World trade to face largest drop in 80 years
The world trade is likely to experience its largest drop in 80 years,
most noticeably in East Asia and the poorest are innocent bystanders,
forced to bear the brunt of the financial crisis, according to the
Managing Director World Bank Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
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Empowering women in the poorest nations |
“We must look at poor people as assets and not liabilities: The new
globalization should mean adopting new ways of caring for infants,
educating youth, empowering women and protecting the vulnerable,” she
said.
Many of the poorest nations are becoming increasingly dependent on
development aid as their exports and fiscal revenues dwindle due to the
crisis, and donors are already behind by nearly $40 billion on their
commitment made in Gleneagles in 2005 to double aid to Africa by 2010.
With many in the private sector eschewing emerging markets,
developing countries only one quarter of which have the resources needed
to prevent a spike in poverty face a financing shortfall of up to $700
billion this year, according to the World Bank. International financial
institutions alone cannot cover the gap, including both public and
private debt and trade deficits for these 129 nations, the body said in
a new paper ahead of the upcoming meeting of the so-called Group of 20
nations in London, calling for support from governments, multilateral
institutions and the private sector.
World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said that it is
necessary to react in real time to a growing crisis that is hurting
people in developing countries. This global crisis needs a global
solution and preventing an economic catastrophe in developing countries
is important for global efforts to overcome this crisis he said.
He stressed the need for investments in safety nets, infrastructure
and small and medium-size companies to spur job creation and avert
social and political unrest. For the first time since World War II, the
global economy is set to shrink this year, and the World Bank forecasts
that global industrial production in mid-2009 could be 15 per cent lower
than the same time last year. |
