And It All Adds Up To...

by Michael Bear

category: Humanitarian Relief

Published April 02, 2009 @ 09:45AM PT

The text of the G20 Communique speaks to ensuring a fair and sustainable recovery for all, including "the vulnerable in the poorest countries".

The statement reaffirms the commitment of G20 members to meet the Millennium Development Goals and to achieve previous pledges on foreign aid spending, outlines new funding for "social protection" and new IMF concessional and flexible funding for the poorest countries, and reaffirms a commitment to address climate change.

The relevant text of the communique is below:

We are determined not only to restore growth but to lay the foundation for a fair and susta:inable world economy. We recognise that the current crisis has a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable in the poorest countries and recognise our collective responsibility to mitigate the social impact of the crisis to minimise long-lasting damage to global potential.   To this end:

- we reaffirm our historic commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and to achieving our respective ODA pledges, including commitments on Aid for Trade, debt relief, and the Gleneagles commitments, especially to sub-Saharan Africa;

- the actions and decisions we have taken today will provide $50 billion to support social protection, boost trade and safeguard development in low income countries, as part of the significant increase in crisis support for these and other developing countries and emerging markets;

- we are making available resources for social protection for the poorest countries, including through investing in long-term food security and through voluntary bilateral contributions to the World Bank’s Vulnerability Framework, including the Infrastructure Crisis Facility, and the Rapid Social Response Fund;

- we have committed, consistent with the new income model, that additional resources from agreed sales of IMF gold will be used, together with surplus income, to provide $6 billion additional concessional and flexible finance for the poorest countries over the next 2 to 3 years. We call on the IMF to come forward with concrete proposals at the Spring Meetings;

- we have agreed to review the flexibility of the Debt Sustainability Framework and call on the IMF and World Bank to report to the IMFC and Development Committee at the Annual Meetings; and

- we call on the UN, working with other global institutions, to establish an effective mechanism to monitor the impact of the crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable.

We recognise the human dimension to the crisis.  We commit to support those affected by the crisis by creating employment opportunities and through income support measures.   We will build a fair and family-friendly labour market for both women and men.  We therefore welcome the reports of the London Jobs Conference and the Rome Social Summit and the key principles they proposed.  We will support employment by stimulating growth, investing in education and training, and through active labour market policies, focusing on the most vulnerable.  We call upon the ILO, working with other relevant organisations, to assess the actions taken and those required for the future.

We agreed to make the best possible use of investment funded by fiscal stimulus programmes towards the goal of building a resilient, sustainable, and green recovery.  We will make the transition towards clean, innovative, resource efficient, low carbon technologies and infrastructure.  We encourage the MDBs to contribute fully to the achievement of this objective.  We will identify and work together on further measures to build sustainable economies.

We reaffirm our commitment to address the threat of irreversible climate change, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and to reach agreement at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

[Photo of G20 leaders - minus Canada's Stephen Harper, who was away on a bathroom break - from the Guardian / Getty Images]