(DFID) Young people to advise Ministers and world leaders on fight against global poverty

Fifty young people from across the UK have been invited by the Department for International Development (DFID) to help shape government policy to eliminate world poverty and share their views with world leaders ahead of the London Summit next month.

The DFID Youth Summit on Friday, 20 March will see 16-24 year olds from youth boards of charities and government departments gather in London to discuss how conflict, climate change and the economic crisis can be tackled to reduce global poverty. Their views will be presented to the Government and help inform the contents of DFID's new policy on the future of international development. The views of the young people will also form part of a global Youth Communique for the London Summit on 2 April which will be shared with every G20 country delegation present.

Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, said:

"We live in an interconnected world. What happens here in the UK has an effect on the developing world and vice versa. Tackling climate change, reducing conflict, rebuilding the global economy - all are global problems that need global solutions.

"Young people are part of these solutions. I want to hear young people's views about what world leaders should do at the G20 London Summit, and what our priorities should be for our new White Paper that lays out our strategy for fighting world poverty."

The global economic downturn is hitting the poorest hardest. By the end of this year, the effects of the global downturn could force as many as 46 million people into extreme poverty.

The Summit, organised by the DFID Civil Society Children and Youth Network, will provide young representatives from international leading charities, such as Plan International and UNICEF, and government Youth Boards the chance to ask questions and debate each of these topics.

Ed Balls, Education Secretary, said:
"I know from visiting schools and colleges up and down the country that young people are passionate about preventing global warming, tackling poverty and preventing diseases like HIV and malaria, both in this country and all over the world.

"There are very real issues facing world leaders right now and I want young people - the future generation - to able to contribute their ideas and really make a difference. I'm delighted that this event will help them do that and I look forward to hearing what they have to say."

(BERR) Joint statement by business secretary Peter Mandelson and CBI president Martin Broughton

Business leaders from G20 countries around the world have been meeting UK Government Ministers ahead of the London Summit on April 2nd.

We had a useful and constructive discussion and urged the G20 to achieve three things:

1. Urgently renew the commitment to conclude the WTO Round.

This is the best insurance policy the international community has against a retreat to protectionism; a successful Doha Round alone would insure against protectionist pressures that could cost the global economy as much as $170bn a year.

2. To increase the supply of trade finance.

International and government institutions need to step in to substitute private flows of trade finance which have been drying up. If left unchecked, this could restrain many hundreds of billions of dollars of global trade over the next two years.

3. To pursue the need for anti-protectionism across the globe.

While demand is a factor, protectionism could be playing a part in the fall in trade. We therefore call on G20 to reconfirm and strengthen their commitment not to bring in protectionist measures, reconfirming the outcomes of the Washington summit, but focussing also on non tariff measures such as subsidies, anti dumping action and licencing restrictions. We also agreed it was important to make sure that the monitoring of adherence to these commitments has realty.

As the London Summit draws near, we believe that the response of the G20 leaders must be decisive and wide-ranging, in the interests of our long-term prosperity.