[afro-nets] In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 19

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 19
-------------------------------------------------------

ONE-LINERS (almost)

ON GLOBALIZATION: USE THEM (part 2 of 2)

The following bits and pieces, for you to use in your debating
opponents on the issue of Globalization, come -- of all parts...
believe it or not -- from the IMF quarterly publication "Finance
and Development", Vol.38, No.4, December 2001. (also found in
http://www.imf.org/fandd). I have just excerpted them for you.
They are almost all verbatim although I may have somewhat
changed the context when editing.

Claudio Schuftan
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn


15. Exports from the poorest countries have to be granted
across-the board, duty-free and quota-free access to industrial
country markets. For this to happen and to take advantage of new
opportunities, poor countries have to find ways to collectively
increase their bargaining power by joining forces around areas
of common interest and concern.

16. Concomitantly to Globalization, homegrown factors and poli-
cies have been an impediment to development. Therefore, at the
same time, poor countries need to undertake transparent, democ-
ratic complementary internal reforms.

17. The state must fight the uncompetitive climate of monopoly
rights being given to investors (often foreign), as well as
eliminate economic rents and mechanisms that legally confer a
dominant position to a few firms and economic agents.

18. For this to happen, civil society needs to become more or-
ganized to challenge the power of the states (Moderator: that
foster or go along with Globalization), helping to limit devia-
tions from good governance. (Moderator: e.g., rent seeking and
corruption).

19. Civil society needs to increasingly be visible as a credible
negotiator between the people and public powers. It has to be-
come a watchdog to contain market and Globalization excesses.
They also have to raise the awareness of the people with respect
to the challenges Globalization poses. (Moderator: as the Peo-
ple's Health Movement is doing!).

20. The IMF now spends some $100 million a year on technical as-
sistance work --around 20% of its annual administrative expendi-
tures. (Moderator: This technical assistance fosters and fur-
thers Globalization. How much do we, its opponents, spend a
year...??... it is an unfair battle, isn't it?).

21. Major causes of inequality are identified as population
growth (Moderator: ?), fall in non-oil commodity prices by more
than half in real terms between 1980 and the early 1990s, and
the debt trap.

22. The WB and the IMF have paid remarkable little attention to
global inequalities. The WB's World Development Report 2000 on
Attacking Poverty explicitly says that rising income inequality
should not be seen as negative....provided the incomes at the
bottom do not fall and the number of people in poverty falls and
does not rise...(Moderator: ??). We should start by rejecting
this neo-liberal assumption.

23. (Moderator: Among other, the IMF imposes untenable condi-
tionalities). These affect member countries' ownership of their
own economic policies. Conditionality items that are unrealisti-
cally ambitious result in repeated failure to meet agreed IMF-
set targets and foster a culture of non-performance. Further,
IMF conditionalities run counter to countries' education, health
or poverty alleviation goals. (Moderator: Their words, not
mine!).

24. Although the 'costs of adjustment' are inevitable, they need
not fall primarily on the poor nor compromise human rights!

25. But the short-run effects of liberalization (Globalization)
on the poor ARE negative and significant... So, compensatory
policies are being promoted and designed to help the poor to
deal with the transition costs of adjustment. (Moderator: This
is reactive/palliative and not proactive/ preventive...).

26. A rights-based approach to growth and poverty reduction is
needed. It needs to comprise six elements: active protection of
civil/political liberties, (Moderator: Plus social, economic and
cultural rights!); pro-poor budgets and growth strategies; poli-
cies geared towards ensuring that people receive adequate food,
education and health care; broad participation in policy design
and implementation; environmental and social awareness; and ef-
forts to combat discrimination.

27. So, growth and macroeconomic stability (Moderator: The pil-
lars of Globalization) cannot, by themselves, eliminate poverty
or protect human rights. While human rights advocates should be
given every opportunity to participate in PRSP consultations,
"they should not expect the IMF to impose human rights condi-
tions on its member countries". (Moderator: So, are they or are
they not for human rights? I think the deeds speak for them-
selves).

28. Finally, the rules of the global game promoting Globaliza-
tion heavily depend on professional lobbyists. They steer the
policy agenda in favor of special interests.

For each of the 535 members of the US Congress, there are 38
registered lobbyists and $2.7 million in annual lobbying expen-
ditures. Interest groups have more influence on economic policy
making than the electoral process itself (!).

We need to counteract and deflect these pressures from interest
groups (Moderator: But do we have even a fraction of the money
needed for that??). Only 20% of all interest groups active in
influencing Congress in the US are NGOs.

Therefore, forces promoting profits for a few prevail over those
seeking a more efficient and equitable international flow of
goods, people and financial capital.

(Moderator: Are the odds then not tipped against us?: Become
more active in the People's Health Movement and its work to re-
vert this state of affairs! As individuals, we beg; collec-
tively, we demand).