Post your thoughts/ideas/musings on global poverty and climate change for Policywonk - Mumsnet's blogger at the G20 summit...

[JustineMumsnet]

Ok so hurrah, Policywonk is to be our Mumsnet representative inside the London Summit as part of G20Voice initiative - a group of 50 bloggers connecting the rest of the world with the G20 world leaders.

There is more information about the project at here but in short G20Voice has been organised by a coalition of non-profit organisations Oxfam GB, Comic Relief, and Save the Children with the support of the Blue State Digital and the UK Government. They have convinced the UK Govt to allow 50 bloggers into the summit with equal access to the mainstream media.

It's a 3 day programme starting April 1st the day before the summit and ending the day after. Day one will be about providing the bloggers with information and helping them get to know each other so that they can understand the issues they and their readers care about. It will be fairly unstructured along Barcamp/Unconference lines. We want the bloggers to decide the priorities and the questions they ask the next day.

The day of the summit will consist of a stream of people from the G20 delegations. They'll be asked to speak with the bloggers either en-masse or at round table discussions. People outside the summit can join in via Skype or phone lines.

The analysis day is about feedback from the bloggers and experts from Govt and NGOs on the decisions and announcements from the Summit.

All three days will be filmed and a video and audio stream will be available.

The main themes are global poverty and climate change/the environment but as they say on the website: 'This is the plan but in reality the event belongs to the bloggers. Everyone attending will have the chance to shape the schedule themselves.'

So anyway, that's the background and here's the thread for discussing your thoughts on global poverty and climate change in particular.

[WilfSell]

PW, you know there's only one solution to global poverty.

Which is steal from tax the rich to give to pay the poor.

[Habbibu]

I have some scary stats on water somewhere - will try to find them.

COPD not just animal dung - it's all smoke from indoor cooking with insufficient ventilation, etc - affects children and women primarily, and is very debilitating.

(In midst of an OU course, hence the odd assortment of knowledge!)

[Monkeytrousers1]

Have I missed the link about animal dung? Is it being licenced and marketed by British American Tobacco?

[Rhubarb]

I'd like to know how America and the UK can justify bombing the shite out of Iraq, alledgedly so they could bring democracy to that country, yet they will sit back and do nothing about Zimbabwe. People are dying whilst their leader lives it up. He has drained that economy dry. Soon there will be no-one left to populate Zimbabwe.

What are we, as a country, actively doing atm about this? Because from where I'm sat, I can't see a right lot going on.

[Rhubarb]

And don't get me started on China. A country that still enforces the one-child policy, forcing many women to have abortions up to their term date, many more abandon their unwanted children at the side of roads on in rubbish heaps. The majority of abandoned children are girls and those with special needs. The orphanages are a mess - think Dying Rooms. They have an appauling human rights record. Many people were made homeless as their homes and land were demolished to make way for the Olympic Stadium. Their country is responsible for 25% of world mercury emissions and 12% of CO2.

34.9% of it's people live on less than $1 a day.

What are they going to do about it?

[policywonk]

Hello all

Just wanted to say I can't get much done until this evening but thanks very much for all of this - will sit down later on and have a proper read.

[Bramshott]

Ooh, is Policywonk one of the "10 high profile and eclectic bloggers"?!?



Well done Justine and Co for getting in on this!

[Bramshott]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother Policy.

[ArcticLemming]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Maternal mortality is still a real issue. Each year half a women die during pregnancy and childbirth. In some countries the risks are enormous - for instance in Niger a woman's chance of dying in childbirth during her lifetime is 1 in 7. This compares with about 1 in 8200 in the UK (and even lower in many other European countries).

In addition there are also many more woman who suffer long term disability such as obstetric fisula (which leads to incontinence and often ostracisation from the community).

The main reason is lack of access to care - in particular skilled care at delivery, but also antenatal and post-natal care. Even when care is available it may be unaffordable.

The long term economic and social affects are enormous - families are plunged into debt due to the cost of seeking care (a ceaesarian may be a years wages for many), orphaned children are more likely to die and have poorer life chances. There are frequent reports from parts of Africa of women being "imprisoned" in maternity hospitals until they have cleared their debts.

Sorry, it's turned into a bit of a lecture. If you could do anything to highlight this or bring out any discussion it would be great. I can get you any further info you want.
Cheers

[mistlethrush]

Lots of things that previous people have said - but also, in terms of Co2 etc - more money needs to be put into setting up proper scale production of small energy schemes - which will reduce the cost to a level where it would be cost effective for a lot of us to contemplate ground source heat/solar/small turbines, then on a slightly larger scale, combined heat & power on a neighbourhood, leading up to a district wide level. If all of this sort of technology was considered properly now it would be possible to build a lot of the new houses that are planned to a specification that there would be an easy modification to allow the residents to tap into such schemes when they become available.

And how about street trees/trees in urban areas, trees generally (in developed countries) - they can help to reduce temperatures by several degrees in hot weather - carefully planned services would allow more street area to be used for tree planting etc.

