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.