Anti-globalisation activists gather to spotlight plight of world’s poor during G8 summit

Anti-globalisation activists from three continents gathered in Mali this week to condemn unfair trade practices and Third World debt at a forum timed to coincide with the G8 summit in Scotland, where the leaders of the world's richest countries are haggling over measures to relieve poverty in Africa. About 1,300 people from Africa, Europe and North America have congregated in this landlocked West African country for the 6 to 9 July meeting, organised by the Mali-based Coalition for African Alternatives to Debt and Development (CAD). It is the fourth such meeting CAD has held in Mali to coincide with G8 summits. The anti-globalisation activists' alternative meeting is being held in Fana, a cotton processing and marketing centre 120 km east of the capital, Bamako. Cotton and other agricultural subsidies in the United States and Europe widely are blamed for feeding the cycle of poverty in the developing world and have long been one of the main snags in world trade negotiations. Cotton is the mainstay of Mali's rural economy and according to the UN Human Development Index this semi-arid nation is the fourth poorest country in the world. Barry Aminata Toure, president of CAD, told the opening ceremony of the Fana forum on Wednesday: “The leaders of the world’s eight richest countries are assuming the role of world government without any legitimacy whatsoever." “Their power, used to dominate and exploit people, is wreaking havoc” in the developing world, she added. Following Thursday's terrorist attacks in London the G8 leaders were determined to return to their agenda Friday of tackling African poverty. One of CAD's key aims is to raise awareness that the daily suffering of poor Africans is linked to current international trade and economic policy, and to propose alternatives, Samba Ibrahim Tembelly, CAD permanent secretary, told IRIN. Boubacar Bah, secretary of Mali’s opposition African Party for Solidarity and Justice and a supporter of the CAD effort, agreed. It is the duty of Africans to speak out about unjust economic practices, he said. “The Fana meeting is to show that there is a world view other than that of the G8 nations.” Bah said it is not just cotton subsidies that are hurting Africa, but also subsidies on milk products, meat and sugar. “This is killing African agriculture.” Part of the solution would be to end all subsidies and ease quality standards on exports, he said. CAD secretary general Dounantie Daou said: “We want the G8 leaders to take concrete actions to respect their commitment to fight poverty.” He called on the G8 leaders “to take urgent measures to end the disparities they have created in the world and to cancel all third world debt without condition.” Last month G8 finance ministers announced a deal to cancel foreign debt for 18 nations, including 14 in Africa. But fair trade activists say the move falls far short of bringing much-needed relief to poor countries. The African Union recently called on the G8 to cancel all debts for all of Africa. Anne Marchand of Attac, a French anti-globalisation coalition, told IRIN that more non-Africans were attending this year's forum than had turned up in the past. She said more and more activists in the industrialised world are identifying with the developing world’s grievances. “The links between the resistance movements in the north and south are becoming stronger and stronger,” she said. Marchand said this year's forum in Mali had brought together activists from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and Italy in addition to representatives from nine West and Central African countries.