Taking Responsibility for Human Development and Global Solidarity

We, Catholic Cardinals and Bishops from the south and the north have come to Europe to address the governments of the “Group of Eight” (G8: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) as they prepare for their annual summit of consultations. This is not the first time that we have come to put issues of development and poverty before the G8. We travelled to Cologne in 1999 and to Edinburgh 2005 when the G8 made important commitments to development.

Together with the Bishops in our home regions, with the faithful in our communities, with millions of men, women and children of different beliefs and all ages, we are deeply concerned by our increasingly divided world. We are disappointed too by the lack of progress on the part of G8 countries towards the targets they set for themselves two years ago at Gleneagles and concerned that, without immediate and urgent corrective action the G8 countries will fail to meet their commitments on development assistance. We are now at the halfway point between 2000 when the UN Millennium Declaration set out the Millennium Development Goals and 2015, year in which they are to be achieved. We are only too well aware that many countries are years behind schedule. Only an urgent injection of resources and renewed commitment, on the part of donor and recipient countries, can now put them back on track.

In 2003, in his World Peace Day homily, Pope John Paul II, reminded us, “If at all times commitments ought to be kept, promises made to the poor should be considered particularly binding. Especially frustrating for them is any breach of faith regarding promises which they see as vital to their well-being. In this respect, the failure to keep commitments in the sphere of aid to developing nations is a serious moral question and further highlights the injustice of the imbalances existing in the world. The suffering caused by poverty is compounded by the loss of trust. The end result is hopelessness. The existence of trust in international relations is a social capital of fundamental value.“

There are many issues of relevance to development that we could raise – the role of remittances as source of development finance, foreign direct investment, intellectual property and the lack of progress on trade resulting from entrenched interests in the United States and the European Union – but we focus here on a narrow range of issues in which, given the necessary political will, the G8 can make a real difference.

We witness children dying as a result of malnutrition and lack of basic healthcare. We witness families torn apart because mothers and fathers, unable to provide for their children at home, have become illegal and undocumented migrants in a desperate quest for a basic income. We witness small scale farmers and fisherfolk who stand by helpless as they see their land eroded, their forests cut down and their fishing grounds emptied of fish by industrial fleets. We witness growing slum areas in mega-cities breeding desperation, violence and unrest. We witness whole communities being displaced for the sake of economic gain.

On the other hand, in other regions we see record rates of economic growth and multinational corporations which operate beyond control of national legislation and which themselves have become major power brokers in the global community. We see wealth and material fortune at the same time as abject poverty. While the number of millionaires and billionaires is growing fast in some parts of the world, the numbers of the extreme poor remain stubbornly high. We must also mention the vast gulf between military expenditure which reached $824 billion in 2006 compared with global aid of $75 billion.

As Christian leaders we believe that “God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the use of all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of justice and in the company of charity, created goods should be in abundance for all in like manner.” (Vat II, GS 69).

This leads us to question the prevalent model of economic growth which operates without reference to the common good and the well-being of the human beings it is intended to serve. If growth is not guided by deliberate policy choices based on clear ethical values, we will face an increasingly polarised world in which humanity is divided into “winners” and “losers”. Our perspective leads us to call for a model of economic growth and of globalisation that incorporates the value of solidarity based on mutual respect and mutual support. Climate change has made us all too aware of the fragile limits of our environment and of the threat to development and to human life itself posed by uncontrolled, business-as-usual economic growth.

We call on the G8 governments to guide the world economy towards integral human and environmentally sustainable development in global justice and solidarity. The G8 governments have no mandate for global governance. Nevertheless your decisions have far-reaching consequences for the lives of millions of people in other parts of the world. It is a responsibility that you should take seriously. Now, a month before the G8 leaders meet in Heiligendamm it is imperative that there should be action on:

1. Development Aid: Delivering on Commitments and Exploring New Resources

In the long-term countries should be able to rely on their own domestic resources, but now and for the foreseeable future external development aid will continue to be needed to reduce poverty and balance gross global inequalities. We urge, therefore, that::

* G8 countries must deliver on their pledges for financing development. Those countries who haven’t done so far should also commit to reach the target of 0.7% ODA/GNI by 2015. In order to make development aid predictable all G8 countries should provide a clear time-table for annual increases to reach the targets of 0.51 by 2010 and 0.7 by 2015.

* In conformity with the Monterrey Consensus, debt relief should not be counted as ODA. At present G8 countries have to take urgent measures to offset the imminent decline of ODA due to the conclusion of major debt relief operations (HIPC, Iraq, Nigeria). In fact, issues of debt must be delinked from ODA.

