IPS Special — G20: The World Is Watching

London, April 2. The world is in financial disarray, facing the danger of widespread protectionism, food crisis and unemployment. The G20 comprising some of the world?s major economies, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – is meeting to discuss coordinated actions to revive the global economy, stimulate growth and employment, and reform the financial sector. Will they succeed? Are the voices of the most vulnerable, developing and poor countries being heard? What does the civil society say about it?

G20: One Size Does Not Fit All
Analysis by Sanjay Suri
LONDON (IPS) – There is on the face of it a fairness in the language hanging over the G20 summit that is quite seductive. “A global crisis requires a global solution,” everyone who matters seems to be saying, at least towards the richer end of the G20 spectrum. Such talk is getting louder by the day as heads of state and government head for a meeting in London Thursday to address the global economic crisis.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46352

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AFRICA: “G20 Should Use Crisis as Opportunity to Fix Inequity”
By Michael Chebud
ADDIS ABABA (IPS) – The daunting task of making Africa the centre of attention awaits Ethiopia?s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi when the Group of 20 (G20) rich and emerging economies meet in London tomorrow.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46346

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ECONOMY: Global Public Backs Major Reforms
By Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON (IPS) – The international economic system needs a broad overhaul, said a strong majority of 70 percent of respondents to a global poll.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46344

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G20: Next Time, Perhaps…
Analysis by Sanjay Suri
LONDON (IPS) – If the draft declaration of the G20 meeting in London is anything to go by, the most specific outcome of this summit is that there will be another one later in the year.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46343

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G20: Japan Carries African Concerns To London
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN (IPS) – Japan, the world’s second largest economy, is calling for global initiatives to reactivate financial flows to Africa, including government grants, concessional loans and lines of credit.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46337

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ECONOMY: Zoellick Seeks New Trade Fund Amid Grim Outlook
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON (IPS) – For the first time since the Great Depression, global economic production will decline in 2009, according to the latest estimates by the World Bank, which also predicted a tough and uncertain 2010.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46333

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CLIMATE CHANGE: G20 Leaders Wrangle Over Kyoto Successor
By Marina Litvinsky
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Senior legislators from the G20 bloc of the world’s biggest economies launched an international commission in Washington Monday to help lay the political groundwork for a global deal on climate change in Copenhagen this December.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46325

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ECONOMY: High Stakes, Modest Outlook for G20
Analysis by Abid Aslam
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Talks on the global economic crisis could prove a timely reminder of the perils of hype.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46316

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WORLD: Investors Eyeing South-South Trade to Help End Crisis
By Stephanie Nieuwoudt
CAPE TOWN (IPS) – Despite the challenges that the global economic crisis poses to Africa and other developing regions in the southern hemisphere, South-South trade still offers huge opportunities as there is room for growth beyond the current levels.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46312

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FINANCE: Tax Havens in Spotlight at G20 Meet
By Lucy Komisar*
NEW YORK (IPS) – This could be the moment when a fatal blow is delivered to the world’s tax havens. Or it could be another largely cosmetic change that allows offshore financial centres such as Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Liechtenstein to deflect attacks on the system by sacrificing the few tax miscreants that governments catch in their nets.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46308

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Read More IPS Coverage of the G20: www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/G20/index.asp

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