News Archives » poverty
Canada Holds Up Congo’s Debt Cancellation July 1st, 2010
Street Child in Congo DR
The World Bank announced yesterday that it was postponing the Democratic Republic of Congo’s long-awaited debt cancellation, even though the country has qualified. The postponement has come about at the request of Canada, because Canadian mineral firm First Quantum is in dispute with the government of DRC over mineral rights.
The DRC has been waiting for debt relief for 7 years, while the IMF and World Bank have satisfied themselves that the country has met numerous economic conditions. Politics has come into play before – last year the IMF held up DRC’s progress through the debt relief scheme because the country was proposing to take loans from China. Congo and China agreed to reduce the amount and terms of the loans late last year.
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Seamus Finn, OMI on Nightly Business Report: Discusses Impact of Derivatives on the Poor June 7th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn’s work on derivatives is profiled on PBS’s Nightly Business Report.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010…
How does
the financial system affect the poorest of the poor? Watch the June 7th issue of the Nightly Business Report for a segment on faith-based investors and efforts to rein in the derivatives market – a cause of the recent instability that has affected nearly everyone.
In an interview with Darren Gersh, Seamus Finn, OMI clearly draws the connections between decisions made by bankers and the lives of the poor. Fr. Finn talks about the need for greater disclosure of derivative risk – disclosure that a significant number of other shareholders have favored in recent Resolutions with Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs. Up next is legislation on Capitol Hill that could force banks to spin off their derivatives business.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010 on Vimeo…
Recent Developments at the United Nations April 14th, 2010
Daniel LeBlanc, OMI – Oblate representative at the United Nations – shares about recent meetings at the UN. His report focuses on:
- Two High Level Meetings on the Global Financial Crisis
- Summit on MDGs + 10 Review
- Extreme Poverty: An Affront to Human Rights
Read the Report (Download PDF)
News from the UN March 1st, 2010
Follow-up on Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change
The United Nations has set-up a High-Level Panel to implement a key component of the Copenhagen Accord to promote climate mitigation and adaptation financing in developing countries.
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Support the Energy Security Through Transparency Act of 2009 March 1st, 2010
The Energy Security through Transparency Act of 2009 (S.1700), also called the ESTT Act was introduced in September 2009 and needs your support!
The ESTT Act requires gas, oil and mineral companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange to disclose payments to foreign governments for the commercial extraction of oil, natural gas and minerals.
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