G8 cannot ignore the voices of millions of people demanding action on rising Poverty by Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) 7:42am 6th Jul, 2008   July 2008    A unique petition carrying over one million names from around the world was handed to G8 governments at the Japanese Summit.    People in G8 countries and elsewhere, have strongly supported demands for action on rising poverty, education, health and HIV/AIDS, climate change and international aid.    “Seeing how many people across the globe, from both rich and poor nations, have interacted with this campaign is really inspiring. We know that pressure to hold the eight richest governments to account for their promises to end poverty needs this scale of support and we promise to bring the message loud and clear to the Summit,” said Kumi Naidoo, Co-Chair of GCAP.    “This Summit is not about politicians paying lip service to the issues on their agenda, it is about the people I live with in my town, my family, my community. Like millions across the developing world we are being further marginalized by growing poverty and inequality and now the cost of food is rising we see no hope without G8 action.” said Nur Amalia from GCAP Indonesia.    GCAP Demands the G8 must:    Increase Overseas Development Aid (ODA) levels by an extra $50 billion by 2010, with $25 billion of this for Africa, and each G8 nation provides a detailed timetable for their budget increases to achieve this in the next two years.    Make binding agreements to keep global warming at less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, in line with present EU policy and scientific projections.    Spend $50 billion annually for climate adaptation in addition to the UN target of 0.7% of GNI, in grants not loans and Agree 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.    Agree full debt cancellation for all IDA-only countries, and all other countries whose debt levels currently prevent them from meeting their people’s basic needs, without economic policy conditions.    Spend $15-16 billion per annum minimum in aid for education for adult literacy, early childhood care and education, targeting the hardest-to-reach children and expansion of lower secondary education.    Reverse the growing food crisis through a combination of; aid from grants not loans, stopping market speculation, removing incentives to turn food into bio-fuel, ending trade-distorting agricultural policies, investing in sustainable small-scale agricultural production in developing nations; stop debt payments from flowing out of countries.    Transform the International Health Partnership into a fully endorsed G8 initiative to help countries design and implement clear, long-term plans for assisting, expanding and strengthening public health systems to ensure the 2010 HIV/AIDS targets are met.    Provide $60bn for AIDS, TB and malaria increased or delivered at a rate that is sufficient to meet UNAIDS’s estimates of resources needed to achieve Universal Access by 2010.    Endorse a Global Water and Sanitation Action Plan recognizing the integral role of water and sanitation in the achievement of the MDGs and articulating a roadmap for ensuring progress in the sector.    * The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is the world’s largest civil society alliance of social movements, International NGOs, trade unions, community groups, women’s organizations, faith and youth groups, local associations and campaigners working together across more than 100 national coalitions/platforms.    GCAP is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions that address the issues of; public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights; trade justice; more and better aid; debt cancellation and gender equality and women’s rights. Visit the related web page
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