* G8 countries must also take steps towardadditional resources for development if the fight against poverty is not to remain an empty promise. G8 countries should explore and promote international taxes which can raise the necessary resources and at the same time compensate vulnerable developing countries for damages caused by global imbalances (e.g. air-ticket levy, aviation fuel tax, currency transaction tax).

* We know from our own experience that aid works and that there is great public support for aid from ordinary citizens in G8 countries. Of course, aid could work better that is why G8 countries must act to improve the quality of their aid. They should give greater support for the elaboration of national strategies for poverty reduction determined by broad involvement of parliament and civil society. G8 countries must align their aid and refrain from any economic policy condition which is not explicitly based in these strategies.

2. Responsible Lending and Borrowing for Sustainable Development

Recent debt reduction initiatives like the HIPC initiative and the MDRI have enlarged fiscal space of beneficiary countries for increased social spending. Although this is a welcome contribution to urgently needed poverty reduction, in many countries the debt problem is far from being resolved. Future lending and debt sustainability will require new efforts based in increased joint responsibility on the part of creditors and debtors to avoid new debt traps, in particular:

* G8 countries should develop lending guidelines to effectively detect ‘developmental’ from ‘non-developmental’ credits. Creditors would have to accept losses for non-developmental credits in the case of default. For existing credit claims G8 countries should agree and support independent audits for examining the legal basis of these claims.

* G8 countries should use and promote independent debt sustainability analysis that pays due consideration to MDG financing needs and the social, political and economic situation of the debtor country.

* G8 countries should support public control of new loan contracting in developing countries by making public in a timely manner all necessary information about the preparation, contracting and repayment of public loans and credits to developing countries.

* G8 countries must engage in a fundamental reform of the international system for resolving debt crises since the current system has proven to fail in achieving sustainable solutions and preventing irresponsible lending. New mechanisms need to be based on fairness and transparency and on the shared responsibility of creditor and debtor.

3. Good Governance and Anticorruption

Poverty goes hand in hand with bad governance. And bad governance goes hand in hand with corruption. The misuse of existing assets of a country (external as well as domestic resources) creates and increases poverty as a consequence either of personal profit interests or inability (the latter often being a consequence of the former). Because corruption has its roots in both the national and international spheres, it has to be fought at both levels. G8 governments should take the following actions:

* G8 countries should promote measures tostrengthen the accountability of developing countries governments towards their own democratic constituencies. They should systematically involve parliament and civil society of developing countries in policy dialogue, governance assessments, loan contraction and consultative group meetings.

* G8 countries should ensure transparency and access to information regarding financial flows to developing countries, especially development aid and private flows into sensitive sectors (e.g. by supporting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative - EITI). G8 countries should insist on independent audits of public budgets and help to build up the necessary capacities and institutions.

* G8 countries should take effective measures against corruption committed by their citizens or companies or institutions based in their territory. They should prosecute and sanction persons and companies found guilty of acts of corruption in developing countries. G8 countries should all ratify and effectively implement international conventions against corruption, in particular the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

* G8 countries should take the necessary legal and institutional provisions to prevent tax havens acting as shelters for the proceeds of corruption (money laundering) in developing countries. They should also put in place the necessary legal and institutional provisions to effectively support the complete recovering of stolen assets of developing countries.

Both as citizens and as Christian leaders we are aware of the share of responsibility that properly belongs to us and to our governments. We are committed to assuming responsibility for promoting true human development and global solidarity. But we also expect those who hold political and economic power in rich countries to do the same. Most people on earth share the vision of a united and prosperous human community that lives in harmony together. And there are already many people willing to work to make this vision a reality. But all, especially the most powerful, must assume their share of this task. The World Can’t Wait.

Cardinal Oscar Andrés RODRÍGUEZ Maradiaga S.D.B., Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (Honduras)

Archbishop John Olorunfemi ONAIYEKAN of Abuja (Nigeria)

Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O’BRIEN, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh (UK)

Archbishop Werner Thissen of Hamburg (Germany)

Bishop Arrigo MIGLIO of Ivrea (Italy)

Bishop Marc Stenger of Troyes (France)

Paul Chitnis, President of CIDSE (Brussels / Glasgow)

Duncan MacLAREN, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis (Rome)

Chris BAIN, General Director of CAFOD (London)

Archbishop Vincent Michael CONCESSAO of Delhi (Indien)

Archbishop Laurent MONSENGWO PASINYA of Kisangani (DR Kongo)

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster (London, UK)

Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice (USA)

Bishop John Anthony RAWSTHORNE of Hallam (UK)

Christiane Overkamp, Secretary General of CIDSE (Brussels)

Joseph Sayer, Executive Director Misereor (Aachen)

Sergio MARELLI, General Director of FOCSIV (Rome)

Rev. Andreas MAURITZ, German Federation of Catholic Youth (BDKJ, Düssel

London, 30th April 2007