2009-06-27 15:38:22

Holy See calls for short, long-term measures to help poor in economic crisis


(June 27, 2009) The Holy See has called for support for short as well as long-term measures to help the poor of the world defend themselves against the impact of the world financial and economic crisis. The call was made on Friday by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See’s permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York. He was addressing a 3-day UN summit of world leaders to identify emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the world’s worst global economic downturn. Archbishop Migliore noted that “it is poor people both in developed and in developing countries who suffer most and who are least able to defend themselves against the impact of this crisis.” While the poor in rich nations lose their jobs, those in poor nations lack access to employment, food, basic healthcare and education facilities. The World Bank estimates that an additional 55-90 million people will now be trapped in extreme poverty in 2009….while the number of chronically hungry people is expected to climb to over 1 billion individuals this year. In the face of this, Archbishop Migliore endorsed the proposed approach to protect the poor with short-term stabilization measures while using longer term measures to help ensure sustainable financial flows and reduce the likelihood of this crisis reoccurring. Short-term actions, he said, must focus on means that are capable of bringing tangible relief within a reasonable time period to individuals most in need. Longer term measures -which often may require developing a stronger political consensus to realize them- should focus on actions that support sustainability. The Holy See urged that adequate financial assistance be directed to poor countries with minimal conditionality. Specifically, he said, the elimination of agricultural export subsidies is one measure that can provide significant benefits to very poor developing countries.








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