CAFOD warns G-20 leaders to put development at core of agenda

(Nov. 02, 2011) The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, CAFOD has warned the leaders of the Group of 20 nations that they will perpetuate a global economic crisis, if they fail to put international development "at the core" of their agenda when they meet Nov. 3-4 in Cannes, France. In a six-page briefing paper released Oct. 31, CAFOD, the aid agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said the failure to address development would result in the poverty gap widening and economic woes becoming the norm. "A year ago in Seoul, Korea, G-20 leaders set themselves the task of reining in an overinflated and socially useless financial sector and finding the urgent, crucial funds required to reduce poverty and help the world's poorest countries deal with the impact of climate change," Christina Weller, CAFOD's economic analyst said in the statement. "Those goals have been shamefully cast aside in the face of the global downturn, as G-20 leaders focus on preserving their own futures, not safeguarding the world's," she said. The impact on Europe has been so grave that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has predicted that economic growth will come to a virtual halt in countries that use the euro in 2012. On Oct. 31, it called for "bold action" at the G-20 summit to avert the threat of the crisis escalating into a global disaster.