[cloudwalker]

I'm going to be attending the G20 summit as a freelance press photographer, (I'm working it for some agencies and a daily newspaper). Are there any specific shots that you're after? I might be able to help you out.

[oopsagain]

sorry, not SEAT shops sweat shops

{worries that i'll get world of leather into trouble... but actaully if i do- they ahd it coming]

And also -i'm sorry abut your grany, that must be tough

[KayHarkerIsPlayingWithMitchell]

Seconding Rhubarb's excellent post about China.

[stuffitllama]

Good luck PW.

I feel so cynical about it all. Same old same old. Can you try to give us a feel of hmm what do I want to say.. of whether you gain any sense of hope, rather than a lot of suits talking the talk without much intention of walking the walk.

Also -- to what degree it's possible for a bystander to pick up of deep background corporate lobbying.. for example when it comes to GM food and so on.

I will be very interested in the vibes you get yourself ..so much of the rest of it will be in the public domain.

Thank you my dear.

[longwayfromhome]

Cristina (president of Argentina) is quite glamorous and should be in London for the G20 if the blog is going to include a fashion section.

Do you get a chance to ask questions? I would probably second suggestions to choose quite simple issues - maybe related to maternal and child health (ArcticLemmings suggestion about maternal mortality or obstetric fistula sound pretty good to me) that will be relevant for all the countries participating.

Cervical cancer screening is another area that might get some interesting responses from different perspectives.

[policywonk]

Right

I've started collating stuff posted on this thread under various headings.

Looking into maternal and newborn health (MHN: welcome to abbreviation city) - if you look at the link HelenMNHQ posted last night, it turns out that Sarah Brown is Global Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

That could work in our favour, right? Gordy is a decent sort when it comes to development issues, and the press likes Sarah (a bit)

Wonder whether we could persuade her to meet us?

Stop me if I seem to be getting maniacal and swivel-eyed.

[ilovemydogandMrObama]

You are officially a delegate -- ask!

Oh, and be sure and ask her if it annoys her when he does that thing when he pokes his tongue in his mouth when he finishes a sentence...

[Spidermama]

The government says it plans to slash carbon use by 80% over the next, whatever it is. FAB! How brave.

BUT it's all talk. How can a new coal fired station at Kingsnorth and the expansion of our airways possibly fit in to such a claim?

Ask him if he has seen the film The Age Of Stupid and whether he intends to see it.

[gok]

Policywonk: Remember its the first day of spring tomorrow so take your flask and all of your notes in your summer bag.

[Rhubarb]

And eat beans beforehand. Then you can do really smelly farts and look disapprovingly at the bigwigs, shaking your head.

[policywonk]

Do you know, I did actually spend some time today wondering what bag to take.

Still stuck on MHN. Lots of stuff on that White Ribbon site.

There's a very good fact sheet here from a US campaign called 'Mothers Day Every Day'.

*A woman dies from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes every minute of every day
*Childbirth is the leading killer of young women worldwide
*Infants of mothers who do not survive the delivery are more likely to die within two years
*When a mother dies, enrolment in school for younger children is delayed and older children often leave school to support their family.
*Children without a mother are less likely to be immunized, and are more likely to suffer from malnutrition and stunted growth. The implications for girls tend to be even greater.

Millennium Development Goal #5 is to reduce maternal mortality rates by 75 per cent by 2015. And guess what? It's the MDG that has seen the least progress in the last decade. Global maternal mortality decreased by less than 1 per cent between 1990 and 2005.

The interventions that are needed are relatively low-tech and inexpensive: trained birth attendants/midwives at the local level, and obstetric care for emergencies. In Sri Lanka, maternal mortality was halved within one decade by introducing such measures.

Basically, from what I can make out, DFID has a fairly good record in this area; the country that needs to take a big lead is (inevitably) the USA. Its funding for maternal health programmes has consistently declined.

Essentially, the aim is to secure $3.9 billion per year for the next ten years (based on a World Health Organization estimate). This would enable significant progress towards providing universal access to maternal and newborn care.

[policywonk]

SO

(in an effort to break up my enormo-post)

what are we pushing for?

Assuming we get some sort of access to an American at some point, are we going to ask them what sort of budgetary commitment they would be prepared to make? (Of course we'll get fobbed off, but...)

And how such funding should be ring-fenced?

I'm going to ask MNHQ what they think about contacting Sarah Brown - seems only fair as we'd be using the MN brand.

ArcticLemming what do you think? What should we ask for?

In a way, the more specific our goal, themore likely we are to make progress - yes?

[policywonk]

beans
comb-overs
bags
Bob Geldof's number
Argentinian President's views on the Boden spring/summer catalogue (is the new Fun Skirt just too much fun?)

[policywonk]

'They've all gone, Percy.'

[policywonk]

oregonian

good list

FGM. Fuck. What should we ask? Does it take place at a significant level in any of the delegate countries? I'm guessing not but could be wrong.

If not, we're up against a dreaded 'cultural' issue.

What action should a civilised government take on FGM?

Export processing zones: that sounds very interesting. I know nothing about it. Could you post some sort of digest and an idea of what action you think ought to be taken?