Thinking small, acting big

This week’s summit of the G20 leaders in Seoul is hoping to lay the foundation for a new post-crisis global economic order but how much help will it provide for the poorest people in developing nations? That’s the question many NGO’s and religious groups are asking ahead of the 2-day meeting in Seoul being attended by the leaders of the world’s richest and most powerful nations. In a policy paper entitled “thinking small, acting big” the Catholic development agency CAFOD says the G20 summit must promote sustainable economic development that reduces poverty and ensures the needs of the world’s poorest people are not drowned out by other issues. Christina Weller, senior economic analyst at CAFOD, is the author of that policy paper and she’s currently in Seoul. She spoke to Susy Hodges about her expecations ahead of the summit:
"We not terribly optimistic at the moment ... partly because we're expecting the development agenda not to have learned enough the lessons from the economic crisis so we expect them still just to be seeking to go for growth ...at any cost and not learning the lessons that we need growth that creates jobs and reduces inequalities and that focuses on the very poorest people."

Another issue that CAFOD would like the G20 leaders to discuss is the excessive "speculations in commodities" that leads to "great fluctuations in food prices" but again Weller isn't that optimistic:
"we'd like to see them really tackle those issues head-on but we're not expecting them to do as much as we'd like them to do..."