The London Summit of world leaders must sanction radical action to prevent the fallout from the financial crisis hitting the poorest people in the world, the UK International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander told a conference of leading experts on poverty and development in London on 9 March.

He warned that the economic downturn could force as many as 90 million more people into poverty by the end of next year. Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, echoed this, saying 2 million children could die as a result of the downturn.

The UK Government has set out new proposals to protect the poor groups with an international 'rapid response' fund that would provide a safety net for the world's most vulnerable people. The multi-billion pound fund would offer basic services such as feeding children and medical care for pregnant women and be specifically targeted at the most vulnerable groups including women, children, elderly people and the disabled. The fund would also invest in projects to get people back into jobs including 'food for work' projects.

The fund would be supported by a new 'Global Poverty Alert' system that would link international organisations, aid agencies and research groups into a single network that would provide instant updates on the impact of the economic crisis on the poor. This would include 'real-time' updates using text messaging and emails. 'Radical action needs to be taken to protect people from this financial crisis and that is why the British Government will be putting forward proposals to the G20 next month that will safeguard the most vulnerable.' Gordon Brown added: 'The World Bank has estimated that over 2 million children could die as a result of the downturn. That must not happen.'

Sir Bob Geldof called on governments to 'hold their nerve' in fighting world poverty in the midst of a global financial crisis. 'All that is required is that governments hold their nerve in the face of fear, intolerance, short-termism and stupidity while planning together a way out of this mess. We will get there. This moment will pass. There will be great pain and there will be great deprivation before it all ends - but end it will. And we hasten that end by removing one of the causes in this moment's conception - the unheeding of the poor.'

Meanwhile the World Bank called on leaders of the world's richest countries to divert some of the money being used to bail out their economies to a 'vulnerability fund' for poorer nations. World Bank president Robert Zoellick proposed using 0.7% of the money countries such as the UK are spending to prop up their own economies to finance the vulnerability fund. Speaking at the conference, World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: 'When this crisis began people in developing countries, especially those in Africa, were the innocent bystanders in this crisis, yet they have no choice but to bear its harsh consequences.'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that a slow global economy, declining commodity prices, and tighter credit markets are seriously threatening Africa’s economies. 'The gains of the past decade, during which many countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw sustained high rates of economic growth and rising income levels, are at risk,' said Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF's African Department Director. 'While African policymakers are rising to meet this unexpected challenge, donors must also play their part. They must maintain their commitments and scale up, not scale back their support,' Ms. Sayeh said.

Relieving global poverty is an element of the 'Global Deal' that the British Prime Minister set out in The Road to the London Summit: The plan for recovery document. 'The world’s leading economies [will] honour commitments to increase development assistance, to protect the poorest from the impact of the crisis,' it says.

 

See Part 1 - Emerging and developing nations move to centre stage of London Summit debate