G-5 leaders play victim of economic crisis shaped by developed countries

October 2nd, 2009 GENEVA - The global community needs to urgently address the marginalisation of the world's poorest countries while discussing ways out of the economic meltdown, says Ujal Singh Bhatia, India's ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Marginalisation of low income economies in the multilateral trade policy making process and in international efforts to contain the ongoing economic crisis is an unaddressed challenge in the contemporary global dialogue, Bhatia told the just-ended WTO public forum here.

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - World leaders have announced that the elite club of developed nations known as the Group 7 would be permanently replaced as a global forum for economic policy by the much broader Group of 20, which includes China, Brazil, India and other fast-growing developing nations. World leaders agreed to the expansion of the G 20's role in global economic affairs during meetings on Thursday, the White House said in a statement.

September 24th, 2009 World leaders stress unity to fight crisesUNITED NATIONS — Global leaders on Thursday warned colleagues that coordinated international action to end the worldwide recession and reverse climate change must not fall victim to routine political divisions and pitfalls. "Recuperation will be slow and time-consuming," said President Zeljko Komsic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the U.N.'s newer nation-states, born from the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

July 10th, 2009 L'AQUILA - India is hopeful that the issue of climate change will move forward with the G8 countries, the group of the world's most developed nations, discussing the setting up of a Green Fund. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran said Friday that the step by the G8 to provide financial assistance to the Green Fund was a "forward-looking one".

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - Brazil has asked G5 countries to explore the possibility of using their own currency to settle trading accounts amongst themselves. The suggestion was made by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a meeting of the G5 countries, comprising Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, during the G8-G5 summit in this quake-hit city in central Italy.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - Developed countries comprising the G8 are unwilling to commit themselves to reducing greenhouse gas emissions drastically by 2020, despite scientists across the world and developing countries urging them to do so. With the issue of climate change becoming significant during the G8-G5 summit here, especially in the run-up to the UN climate change summit to be held in Copenhagen this December, emerging economies of the G5 are exerting pressure on the G8 to commit to earlier targets on reducing emissions.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - Fourteen young people from countries attending the G8 today called on their respective leaders to get tough with countries who don't meet climate change targets and teachers whose standards slip. At the meeting, the J8 representatives presented these recommendations and others for the 14 leaders attending the G8.

July 8th, 2009 L'AQUILA - In a strong message ahead of the G8 meet here, the emerging economies of the G5 including India Wednesday asked the grouping of the industrialised nations to find global solutions to international problems without compromising the interest of developing and poor countries. At the end of their meeting here, the leaders of the G5 countries - China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa - specifically mentioned the financial crisis, protectionist issues in trade, climate change and food security as the issues that the G8 needs to address.

July 4th, 2009 Pope urges G8 leaders to act on crisisVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has urged G-8 leaders meeting in Italy next week to rewrite global financial rules and defend the world's poor from the effects of the economic downturn, the Vatican said Saturday. In a letter to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who will chair the summit, Benedict appealed to leaders to "listen to the voice of Africa and of the countries that are less developed economically." Benedict said the economic crisis means there is a "real risk not only that hopes to emerge from extreme poverty will be dashed, but that populations that so far have benefited from a minimum of material well-being will fall into poverty." The pope called on the leaders to "reform the international financial architecture" to avoid the speculative operations blamed for the crisis and ensure public and private credit is made available for economic development and job creation, especially in poor regions.

June 26th, 2009 Agreement reached on final UN summit documentUNITED NATIONS — More than 140 countries agreed Friday on a blueprint for a global response to the world's worst economic crisis in 70 years which gives the U.N. a new role in representing hard-hit developing countries but leaves some demands by rich and poor countries unmet.

June 24th, 2009 UN: impact of economic crisis could last yearsUNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned at a U.N. financial summit Wednesday that the impact of the global economic crisis could last for years with millions more families pushed into poverty, and he urged rich nations to mobilize the money to help hard-hit developing countries.

June 23rd, 2009 Poor nations want UN role in financial crisisUNITED NATIONS — The global financial crisis is being tackled by the eight major industrialized nations, the 20 key economic powers, and regional groups. Now, the U.N.

June 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The global financial crisis may leave over a billion people hungry every day this year, says a new estimate by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). According to FAO, a United Nations organisation that leads international efforts to defeat hunger, the number of hungry people globally will rise from 915 million in 2008 to 1.02 billion in 2009.

April 26th, 2009 World Bank: Nations should speed aid to poorWASHINGTON — The World Bank on Sunday urged donor nations to speed up delivery of the money they've already pledged — and to give even more — to help poor countries weather the steep global recession. The bank said developing countries face especially serious consequences as the financial and economic crisis turns into what it described as a "human and development calamity." In a communique, the World Bank's policy steering committee said the crisis has already driven more than 50 million people into extreme poverty, particularly women and children.

April 25th, 2009 World Bank to aid poor countries with public worksWASHINGTON — The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment. The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction.