrupt money includes the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which entered into force in 2005
5. You, me and everyone I know: Poverty has falling across the world from a third to a fifth over the last decade. Development programmes work. We just need a greater sense of urgency and imagination to see through on our promises.

Losers

1. Show me the money: Rich countries have promised that 0.7 percent of their national incomes for aid to poor countries. Only Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have done so.
2. Decline and fall: Global aid levels have been in decline, falling by 8.4% in real terms between 2006 and 2007. This is is driven largely from falls in aid from all but one (Germany) of the world’s top five aid donors: US (-9.9%), Japan (-30.1%), France (-15.9%), UK (-29.1%)
3. Rough trade: The breakdown of the development round of trade negotiations in July has been a major setback for developing countries seeking to benefit from expanding global trade opportunities in order to reduce poverty.
4. Take The Money & Run: Developing countries lose up to 350 billion Euros per year through tax evasion showing that measures have failed to address the problem.
5. You, me and everyone I know: The unfortunate fact remains that every three seconds, we allow one child to die from extreme poverty.