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Fancy dinners and false promises
Posted in: News & Updates by Kate Weersink on July 8, 2010
Hamilton, ON—Last week the most powerful politicians in the world assembled in Huntsville and Toronto for the G8 and G20 summits. Although these two groups stand as the definition of global governance and new world order, the attitude employed by the summits’ leaders and delegates was more fitting of a bossy parent. In recent years, they have assumed to understand the problems of the developing world and how best to solve them and this weekend was no exception. But when an attitude of such superiority and naivety is displayed in such grandeur as it was at the summits, it’s hard to keep turning a blind eye.
This self-righteous attitude was very clear when looking at the main focus outlined by the Canadian government in its preparation for the G8 summit. Prime Minister Harper stated, “Canada will champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world’s poorest regions.”
Canada is a country that prides itself on diversity and multiculturalism. We are seen as a nation that works in relative peace and a place that people around the world would love to call home. But like every country, we too have our problems.
A detailed investigation of infant mortality in the province of Manitoba concluded that the death rate for aboriginal babies is more than twice the Canadian average. Even more disturbing is the outcome of the study, which demonstrates that the situation does not improve regardless of how close their mothers live to sophisticated health-care facilities.
However, the summit results concluded that about 80% of Canadian funding, approximately $2.85 billion over 5 years, will be targeted to Sub-Saharan Africa. Canadian infant mortality rates are in no way comparable to countries such as Mozambique or Liberia. But if the issue is not yet resolved right here in our own country, can these promises truly be valid?
“If people live like refugees on Canadian soil, arguably the best country in the world, it makes me wonder if the summits were just for the show of appearing to be concerned about global issues,” says Leo Johnson, Executive Director of Empowerment Squared.
Discussions at the summit largely focused on problems within developing nations, yet only one nation at the table could claim to represent people who actually struggle with many of those issues on a daily basis.
“The exclusion of people who live the reality of the problems being discussed is just simply insulting,” states Leo. “The summits were simply an opportunity to be serenaded at the cost of poor tax payers.” Having lived on refugee camps for eight years, he has seen firsthand this imperialistic attitude that wealthy nations hold.
Based on the weekend’s activities and results it makes you wonder if the summit is just another social event for the world’s most powerful leaders. Where over fancy dinners, they can discuss world problems which they see fit to solve.
Empowerment Squared believes that to successfully solve issues it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach where affected people are actually engaged in solving the problem themselves. An unrealistic promise or a generous donation is not how problems will be solved in the long run.
As Leo explains, “You need to engage people. They already have a good understanding of what the solutions are, you do not need to find solutions for them. Instead of giving resources in a manner that forces communities to become dependent and vulnerable to exploitation, empower them to take control of the situation so they can help themselves.”
The G8 and G20 stand as the definition of global governance, but looking back, what will be remembered is the disruption to the daily lives of Torontonians, a hefty security bill we’re left to pay, and more false promises made my developed nations. This is hardly global governance and perhaps the best option is to be advocating for the elimination of organizations that fail to see the real problems that people are facing.
Comments
sweet article, kate!
it’s nice to see that although empowerment squared is helping internationally, we know that people in canada need aid too.
Comment by Erika Strong on July 9, 2010 at 1:03 pm