UN Conference on the World Financial Crisis

Welthungerhilfe demands a just economic and financial system

Poor children in Ethiopia. © Lohkamp(23.6.2009) Welthungerhilfe is demanding a new just economic and financial system where the developing countries can also have an adequate stake in. A clear signal must be given to mark the beginning of the UN summit meeting on the financial crisis in New York tomorrow. " The latest FAO report clearly confirmed that the reason the number of starving people has reached a distressing record level is because the financial and economic crisis hits the developing countries that much harder than the industrialised countries. The developing countries have not caused the crisis and cannot by themselves cushion its impact", says Bärbel Dieckmann, Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe.

"The people in the developing countries are amongst the real losers from the crisis. There are no social security systems, no unemployment insurance, and no emergency parachutes available for them. They simply become even poorer and suffer even more from hunger" Dieckmann stresses. Welthungerhilfe is demanding that one percent of the value of the economic stimulus packages agreed by the industrialised countries should be made available for funding development and investment in the developing countries. Agriculture, as well as support for small farmers, has a key role in this.

A new global financial system must take account of the interests of the developing countries. This includes comprehensive standards for, and assessments of, financial products, the banning of speculation in foodstuffs, and the removal of barriers to trade. "We have seen that the market cannot regulate everything. Financial flows must be directed in a predictable way so that everyone has the same chances of accessing the market" Dieckmann emphasises.