(Vatican Radio) World leaders are continuing their discussions on the final day of
the G20 Summit in St Petersburg, Russia. Divisions still remain on what sort of action
to take on Syria. President Barack Obama told G20 leaders the United States has
high confidence that Syrian forces used chemical weapons and underlined the need to
uphold an international ban on the use of such weapons. But Russia, China and the
EU are still opposed to a military solution. Meanwhile, the British member of the
Caritas network, CAFOD says that although an urgent response to the Syrian conflict
is vital, the G20 must not neglect long-term crises. Speaking to Vatican Radio
from St Petersburg, CAFOD’s lead economic analyst, Christina Chang says the aid agency
wants to see the international community push for peace in Syria but long term economic
instability and poverty must not be sidelined by the G20. “We saw yesterday when they
(G20) released their development outlook for the next stage of their development agenda
that they still have a lot of lessons to learn”… She says CAFOD is concerned that
they have not focused enough attention on areas such as micro and small enterprises,
a sector where most poor men and women work. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with
Christina Chang