September, 22 2008, 06:29am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Louis Belanger - Oxfam media officer in New York on +1 202 321 2967
MDGs: Bold Leadership Needed To Turn Tide of Poverty
NEW YORK
Ahead of a crucial meeting in New York next week to
assess the state of the world's fight against global poverty,
international agency Oxfam called on world leaders to redouble their
efforts to fight the impact of rising food and fuel prices - and the
attendant economic slowdown from eroding real gains in poverty
reduction.
The latest UN estimates suggest that the number of
malnourished people worldwide has increased by 75m, to 925m, reversing
progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving world
hunger by 2015. Higher food prices indirectly affect progress towards
many of the other Goals as well, not least because hunger negatively
impacts on peoples' ability to work, stay healthy and for children to
go to school.
Alison Woodhead, Oxfam International's spokeswoman
in New York said: "In the face of these new and daunting challenges we
need a dramatic shift in political will and ambition. This meeting must
deliver concrete plans on how to keep these anti-poverty targets in our
sights."
Around 90 Heads of State and Governments, along with the
CEOs of the world's biggest businesses and hundreds of anti-poverty
organizations, are expected to gather in New York on September 25th for
the High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals, which will be
hosted by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Oxfam is calling on
them to treat this as an emergency summit and step up their efforts in
the fight against poverty.
Alison Woodhead: "Leaders must not
just reissue empty promises, with their fingers crossed behind their
backs. This is a poverty emergency that requires exactly the same
attention and response as the financial crisis grabbing the headlines.
Significant progress has been made but much more needs to be done."
Remarkable
progress is possible, even in the poorest countries. In Rwanda the
number of children dying from malaria has been cut by two-thirds in the
last two years alone. A boy born in Tanzania today is 25% less likely
to die by his first birthday than his sister born just four years ago.
However on current trends, Oxfam warns that the MDGs will not be
achieved. An additional $150bn per year is needed by 2010 to meet all the goals, less than double the amount spent (US$85b) to bail out a single insurance group, AIG.
Woodhead
concluded: "Given the turmoil in financial markets, rich countries will
be tempted to tighten their belts. But we must do more, not less, if we
are to prevent the real danger that progress on the MDGs will be wiped
out. Since this summit was announced in January, increased food and oil
prices have pushed millions more people into poverty."
This week,
Oxfam and other international agencies launch a major new campaigning
action called 'in my name', calling on citizens to hold their leaders
accountable for promises made in the year 2000. The initiative brings
together dignitaries such as Queen Rania of Jordan, Mary Robinson and
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and celebrities from all continents including
Rahul Bose, will.i.am, Angelique Kidjo, Wyclef Jean, Annie Lennox and
Sergio Mendes.
Oxfam International is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice. We are working across regions in about 70 countries, with thousands of partners, and allies, supporting communities to build better lives for themselves, grow resilience and protect lives and livelihoods also in times of crisis.
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Critics Blast 'Reckless and Impossible' Bid to Start Operating Mountain Valley Pipeline
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Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC sent a letter Monday to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Secretary Debbie-Anne Reese seeking final permission to begin operation on the MVP next month, even while acknowledging that much of the Virginia portion of the pipeline route remains unfinished and developers have yet to fully comply with safety requirements.
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Appalachian Voices noted that MVP's request comes days before pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream is set to release its 2024 first-quarter earnings information on April 30.
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has suggested it plans to file a lawsuit that, as The American Prospectdetailed, "could more broadly threaten the rulemaking authority the FTC cited when proposing to ban noncompetes."
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Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, praised the FTC for "listening to the comments of thousands of entrepreneurs and workers of all income levels across industries" and finalizing a rule that "is a clear-cut win."
Demand Progress' Emily Peterson-Cassin similarly commended the commission "for taking a strong stance against this egregious use of corporate power, thereby empowering workers to switch jobs and launch new ventures, and unlocking billions of dollars in worker earnings."
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Democracy defenders on Tuesday hailed a ruling from a U.S. federal judge striking down a 19th-century North Carolina law criminalizing people who vote while on parole, probation, or post-release supervision due to a felony conviction.
In Monday's decision, U.S. District Judge Loretta C. Biggs—an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama—sided with the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute and Action NC, who argued that the 1877 law discriminated against Black people.
"The challenged statute was enacted with discriminatory intent, has not been cleansed of its discriminatory taint, and continues to disproportionately impact Black voters," Biggs wrote in her 25-page ruling.
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Voting rights tracker Democracy Docket noted that Monday's ruling "does not have any bearing on North Carolina's strict felony disenfranchisement law, which denies the right to vote for those with felony convictions who remain on probation, parole, or a suspended sentence—often leaving individuals without voting rights for many years after release from incarceration."
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"Judge Biggs' decision will help ensure that voters who mistakenly think they are eligible to cast a ballot will not be criminalized for simply trying to re-engage in the political process and perform their civic duty."
In what one civil rights leader called "the largest expansion of voting rights in this state since the 1965 Voting Rights Act," a three-judge state court panel voted 2-1 in 2021 to restore voting rights to approximately 55,000 formerly incarcerated felons. The decision made North Carolina the only Southern state to automatically restore former felons' voting rights.
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As similar battles play out in other states, Democratic U.S. lawmakers led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont in December introduced legislation to end former felon disenfranchisement in federal elections and guarantee incarcerated people the right to vote.
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