World Leaders Entrusted with the Gift of Life

So this week Tony Blair has warned it will be a disaster if World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong next month fail to reach a deal on fair trade. With the time looming for the WTO to step forward and take some drastic action, pressure and press attention have slowly but surely been increasingly applied to the issue of trade justice.

|TOP|Over the weekend of Nov. 25-27 the leaders of the 53 Commonwealth member countries gathered in Valletta, Malta looking to find a pathway through the multitude of obstacles that always seem to appear whenever united international action must be taken.

At these talks, which as far as trade justice goes, act as pre-WTO talks, have taken place British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been pointing out that it will not be easy to secure an agreement to open markets to producers from the developing world.

Blair, for one has put trade justice talks as one of his priorities this year, and has used the G8 Summit earlier this year, as well as his presidency of the European Union this year, to try and bring world attention to the cause. However, just as the British premier stated, despite good intentions by many world leaders, the actual actions to back up the compassionate words have been hard to secure.

The Commonwealth meeting is something that is probably more important than most realise; for the 53 nation group represent approximately one-third of the entire world’s population – that is 1.8 billion people. This group in effect could set the foundations for later talks in Hong Kong at the WTO. But for this hope to come to fruition the leaders will have to do something that often seems like a far-distant dream in world politics, and that is not only to agree to something as a concept, but also to agree on action.

This year’s Christian Aid Week cited some examples of the injustices of current trade rules:

In India, unfettered liberalisation policies backed by the British government have led to a crisis in agriculture, spiralling rural debt and an epidemic of suicide among poor farmers. Shocking new research reveals that more than 4,000 farmers have killed themselves in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh since the ‘reforms’ of a hard-line liberalising regime, in part bankrolled by the UK government.

In addition, in Ghana democratic institutions have been subverted by the demands of doctrinaire free-market policies, where the International Monetary Fund (IMF), backed by the World Bank, effectively overturned a law to protect poor farmers.

These two simple examples are to name but a few of the endless injustices that have been highlighted as resulting from the current free-trade rules.

|QUOTE|In Valletta, Blair explained, “For the poorest countries, whose labour costs are low but who often find the very high tariffs selling into the wealthy country's markets, it is essential if they're to stand on their own two feet that they're allowed access into our markets.

"So if we fail at Hong Kong to move this on... we will do damage, not strangely just to the poor countries, though obviously that is one of the main purposes of this trade round, but we'll also damage our own country and other European countries.

"We'll damage the prospects in America and Japan. So this is a situation in which the wealthy world and the developing world has a lot to gain from trading with each other.”

It appears as though the British Prime Minister realises the seriousness of the situation if certain moves are not taken in Hong Kong.

Driving Blair forward to lead the world to take drastic action on trade injustices earlier this month were thousands of campaigners that took part in the largest rally of the UK Parliament in 2005.

As part of Blair’s election promises he told of how he would bring about new trade laws, allowing poor countries the chance to protect their markets. In follow up to this pledge, thousands of passionate campaigners brought a firm message to hundreds of MPs on Nov. 2nd.

The MPs were urged to oppose moves to lever open markets in developing countries prior to the crucial World Trade Organisation talks in December, explained the Trade Justice Movement (TJM).

|AD|Richard English, Campaign Manager of Oxfam has previously told, “International trade rules must be weighted in favour of poor people and developing countries must not be forced to open their markets.“

Glen Tarman of the Trade Justice Movement has also said, “The UK and the EU will remain obstacles to trade justice unless they make urgent changes to their position on non-agricultural goods and services and the aggressive stance of our trading bloc in WTO negotiations...If we are to make poverty history through trade justice, the Government must respond and act now to stop free trade being imposed on any poor country.”

Also throughout Europe and across the globe many demonstrations and rallies have taken place in run-up to the WTO meeting in December. Some of the most powerful world leaders have also stated that they acknowledge something must be done. Yet there is still a feeling, as the WTO gathering draws closer, that it may all end in the way we have all seen things end before, with compromise after compromise made and negotiations and issues watered-down to the extent that, although small advancements are made, there is still no drastic change to the lives of so many suffering people across the world who are living in poverty.

But just as Prime Minister Blair explained – it will be a disaster if the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong next month fail to reach a deal on fair trade.

For once, the convictions and core of what needs to be achieved in Hong Kong must not be allowed to be diluted and fizzle out into lots of words of good intent, with little action, but many excuses. This does not mean compromises cannot be made, as negotiations must be just that and leaders have to be willing to listen and move together. However, what cannot be lost is the core of the purpose they are going to Hong Kong, and the central purpose must be to bring justice to millions suffering from the current world trade rules. They must be brought out of poverty, and the means to do this lie not just with endless donations, but endlessly more important is providing an environment where the people can take care of themselves and take part on an even footing in the world trade arena.

So the world looks forward with hope once more; first to the Commonwealth, for if a firm foundation can be set prior to Hong Kong, with a third of the world determined to make a change, then this could be ultimately enough to persuade others to follow; but then into December where the true action remains to be taken. Let us all pray and hope that the world for once unites in this cause, and for once that the nations will not look to what they can gain or what they may lose, but to what they can give to millions of suffering people across the world – and the authority entrusted by God to these leaders over these millions is ultimately life!